[Childcare] Wordplay and game ideas everyone can enjoy together

Thunder God has arrived.

[Super Popular Hand-Play Song] Mr. Thunder Has Come

“Kaminari-don ga Yatte Kita” is a fun game where you move your body to music.

The teacher keeps the beat and can sing along with the children to enjoy it together.

As you hide different body parts according to the lyrics, kids naturally learn the names of those parts.

The key is to sing and move together.

Because you move your body to the song, it also helps develop a sense of rhythm.

You can adjust the movements to suit your child’s age.

It’s an activity where everyone can have fun moving, while memorizing the lyrics and learning body parts.

greengrocer’s shop

Greengrocer Shop | A Preschool Teacher Demonstrates a Recommended Fingerplay Song Before Lunch

Let’s explore lots of words through a fun, rhythmic hand game.

The teacher asks about the names of various things in time with a song, and the children quickly answer “Yes, it is” or “No, it isn’t” while imagining whether each item would be found at a greengrocer’s.

You can expand the game endlessly by changing the setting—not just a greengrocer, but also a bakery, a zoo, a florist, a convenience store, and more.

It gets even more exciting if you gradually speed up the tempo or throw in some trick questions.

Doing it before lunch could even tie into food education.

There’s no preparation needed, and you can enjoy it like a quick game anywhere, so try it with the children!

Hint Quiz

Learn and have fun with kids! Hint Quiz: A workbook of questions for preschool and kindergarten children

Hint quizzes that nurture children’s thinking and imagination are a delightful form of word play.

Teachers and children team up to tackle riddles.

From hints like “blue color,” “floats in the sky,” and “a place where birds perch,” they arrive at the answer: “tree.” By giving clues tailored to the child’s interests and knowledge, everyone gets a chance to think actively.

A hint quiz that the whole class can enjoy is a wonderful activity where learning and play come together.

Now, let’s all explore the world of words with excitement and curiosity.

riddle

For 2- and 3-year-olds! Top 10 Riddles Chosen by an Active Nursery Teacher [Simple Question Collection for Use in Daycare]

Riddles are a kind of wordplay that you can enjoy together with children.

If the riddles use familiar things as their themes, they’re likely to capture children’s interest.

In the process of searching for the answers, children’s thinking skills will also be stimulated.

By thinking them through with parents or teachers, communication can deepen as well.

Through riddles, children may naturally expand their vocabulary.

Riddles can be incorporated into daily childcare time or played at home.

They seem likely to become one of the enjoyable activities that promote children’s growth.

[For 5-year-olds] Word Collection Game

[5-year-olds] Let’s all work together to search! Word play

In this game, everyone on the team decides on a word based on the specified number of characters and then searches for that word among the hiragana cards for the Japanese syllabary.

Not only does it nurture children’s imagination as they think of words, but it also naturally fosters cooperation through interactions with friends.

Working as a team lets them encounter words their friends know, which greatly broadens their vocabulary—one of the game’s key appeals.

Once they get used to it, it could be fun to gradually increase the number of characters or specify categories like animals or vehicles.