[Elementary School] Quick and Easy! Indoor Recreational Activities Perfect for Lower Grades
We’ve gathered a bunch of fun recreational activities that will make lower elementary school kids want to get moving! From active indoor games that offer plenty of exercise to brain-teasing games you can enjoy while thinking, these ideas are perfect for rainy days and cold seasons.
Kids can naturally deepen their communication skills by competing with friends or working together as a team.
Preparation is simple, and you can start right away—so make recess at school or time at home even more rewarding!
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Games that can be enjoyed individually or in small groups, focusing on the five senses, physical abilities, and balance (11–20)
horizontal tug-of-war
This is a twist on the classic tug-of-war you often see at sports festivals: you hold the rope sideways.
The two teams line up alternately along the rope and pull sideways rather than lengthwise.
In regular tug-of-war, you tuck the rope under your arm, lower your center of gravity, and use your body weight, but in this version, arm strength and grip strength are the keys to victory.
It might also be nice that it takes up less space than a traditional tug-of-war.
Gather a team and give it a try!
PET bottle darts
It’s a simple game you can play with a plastic bottle and stick-shaped items like disposable chopsticks.
Prepare sticks that can fit into the bottle.
The rules are easy: drop a stick toward the bottle and see if it lands inside.
It doesn’t require much space, so it’s great for indoors.
You can also adjust the difficulty—such as how high you drop the stick from or what length of stick you use—so it’s easy to tailor the rules to different ages.
Hand-push sumo
A classic game for kids: “Hand-Push Sumo.” Create a small space on the floor just big enough to fit both feet side by side, and have two players face each other standing inside it.
At the start signal, they push and pull with their hands to throw the other off balance.
Whoever steps outside the space loses.
You can mark the space with masking tape or use a non-slip mat.
If you’re concerned about infections, have players wear masks, or stand on platforms set apart and pull on a longer towel to keep some distance.
Epicenter Game
If you’re looking for an indoor recreation activity for about 5 to 10 people, the “Epicenter Game” is recommended.
In this game, one person becomes the “epicenter,” and everyone else imitates the actions of the person in that role.
The tagger watches everyone’s movements and tries to guess who the epicenter is.
The epicenter role is especially fun if you time your changes in movement while watching the tagger’s line of sight.
balloon volleyball
Balloon volleyball is a game that even lower-grade elementary students can play safely.
Balloons are soft, so they won’t cause injuries if they hit someone, and chasing a fluffy balloon that drifts unpredictably is surprisingly fun! You can follow standard volleyball rules, but if returning the balloon to the other side within three hits is too hard, try increasing the number of hits.
Feel free to adjust the rules so everyone can enjoy the game.
If you’re playing indoors, stretching a rubber or plastic string to mark off the court will create a nice atmosphere.
Indoor games that foster cooperation and teamwork (1–10)
Newspaper War
Newspaper Battle is a game where you throw crumpled newspaper balls into the opponent’s territory.
First, split into two teams and set the inside and outside of a central line as each side’s territory.
Each territory has crumpled newspapers to use as balls.
At the start signal, throw them one at a time into the opposing team’s territory.
Throwing multiple at once or kicking them is a foul.
The team that throws more newspapers into the opponent’s territory wins.
[Tag] Keep holding hands and try to escape!
![[Tag] Keep holding hands and try to escape!](https://i.ytimg.com/vi/Lt6t2ibEGj0/sddefault.jpg)
This is a variation of tag that tests teamwork and cooperation: everyone runs away from the tagger while holding hands.
The runners must keep holding hands as they flee, and the tagger chases them to make them let go.
For safety—since forcing hands apart could cause injuries—it’s recommended to use a foam rod or similar; if it touches a player’s hand, they have to let go.
It’s also a fun challenge because coordinating to run in the same direction without getting caught can be surprisingly difficult, which really livens up the game.