[For Kids] Indoor Fun! Large-Group Recreational Activities and Games
Spending time with children, indoor fun time is important, isn’t it?
Even when the weather is bad or when you can’t go outside due to coordinating spaces with other classes, kids can refresh and have a fulfilling time if you enjoy doing recreations and games indoors.
Here, we’ve gathered ideas for indoor recreations and games that work well with large groups.
We’ve divided them into activities for preschoolers and for elementary school children, so you’re sure to find ideas that suit the kids who will be playing.
Please use this as a reference!
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[For Kids] Indoor Fun! Large-Group Recreations and Games (1–10)
epicenter
This is a game where you watch your friends and guess the “epicenter.” First, choose the guesser and have them stand in the center of the circle.
The other players sit in a circle around the guesser.
Then choose the “epicenter,” who will decide the motions.
The epicenter subtly picks the next action and gets everyone to follow, trying to keep the guesser from noticing who started it—whether it’s moving their body, clapping, etc.
When the guesser correctly identifies the epicenter, switch roles.
It’s a game that tests your acting skills.
Birthday line
The birthday line is a game where the people present line up in order of their birthdays.
With adults or elementary school students, it’s often played by communicating through gestures without speaking.
However, when playing with preschoolers, start by having the children accurately tell each other their birthdays using words.
You can choose to start the line with January or with April, but starting in April tends to be more familiar and easier for children to understand.
This game lets kids enjoy communicating with one another and gives them a chance to learn their friends’ birthdays, which they don’t usually think about.
The moment when you check the order after lining up is exciting! Even ending up with “Oops, we got it wrong!” can be part of the fun.
Sinking Game
Imagine the room as the ocean, with adults or designated leaders acting as sharks.
When the game starts, children move onto mats to avoid being eaten by the sharks.
The mats are safe zones.
However, when the teacher signals “The ship is sinking!”, the mats are considered to be sinking into the sea, so children must move to different mats.
It’s a game that lets kids use their imagination while it unfolds.
Be careful not to get eaten by the sharks when moving between mats! This is a highly recommended game that lets kids move their bodies energetically even indoors.
[For Kids] Indoor Activities! Large-Group Recreations and Games (11–20)
Monster Hunter Game
The game that incorporates rhythm play elements is the “Mōjū-gari Game” (Wild Animal Hunt Game).
The teacher becomes the leader and calls out, “Let’s go hunt wild animals,” and the children imitate it.
It gets more exciting if you add variations like, “We’re not afraid of wild animals,” or “We’ve even got spears!” During the game, when the teacher says the name of an animal—like “We found an elephant!”—the children group themselves into the same number of people as the number of syllables in that animal’s name.
You can also raise the difficulty by choosing animals with longer names to suit the children’s age.
Rock-Paper-Scissors Train
How about playing Rock-Paper-Scissors Train? As long as you can play rock-paper-scissors, anyone can join, so even small children can enjoy it.
While the music is playing, everyone walks around freely; when the music stops, you freeze and play rock-paper-scissors with someone nearby.
The loser goes behind the winner and places their hands on the winner’s shoulders.
You repeat this until you’ve formed a single-file train.
It feels great to end up at the very front, doesn’t it?
Cat and Mouse (Mousetrap)
For those who want to move their bodies to the fullest in a limited indoor space, we recommend “Cat and Mouse (Mouse Trap)”! Split into a cat team and a mouse team.
The cat team forms a circle around the mouse team, joining hands.
At the start signal, the mouse team tries to escape outside the circle, while the cat team uses their joined hands to block them so they can’t get out.
Set a time limit and then switch roles, competing to see which team’s mice manage to escape more.
It’s a fun game that gives you a full-body workout with lots of standing and crouching.
Give it a try!
Flip-over game
Prepare many double-sided sheets of paper with different colors on the front and back, and lay them on the floor.
At the starting signal, everyone begins flipping them over.
Split into two teams and flip the cards to your team’s color.
It works well with high-contrast combinations like red and white or black and white.
It’s fun and easy to understand even for young children, and you can play with a small number of people.
Since you move around to flip the cards, it’s a game that also gives you some exercise.