[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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- Indoor games that different ages can enjoy! Ideas for fun everyone can get excited about together
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- [Elementary School Rec] Recommended Games and Performances for a Fun Party
- February: Liven up childcare! A collection of ideas for indoor play and physical activities
- Indoor games and recreational activities recommended for daycare and kindergarten
[For Kids] Indoor Fun! Large-Group Recreational Activities and Games (21–30)
Who am I?
The “Who Am I?” quiz is a game where you give various clues about the answer—whether it’s an object, a person, or an animal—and have others guess what it is.
For example, if the answer were “refrigerator,” you might give clues like “it has multiple doors” or “it comes in different sizes,” offering hints that spark the imagination.
Since it’s a game about guessing who or what I am, you don’t give direct clues.
Both the guesser and the clue-giver need to use their thinking skills.
It’s a very satisfying game when someone figures out the correct answer!
Dimensional Bomb Game
Let’s play the ‘Time Bomb Game’ that everyone from kids to adults can enjoy! Treat a ball as a bomb, start the music, and rhythmically pass it to the person next to you.
When the music stops, the person holding the ball is out—the bomb has exploded! If someone gets out three times, have them do an impression as a penalty!
[For Kids] Indoor Activities! Large-Group Recreations and Games (31–40)
Balloon volleyball
Let’s try playing volleyball with a balloon! Regular volleyballs are hard and can make your hands hurt when they hit, but balloons are fine.
Even small children who are scared of fast balls can play safely.
Unlike a ball, a balloon has almost no weight, so it stays in the air longer and is easier to chase.
It’s light and floaty, and its movement can be a bit unpredictable, which might make it tricky—but that’s part of the fun!
Ball Toss Game
A game similar to dodgeball with a twist: a ball-tag scoring game.
There’s no dodgeball-style court—you can move around freely.
Your team must complete at least three successful passes, then throw the ball at the opposing team; if you hit someone, you score a point.
After that, possession switches to the other team.
The opposing team will try to disrupt your passes, so you need to evade them and complete your passes.
If your pass is interrupted at any point, you must start counting from one again.
If you throw at the other team and they catch it, you don’t score.
The key is how well teammates coordinate with each other.
Show off your great teamwork!
Marumaru Animal
Let me introduce a play activity called “Maru-maru Animal,” where you transform into different things! The rhyming, cute-sounding title makes it easy for children to warm up to it.
First, everyone chants together, repeating “Maru-maru Animal.” It’s easier to understand if you make big circular motions while saying it.
Next, move like the animal that matches the prompt.
Imitating the movements helps develop expressive skills, and because children need to listen carefully to others, it also builds concentration.
Once they get used to it, having the children come up with the prompts themselves makes it even more exciting.
Vinyl Umbrella Ball Toss
When you think of tamaire, you picture a sports day with red and white balls and a big basket, right? This time, let’s play an easy version using things around the house.
Use an open, upside-down umbrella as the basket, and badminton shuttlecocks as the balls.
If you don’t have shuttlecocks, you can make balls by crumpling up newspaper!
Rock-Paper-Scissors Basketball
Players form a circle around the person in the middle (the “oni”), and the game proceeds with rock-paper-scissors between the oni and the surrounding players.
At the oni’s signal, everyone plays rock-paper-scissors.
Anyone who loses to the oni must leave their current spot and move to a different place.
If someone fails to move and gets stuck, they become the new oni.
The fun lies in quick movement and strategic feints to avoid becoming the oni.
It also works well if the surrounding players sit on chairs, since it makes the spots for the oni and the losers to move to easier to see.
