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[Elementary School] Indoor Games and Recreational Activities Recommended for Upper Primary Grades
There are lots of elementary school children who love the internet and online games, right?
Of course, they can build relationships and develop various skills through them, but many parents and educators probably feel, “I’d like them to play something other than games a bit more.”
Kids can learn a lot from new experiences, so we hope they’ll try a variety of activities.
In this article, we’ll introduce fun games and recreational activities suited for upper elementary grades!
All of them can be played indoors, so they’re perfect for days when you can’t go outside!
[Elementary School] Indoor Games and Recreation Activities Recommended for Upper Elementary Grades (1–10)
PET bottle darts
Plastic-bottle darts is a wonderful game! It’s simple yet surprisingly deep.
All you need to get started is a 2-liter plastic bottle and a pair of chopsticks.
You focus on your aim and toss the chopsticks into the bottle—this concentration and skill-building is perfect for children’s development.
Playing together with family and friends also boosts communication skills! It helps with lack of exercise and relieves stress, so parents and teachers can feel at ease.
It’s great because you can play energetically indoors even on rainy days.
Why not give it a try during your next playtime?
Thunder Game
Speaking of thunder, there’s a superstition that it will steal your belly button.
This is the “Thunder Game,” which protects you so your belly button won’t be taken by thunder.
The tagger imitates the sound of thunder—“goro goro goro…”—and circles around everyone who is lying on their backs.
At the cue “DO-KAAN!” everyone flips onto their stomachs so their belly button won’t be taken.
Try faking people out with words that start with “do,” and vary the speed of the “goro goro” to make it more fun.
Paper cup pull
Why not add the easy yet exciting “Paper Cup Pull” to your recreational activities? It’s perfect for indoor play, so kids can have fun with friends even on days when it’s hard to go outside! Prepare one paper cup for each player with a string attached and have each person hold their string.
Play some music, and when it stops, everyone pulls their string.
Meanwhile, a designated person with a basket tries to interfere by covering the paper cups with the basket.
The player who pulls their string and secures a paper cup before it gets covered wins! This game can also help boost children’s reaction speed.
Bamboo Shoot Nyoki
Takenoko Nyokki started as a TV show segment and has now become a game everyone knows.
It begins with the chant “Takenoko takenoko nyokki-kki,” and players take turns saying “1 nyokki, 2 nyokki,” raising their joined palms sharply above their heads to mimic a bamboo shoot sprouting.
If two people speak at the same time, they’re out.
The person who ends up going last also loses.
Rule Game
If you’re looking for a brain-teasing game, this “Rule Game” is highly recommended! It’s a game where you uncover a hidden rule within a conversation and answer questions correctly based on it.
For example, the questioner holds up one finger and says, “This is 1,” then two fingers and says, “This is 2,” then three fingers and says, “This is 3.” Then they hold up one finger again and ask, “What’s this?” Naturally, everyone answers “1,” right? But the correct answer is “3.” In fact, the number of fingers is a decoy—the rule is determined by the word that follows “this” in Japanese.
If it’s followed by “ga,” the answer is 1; if followed by “wa,” the answer is 2; and if nothing follows, the correct answer is 3.
It’s easy to get fooled by the fingers!
Gesture Game
A “gesture game” is something you can do with just your body—no special tools needed.
You often see it on TV, too.
There are many ways to play, but if you have a big group, splitting into teams and competing makes it lively and fun.
Use gestures to convey prompts and see how many your team can guess correctly.
If you have paper and pens, it’s easier to show the prompts clearly.
Prepare a penalty for the losing team—like making funny faces—and everyone will take it more seriously and get even more excited!
Word Picking
https://www.tiktok.com/@husanasomana/video/6956611485544008961An idea for a word-hunting game that you’re sure to get totally absorbed in.
“Word hunting” is a game where you compete to see how many instances of a specified word you can find.
For example, if the target word is “dog,” you look through a newspaper to find how many times the characters for “dog” appear.
The player who finds the most wins.
You can compete individually, play in teams, or enjoy searching quietly on your own.
And if you don’t have a newspaper, picture books or flyers work too.
