Fun activities with newspaper! Recreation games kids will love
We’ve gathered ideas for children’s games and activities using newspapers.
Newspaper play is fun to enjoy together with kids, so it’s easy to incorporate as an indoor activity at daycare centers, kindergartens, and elementary schools.
If it’s hard to get newspapers, try using advertising flyers or unwanted letters and notices instead.
Using colored paper will give the activities a different feel.
We’ve also included games that get kids moving a lot, so they can be active even indoors!
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Fun games with newspapers! Recreation activities and games kids will love (11–20)
Newspaper Hockey
This is “Newspaper Hockey,” a game you can enjoy using newspaper sticks and a ball.
Roll up newspaper tightly to make sticks, and use a wadded-up ball of newspaper as the ball.
Divide participants into two teams; one player on each team acts as the goalkeeper to protect the goal.
The other players cooperate with their teammates while battling the opposing team for the ball and aiming for the opponent’s goal.
Using a balloon or similar item as the ball can be fun, too.
It’s recommended when you want to enjoy hockey safely with children!
Newspaper Tsum Tsum
@soramame.sensei It's amazing how much fun you can have with just newspaper!ChildcareLet's play at homeNursery teacher / Childcare workerProduction#IndoorPlay#Indoor PlayToddler playParent-child playCooperative PlaySimple craft
♬ Disney Electrical Parade-like songs – Jun Takahashi
Here’s a block-stacking activity using newspaper.
The blocks are very simple to make: fold a sheet of newspaper horizontally several times, then tape it so it forms a triangle and holds its shape—that’s it.
If you make a lot of them, you can stack them up and play! Competing to see how high you can build sounds fun, too.
Since they’re made of newspaper, it’s safe even if a tall stack topples over.
You can also enjoy the rustling sound the newspaper makes as the pieces rub together.
Another nice thing is that you can stack them into any shapes you like and expand the play in all sorts of ways.
Eel Fishing Game
A game you can make using nothing but newspaper and cellophane tape: the Eel Fishing Game.
For the fishing rod, take a single sheet of newspaper, roll it up tightly from one edge, and secure the end with cellophane tape.
For the eels, prepare lots of long, thin strips of newspaper.
You hook the thin newspaper strips with the rod and try to fish them up—but they’re slippery, so it’s a bit tricky.
Set a time limit and compete to see who can catch the most!
Pop-up Newspaper Tree
When you think of trees, you think of Christmas trees—but this is a newspaper tree made from a newspaper! All you need is a single sheet of newspaper and a pair of scissors.
First, cut the newspaper in half horizontally.
Take one of the halves and roll it up.
Leave a little unrolled at the end, then place the second half overlapping from where you left off and continue rolling all the way to the edge.
Once that’s done, make cross-shaped cuts going down to about one-third of the way.
Then spread the cut sections out in a cross, say a little magic spell, and pull up the newspaper in the center… and boing! The newspaper instantly transforms into a tree! It’s a surprising little newspaper tree.
Origami with newspaper
If you cut a newspaper into a square, you can make an oversized origami that’s different from the usual kind.
If you fold a samurai helmet, you’ll end up with one big enough to actually wear, and even simply folding a yakko-san or a paper crane makes pieces in unusual sizes, which is a lot of fun.