[Childcare] From small to large groups! A collection of fun game ideas
Kids who love to play! Their innocent, adorable excitement as they find something fun every day is a joy to see.
Through lots of play and a variety of experiences, we hope they grow freely in both mind and body.
In this article, we’ll share plenty of fun game ideas for childcare settings.
It’s packed with activities you can enjoy at preschools or at home! Choose games that suit children’s ages and developmental stages, or adjust the rules to match their interests, and they’ll have even more fun.
Enjoy a wonderful time together!
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[Childcare] From Small to Large Groups! A Collection of Fun Game Ideas (71–80)
Greeting True-or-False Quiz
Recommended for preschoolers! Here are some ideas for a greeting true-or-false quiz.
From waking up in the morning to going to sleep at night, it’s a quiz that collects greetings used in various everyday situations.
Since it’s a simple true-or-false format, it seems perfect for morning meetings or end-of-day gatherings.
By exchanging greetings, children can communicate smoothly with others and express feelings of gratitude or apology.
With a proactive spirit, let’s encourage lively, pleasant greetings in daily life.
Come-here game
Even though the rules are super simple, let’s try playing the “Come Here, Come Here Game,” which kids are guaranteed to love! Divide into a teacher and children.
The teacher gently beckons to the children, saying “Come here, come here.” While the teacher is saying it, the children move slowly toward the teacher without running.
When the teacher suddenly says, “Come here, come here…
It’s a ghost!” the children have to run away so they don’t get caught.
Once everyone gets used to it, you can make it even more exciting by faking them out with similar-sounding words to “ghost,” like “pot” or “mother.”
Treasure-Grabbing Game
Let’s play with excitement! Here’s an idea for a treasure-grabbing game.
This unique activity can be enjoyed by both kids and adults, so teachers and guardians should join in with the children and have fun together.
It’s a simple game where you spread two colors of hula hoops around the room and move markers into the hula hoops of your team color.
The key rule is that only one marker can be placed inside each hula hoop! Give it a try!
Moving Game
In the Moving House game, when the teacher signals “Moving house!”, the children move to the opposite side of the classroom.
The goal is to avoid being caught by the teacher standing in the middle.
You can enjoy various variations, such as increasing the number of teachers, moving by crawling, or moving quietly.
Another appeal of this game is that it helps develop quick reactions and decision-making skills.
We hope the children play with excitement, thinking, “Can I escape well?”
drawing relay
Here’s a drawing relay that gets everyone excited.
Split into teams, and only the first person looks at the prompt.
The first person draws the prompt to pass it to the next player.
The next player understands the prompt from the drawing and then passes it on with their own drawing to the following player.
The team whose final player’s drawing matches the original prompt first wins.
It’s best to choose simple prompts that are easy for kids to understand.
You can enjoy this game indoors or outdoors, so grab some paper and felt-tip pens and give it a try!
karasu kazunoko
A children’s circle song where you keep adding friends as you play! Here’s an idea from Karasu Kazunoko.
Circle songs aren’t just fun—they’re said to play an important role in fostering children’s language development and sense of rhythm.
Deepen communication by singing while playing together with teachers, parents, or friends! Children stand in a circle while one person walks around them in loops.
When the song ends, the walker taps the friend in front of them to add another member to the group.
karuta game
Let’s try making a set of karuta cards with five-year-olds as the main participants.
The key point for expanding this into an SDGs activity is to align the karuta content with the SDGs.
Of course, the teacher can create the content, but drawing on the children’s ideas will likely produce some interesting concepts! Before making the karuta, it will go more smoothly if you provide plenty of opportunities to learn about the SDGs using picture-story shows or books.
Have the children draw the illustrations as well.
The finished karuta will be completely original to your preschool! The children will feel attached to it and enjoy playing with it.
