Indoor games and recreational activities recommended for daycare and kindergarten
Even on days when the weather is bad and the kids can’t go outside, they still want to move their bodies and play! At times like that, many teachers and parents wonder what indoor activities to do.
Here, we introduce indoor recreational activities that can be enjoyed at nurseries and kindergartens.
You’ll find lots of ideas that kids can dive into with sparkling eyes—full-body movement games, activities everyone can enjoy together, traditional games, and sensory play.
Have fun staying active with the children, even indoors.
These are also great as references for games at events!
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Recommended Indoor Activities and Recreation Games for Nurseries and Kindergartens (1–10)
drawing relay
Here’s a drawing relay that everyone can get excited about.
Split into teams, and only the first person looks at the prompt.
The first person draws the prompt and passes it on to the next player.
The next player interprets the drawing and conveys it to the following player with another drawing.
The team whose final player’s drawing matches the original prompt the fastest wins.
It’s best to use 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!
gomudan
Here’s how to play Gomu-dan (rubber band jumping).
First, prepare a flat elastic band, and have two people hold the ends.
Let’s start with a simple jump-over game.
Hold the band at ankle height and jump over it.
Even if your feet catch on the band, it’s a success as long as you make it through to the other side.
Try different ways of jumping, like two-footed jumps, backward two-footed jumps, and cartwheel jumps! You can also raise the height to increase the difficulty and excitement.
Be sure to keep the band pulled tight—if it’s slack, it can be dangerous.
Throwing honeycomb balls through a hoop
Great for Halloween too! Here’s an idea for a game where you make a spiderweb with a hula hoop and throw balls at it.
You’ll need a hula hoop, clear tape, black construction paper, scissors or a craft knife, and colorful balls.
Use the black construction paper to make a spiderweb and a spider.
Attach strips of clear tape across the inside of the hula hoop to create a target.
When you throw the colorful balls, it looks like they get caught in the web, which is really fun! If you don’t have a hula hoop, you can make a ring by cutting poster paper into long strips and connecting them into a loop.
Indoor activities and recreation games recommended for nurseries and kindergartens (11–20)
Plastic Bottle Bowling
Let us introduce PET bottle bowling, an easy game to enjoy at parties and more.
Line up plastic bottles like bowling pins, then throw a ball and try to knock them down.
Compete by seeing how many bottles you can topple.
It’s a good idea to adjust the weight of the ball according to the players’ ages.
You can also put a little water in the bottles for added challenge and excitement.
Writing point values on the bottles and competing for scores, or playing in teams, can make it even more fun!
Crawling tail-chasing game
Let’s introduce a crawling tail-tag game that gets kids excited.
Give each child a “tail” made by braiding plastic ribbon (like florist’s raffia).
The teacher is “it” and chases the children.
At the start signal, the children crawl away to avoid being caught.
If a child gets their tail taken by “it,” they can rejoin the game after doing five jumps and putting the tail back on.
Try swapping who’s “it” or increasing the number of chasers to keep the game fun!
Run Away from the Hula Hoop Game
Great for group play! Here’s an idea for a “Run from the Hula Hoop” game.
All you need is a large hula hoop.
The rules are simple: children try not to get hit by a hula hoop that a parent or teacher rolls.
The key is to move while predicting the hoop’s speed and direction.
Once everyone gets used to the game, adding variations to how the hoop moves will keep kids engaged and prevent boredom.
Give it a try and include it in your activities!
Hoop Musical Chairs
Let’s play using both our bodies and brains! Here’s an idea for a hula hoop musical chairs game.
Prepare about 10 small hula hoops in various colors.
As everyone hums a song with a deserted island theme, walk around the hula hoops.
When the teacher calls out “1, 2, 3,” everyone jumps into a hula hoop island.
It gets more exciting if you gradually reduce the number of hula hoops! Once everyone gets used to the game, try specifying which color hula hoop to enter, or call out items related to a color to decide which hoop to use.