Recreation for daycare centers and kindergartens: fun activities for children
Children in daycare and kindergarten are full of curiosity and energy! Still, some teachers might struggle to come up with play ideas.
There are also days when the weather keeps you indoors.
Here, we introduce a variety of activities that children in kindergarten and daycare can enjoy! We’ve gathered fun activities—from dance, exercise, and games to crafts—that are suitable for babies through toddlers.
Active, movement-based play is a big hit, too.
Let children and adults play together and enjoy a wonderful time!
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Recreation for nurseries and kindergartens. Fun children's games (151–160)
Target shooting game
Let’s play a target-shooting game you can make with a milk carton! You’ll need a milk carton, scissors, a stapler, rubber bands, and colored paper, etc.
Cut off the top and bottom of the milk carton and use only the side panels.
Take one panel and staple one end to make a launcher for the rubber band.
Take the other panel, cut it to any size you like, and decorate it with colored paper to make the targets.
You can also assign points to the targets and see how many points you can score to make it even more fun.
nervous breakdown
This is Concentration (Memory) played with handmade animal cards.
It’s basically the same as the version played with playing cards—if you flip two cards and the same animal appears, that’s a match.
It’s also great fun to start by making the cards together.
The teacher can make a few animal card templates and photocopy them, and the children can do the coloring; that way, the excitement starts even before the game begins.
Paper Airplane Throwing
Let’s have fun flying paper airplanes! There are so many ways to fold them, even though they’re all called paper airplanes.
Depending on the folding method, you can make ones that fly incredibly far, or ones that come back like a boomerang.
Flying them is fun, but folding airplanes together while chatting is enjoyable too.
Try making lots of big and small ones and see how they fly!
colored water play
This is a color-water activity that sparks children’s curiosity.
Prepare several bottles of colored water and put them in clear plastic bottles.
When different colors are mixed and the color changes, the kids will be thrilled! It’s also a great way to introduce the idea that mixing paints creates new colors.
Be sure to keep a close eye on them so they don’t stain their clothes or try to drink the water.
Epicenter Game
It looks like everyone is moving the same way, but in fact they’re all copying one person’s movements.
The person standing in the center of the circle has to guess who the “epicenter” is.
The epicenter also changes their movements so the tagger doesn’t notice.
The more people there are, the harder the game gets, so setting a time limit might be a good idea.
It’s a game you can play with both small and large groups.