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 (161–170)
mixed juice
It’s a hand-play song called “Mixed Juice.” Mixed juice has various fruits mixed together, right? You sing and play while expressing that with your hands.
Apples, grapes, strawberries, and cherries appear, and you mix them all to make mixed juice.
Hand-play songs are always fun no matter how many you have, and many are short, so let’s sing a lot and have a great time.
Crawling under the rope
Have the teacher make something like a finish line tape, and try passing through it! You can run or walk—either is fine.
The act of setting a goal and heading toward it piques children’s curiosity.
It might be even more exciting if you place some obstacles in between!
Night market vendor
It’s a game where you use your body to represent famous stalls you’d find at a night market, and in the end you move your whole body to have fun.
Even though you move your whole body, you only move in place, so it’s enjoyable indoors or in areas without much space.
A yo-yo is the right hand, cotton candy is the left hand, a balloon is the feet, a necklace is the neck, a hula hoop is the waist, hopping means bouncing in place while moving everything, and apricot candy is the mouth, which makes you talk a little funny.
You add these motions one by one, and it turns into really funny movements—everyone doing it will definitely get confused in a good way and have a great time!
Newspaper Rock-Paper-Scissors
A game you can play anywhere as long as you have a newspaper: “Newspaper Rock-Paper-Scissors.” Spread a single sheet of newspaper on the floor and stand on it.
Face a friend who’s in the same setup and play rock-paper-scissors.
The winner stays as they are; the loser folds their newspaper in half and stands on it again.
As you keep playing, the loser’s newspaper gets smaller and smaller.
It’s fine as long as you can stay on the paper without stepping off—standing on one foot is okay too.
The person who can’t keep standing and steps off the newspaper loses.
Flag-raising game
Haven’t you all played it at least once? It’s the “flag-raising game,” where you raise or lower your flags just as you’re told—like “Raise red, lower white.” When there are feints or the tempo speeds up, your head ends up in a jumble, right? Haha.
In kindergarten, let’s keep it simple and at a slow tempo so everyone can enjoy it.
Turning it into an elimination match could be fun, too!