[Childcare / Physical Play] Fun Activities to Get Moving
Physical activity play is essential in early childhood education, isn’t it?
Here, we introduce ideas for outdoor play and activities you can do indoors.
Use these examples to incorporate a variety of movement games and help children grow strong in both mind and body.
Many of the activities don’t require special equipment, so you can feel at ease even without preparation.
When adults join in the fun, everyone can enjoy a great time together.
Create joyful moments filled with laughter.
Let both children and adults move their bodies a lot and play with energy!
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[Childcare & Physical Play] Fun Body-Moving Activities (21–30)
Mr. Crane, Mr. Turtle, spin and pop!
“Crane and Turtle: Spin and Clap” is a game that starts with pairs of two.
After striking a crane pose and a turtle pose, you spin and clap hands together on “pon.” It’s also great for preschools and kindergartens to form one big circle as a class and clap on “pon.” You can add variations, like doing rock-paper-scissors after “pon.” It’s a rhythmic activity that uses the body—bending and stretching arms and legs, and spinning.
It’s also important to watch your partner closely and sync your movements.
Children can learn to cooperate and play together with friends.
Moving Game
The “Moving House Game” is a game that gets everyone excited even without any equipment.
You can play it outdoors or indoors, but outdoors is smoother since you only need to draw lines to mark the bases.
First, make two bases.
Make sure they’re big enough for all the children to fit.
When the tagger shouts “Move house!” that’s the signal for everyone to move to the other base.
If you get tagged while moving, you’re out.
Watch the tagger’s movements and run so you can make your move safely.
It involves lots of physical activity, so it’s also great for cold days!
Kocho-ko Choco
We’d like to introduce a play song perfect for tickle games.
Is what’s in the box chocolate, or a tickle? Enjoy matching the actions to the lyrics.
If it’s chocolate, say “Here you go!” and offer it as a present; if it’s a tickle, give a little tickle.
With babies, caregivers can use it as a bonding touch game, and with toddlers and preschoolers, kids can pair up with friends and enjoy it as a hand-play song or dance song.
It could also be fun to set your own original items in the box besides chocolate and tickles!
Signaling Game
It’s also great for a quick play during small breaks! Here’s an idea for a traffic light game.
Traffic lights are important indicators for learning traffic rules.
When crossing roads where cars and bicycles are moving, they play a crucial role in keeping yourself safe.
This time, let’s use the colors of the traffic light to play a game.
Move forward on “green,” step back on “yellow,” and stop on “red.” Through these simple rules, children can get a feel for the basic rules of “waiting” and “moving.”
Mojo-Mojo Bug
Mojo-Mojo Mushi starts with a lively shout of “The little bugs are coming out!” First, wiggle your hands to imitate how bugs move.
Once everyone has warmed up by making faces like a crybaby bug or an angry bug, the teacher gives the cue and the chase begins! You can enjoy lots of variations: use your whole body to show wiggly movements, try making crybaby or angry bug faces while gently touching your friends’ faces, and more.
If you’re getting tired of the standard game of tag, give this a try!
Core training exercise
This is the “Core Roll Exercise,” a game you can play using toilet paper cores.
In pairs, you roll the cores back and forth or blow on them to make them roll.
You can also keep holding hands while you play, or spin around with the core at the center—there are lots of ways to move your body depending on your ideas.
Toilet paper cores are easy to prepare as recycled materials, so it’s something you can start right away when you want indoor activity on a rainy day.
This game also lets friends enjoy communicating with each other.
It’ll be exciting to play a lot and get the hang of it!
Mark-finding game
The “Mark Hunt Game,” where you walk along specified marks like circles, triangles, and squares, is an indoor activity recommended for children aged five and up.
First, tape several sheets of paper with different marks drawn on them to the floor to make a path.
Also prepare one sheet for each type of mark at the goal.
The children start while holding a ball.
It’s best to play barefoot so they don’t slip.
At the end, count how many balls were correctly placed at the goal for each team.
Competing by team and counting out loud together makes it really exciting!
