Play ideas kids can enjoy from 1st to 6th grade [indoors & outdoors]
Looking for games everyone from first to sixth grade can enjoy together? In response to those requests, here are activities that bring excitement across grade levels.
From escape-room style games where teammates work together to solve puzzles, to chase games where everyone holds hands to flee from the tagger—there are plenty of options you can enjoy in the classroom or the gym! Build teamwork and share lots of smiles.
From active, movement-based games to brain teasers, you’ll find a wide variety of activities that support children’s growth.
- [Play Right Away!] Exciting Recreation Games Recommended for Elementary School Students
- Indoor and outdoor activities that avoid crowding. Enjoyable for students from first to sixth grade.
- [Children’s Club] Easy and fun indoor games. Exciting party games
- Recommended for upper elementary grades! Exciting indoor recreation and games
- No worries even in the rain! Fun recreational activities you can do in the gym
- [Elementary School] Quick and Easy! Indoor Recreational Activities Perfect for Lower Grades
- Elementary School Fun Day a Big Hit! Indoor Game Idea Collection
- [Elementary School Rec] Recommended Games and Performances for a Fun Party
- [For Kids] Indoor Fun! Large-Group Recreational Activities and Games
- Liven up your children’s club event! A collection of ideas everyone can enjoy
- Recreation Activities That Excite Kids’ Clubs! Plans and Ideas Children Will Love
- [For Kids] Exciting Class-vs-Class Games: Team Competition Activities
- Recommended outdoor games and recreational activities for lower elementary school children
Outdoor play / physical activity play (1–10)
long rope jumping
Long rope jumping, which is often featured at events like sports days, becomes more difficult as the number of participants and the number of jumps increase.
It’s an activity that can boost team cohesion by having everyone synchronize their jumps and think about where to place each person.
You can simply compete on the number of jumps, or split into several teams and make it fun by competing with a combination of jump count and team size.
Treasure hunt with puzzles to enjoy in the park
Solve the riddles and find the treasure chest! Here are some ideas for a riddle-based treasure hunt you can enjoy at the park.
This is a great way to spark kids’ curiosity and creativity! By hiding treasures in a familiar park and coming up with clever puzzle questions, you can help develop problem-solving skills.
As children search for hidden items like sweets and toys, they’ll feel the thrill and excitement—and the satisfaction of success.
Both the seekers and the planners are sure to have a great time together.
Hoop-Passing Relay
Let’s play the “Ring-Passing Relay,” a game everyone can enjoy, from kids to adults, regardless of age! Prepare a ring big enough for a person to pass through.
A hula hoop works, or you can tie a rope into a loop.
Line up side by side and hold hands with the person next to you.
Give the ring to the person at the front, and at the start signal, they pass through the ring and then pass it along to the next person.
The team that gets the ring to the last person the fastest wins.
However, if anyone lets go of hands midway or uses their hands to help themselves through the ring, it’s a foul and the team must start over from the front.
Outdoor play / Active play (11–20)
Tag, child-catching demon (a variant of tag called “Kotorooni”/“Kotoro-oni”).
It’s a game played with an “it” (oni) and a line of children.
In regular tag, you run away so you don’t get caught by the tagger, right? In Kotorogui, the oni targets the child at the end of a single-file line.
The oni moves to try to tag the last child with a ball.
The child at the front of the line spreads their arms to guard the last child from the oni.
It’s surprisingly strenuous, making it perfect for kids who want to be active.
As the line gets longer, it becomes easier for the oni to exploit gaps in the guard.
Musical chairs
This is the famous classic everyone knows: musical chairs.
Arrange the chairs in a circle with one or a few fewer chairs than the number of participants, and have people walk around them to music.
When the music stops, everyone sits down at the same time, and those who can’t find a seat are out.
It’s an effective game that trains quick decision-making by using both hearing and sight.
Moving House Tag
@kidschallengeclub♪ Odoru Pompokolin (Chibi Maruko-chan) – soyoco.nico.moco
Let’s move from cone house to cone house! Here’s a tag game idea for moving day.
It’s a fun way to get active while building reflexes and strategic thinking! Arrange traffic cones in a circle, and the tagger chases friends inside the circle and tries to tag them—the rules are simple and easy to understand! However, the runners must quickly move to an open cone while avoiding the tagger’s gaze, putting their focus and agility to the test.
Time your moves well and keep dodging so you don’t get tagged!
Balloon Tape Peeling Game
As the title says, it’s a game where you peel tape off a balloon! But if you do that… the balloon might pop, right? So the key in this game is to peel the tape off very gently so the balloon doesn’t burst! The moment you pull it off is nerve-wracking, but what’s scariest is lifting the edge with your nail at the start (lol)! By the way, if you use extra-long pieces of tape or press them on really firmly to make them harder to remove, the difficulty goes up! You can enjoy a thrill similar to Pop-Up Pirate.
