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
Indoor activities that are easy to do (1–10)
Newspaper Island
Spread out a sheet of newspaper on the floor and stand on it.
Play rock-paper-scissors with the representative and everyone; if you lose, fold the newspaper in half and stand on it again.
Keep repeating: if you lose, fold it in half.
If you can no longer stand on the newspaper, you lose.
It’s okay as long as you can stay balanced on it, even on one foot.
Bomb game
This is the “Bakudan Game” (Bomb Game) that kids of any age—from little ones to older children—can enjoy.
Sometimes it’s played with something that actually pops, like a balloon, but in this version you use a ball pretending to be a bomb.
Everyone sits in a circle, and at the start signal you play music and quickly pass the ball to the next person in time with the beat.
When the music stops, the person holding the ball is out—the idea is that the bomb has exploded.
Decide that the bomb can explode up to three times, and if someone causes three explosions, they have to do a penalty challenge!
Anything Basket
Fruit Basket is a classic game that everyone—from small children to adults—can enjoy together.
Chairs are arranged in a circle, one person stands in the middle as “it,” and calls out the name of a fruit assigned to a group.
Everyone assigned that fruit stands up, moves, and tries to sit in an open chair; anyone who can’t find a seat becomes “it.” When the caller says “Fruit Basket,” everyone has to move.
There’s also a variation called “Anything Basket,” where you don’t divide into fruit groups.
For example, you might call “Anyone who had bread for breakfast” or “Anyone who has a pet,” which also makes for great conversation starters afterward.
Indoor activities that are easy to do (11–20)
Finger Catch
Finger Catch is a perfect recreational game for larger groups.
The rules are simple: one person opens their hand flat, and another places their index finger on the palm.
When the facilitator gives the cue “Catch,” you try to catch the finger.
If you play in a circle, it’s easy to enjoy even with many people.
Of course, it’s also fun one-on-one, and you can even tweak it by doing it with both hands at the same time.
Just be careful with small children, as fingers can be easily injured—don’t let things get too heated.
Drawing Telephone Game
Are you all good at drawing? Let’s play a drawing-based telephone game called “Drawing Whisper Game.” Everyone puts on a blindfold, and only the first person knows the prompt—that’s how we start.
The first person looks at the prompt and draws it.
It’s a telephone game, but without speaking; you pass the message along using only drawings.
The next person looks at the drawing and draws the same thing, then shows it to the next person, and so on.
The last person guesses what it is.
Of course, it rarely goes smoothly, which makes it an exciting game.
Prompts like animals or characters that are easy for young children to draw are recommended.
Gesture Game
Gesture Game is an easy, anywhere activity you can play with just paper and a pen.
You often see it on TV variety shows.
Pick one person on each team to perform gestures, and make sure the others can’t see the card with the prompt.
The performer must not speak—only use gestures to convey the prompt.
Split into several teams depending on the number of players, and the team that gets the most correct within the time limit wins.
Using prompts like sports or animal names works well, as they’re easy for younger children to understand.
Rhythm 4
This is a game that tests your ability to listen to instructions and make decisions by calling out your own name in time with a 4-beat rhythm.
You advance through the four counts using actions like tapping the desk or clapping, so the overlap of sound and movement adds to the fun.
You need to listen carefully to which person the previous player called and on which number, then decide and act accordingly.
By adding variations—such as changing the actions for each number or introducing instructions that aren’t just names and numbers—you can enjoy the game at a higher difficulty level, which is recommended for those who’ve gotten the hang of it.
