A big hit at after-school childcare! A special feature on group games and activities you can play without any equipment

Gesture Game

Kids and adults alike go all out! Gesture game!

A gesture game that kids of different grades can all enjoy together.

They often see it on TV shows, so they’re familiar with it.

It’s fun to have everyone guess the gestures, but making it a team competition makes it even more exciting.

Take turns being the person who gestures and see how many prompts your team can guess within the time limit.

The team with the most correct answers wins.

If a gesture is too hard to figure out, you can pass—but decide in advance how many passes are allowed!

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utatane

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Poly bag race

Plastic Bag Carpet Race from “The Latest and Most Fun Recreation Games”

This is a two-person game called the “Plastic Bag Carpet Race.” One person stands on a plastic bag placed on the floor, while the other crouches in front and holds both ends of the bag.

At the starting signal, the pair synchronizes their movements with the call, “Ready, go!” The person on top jumps, the person below pulls the bag forward, the jumper lands on the pulled-forward bag, and they repeat this to head for the finish line.

Stepping off the plastic bag is a disqualification.

It’s also fun to make it a team competition and race against others.

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utatane

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everyone game

@mimasakadaigaku

Everyone gets tripped up the first time... “Everyone’s Game”! This is a rec you can’t go wrong with! Mimasaka University Everyone’s GameClass party/activity

♬ Exciting, product introduction, service introduction, CM(1379436) – MoppySound

Perfect for class events and grade-wide recreation! Here are game ideas for everyone.

These unique ideas are great for grabbing the attention of children in a group or filling short breaks.

The teacher acts as the leader and gives the children instructions for actions.

However, they should only follow actions that include the phrase “everyone.” Well-behaved children tend to follow every instruction the leader gives, but the rule is to follow only the instructions that include “everyone.” Try using this when you want them to focus.

Cup Ball Relay

@soramame.sensei

Hello! This is Soramame Kids, the Language Classroom 😊 Today’s featured activity is the Cup Ball Relay 🌟 The goals of this activity are: • Eye–hand teamwork (hand–eye coordination) • Moving slowly and carefully • Controlling the amount of force It’s surprisingly easy for the ball to fall, so adjusting your strength is tricky 🤣 Form a few lines and race—it’s lots of fun 🎵 Give it a try! 🌈Kotoba no Kyoushitsu Soramame Kids#SoramameKids# developmental support (ryōiku)#KagoshimaRehabilitationChild Development SupportAfter-school day service#Indoor PlayBall playpaper cup

♬ Playing with trees, crafts, toys, heartwarming, fun(1125179) – yutaka.T

You only need two items to prepare! Here’s an idea for a Cup-and-Ball Relay.

The movements are simple, but it’s surprisingly tricky—exactly why it gets exciting.

Give the Cup-and-Ball Relay a try! You’ll need paper cups and colored balls.

It’s helpful to increase or decrease the number of paper cups based on how the children are doing.

You use one colored ball per lane, but if you plan to add more lanes, having about five on hand will give you peace of mind.

The rule is simple: place the colored ball on top of a lined-up paper cup and move it along, cup by cup.

Definitely give it a try!

Shooting Catch

Play with scrap materials and colorful balls! Here’s a fun idea for a shooting-and-catch game.

Many schools are probably engaged in SDGs initiatives and recycling activities.

Try creating an opportunity to deepen learning while playing with children using repurposed materials.

You’ll need toilet paper rolls, colorful balls, and a tray.

Stand the toilet paper rolls upright and place a colorful ball on top of each one.

Then slide the tray along the floor to knock over the rolls and catch the balls on the tray—it’s a fun and exciting game!

Ball Scissor Relay

@mimasakadaigaku

A must-see for elementary school teachers! A fun body-building exercise: “Ball Squeeze Relay”!#Mimasaka UniversityElementary school teacherFun exercise

♬ Original song – moe. – 🎀

Can’t stop laughing!? Here’s a fun idea for a “ball-squeeze relay.” It’s perfect for those who want to run an activity in a large space like a gym or schoolyard.

All you need are balls and cones or markers to indicate the start and finish.

Pair up in teams of two, use your bodies to hold the ball in place, and aim for the goal.

If you touch the ball with your hands or drop it, you simply restart from that spot.

It’s a simple game, and because it’s a relay, you’ll feel the excitement and suspense as you play.

A paper cup game that requires cooperation

@.vs9086

This time it’s a “cooperation-required cup game”! Materials: • 4 strings • 1 rubber band • Paper or plastic cups How to play: • Attach the 4 strings to the rubber band. • Line up the paper cups. • Tug the rubber band from four directions to grip the cup and stack them into a pyramid. This game builds fine hand control and concentration. Plus, one person can take the lead by giving instructions, and the other listens and responds. You can’t do it unless the two of you work together. My second son isn’t very cooperative and hasn’t really had experiences of accomplishing something together with friends, so I hope that, even through play, he can gradually gain experiences of achieving something with someone else. If you have paper cups, you can also branch out into other games like: • Sport stacking • Bowling ————— We share fun brain-boosting activities that elementary schoolers will get more absorbed in than a Switch—and that help grow their talents! Check out the other posts, too! —————Elementary school kids' playBrain-boosting playSTEAM education

♬ Cheap and cute athletic meet classic song(1085557) – Kids Sound

Have fun with minimal equipment! Here are ideas for cooperative must-have paper cup games.

When planning a recreation activity or a fun event, it can be hard to choose from so many games.

Some require preparing special materials…

But these paper cup games are recommended because all you need are paper or plastic cups and rubber bands or string! It also sounds fun to form groups and compete to recreate a model shape.

You’ll likely see the kids calling out to each other and getting completely absorbed.

Rock–paper–scissors game using newspaper

@toiro_efilagroup

How much can you endure?newspaper (newsprint)#RockPaperScissors# developmental support (ryōiku)PlayAfter-school day service#toiroKanagawa

♪ Original song – toiro After-school Day – toiro After-school Day

Play while visualizing wins and losses! Here’s an idea for a rock-paper-scissors game using newspaper.

When you’re playing rock-paper-scissors, you sometimes wonder how everyone else is doing, right? This time, how about using newspaper to make the results visible as you play? Adding actions beyond just rock-paper-scissors can also boost children’s interest in the game.

The rules are simple: stand on a spread-out sheet of newspaper, and each time you lose, fold the newspaper smaller.

Imagining it as a boat floating on the sea or a bridge over a mountain can make it even more exciting!

Shiritori Dance Game

Perfect for rec time or school events! Shiritori Dance Game

This is a game that adds a movement element to the word-linking game shiritori, making the thinking process more complex.

The rule is to express the connected words with movements as well, so words that are hard to express through movement are out—that’s the challenging part.

While traditional shiritori proceeds with names of things, since this version emphasizes movement, it might work well to play using verbs.

It could also be fun to proceed rhythmically to music, or to have everyone present perform the movement whenever a word is called out.

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kappamaki

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Team Gesture Game Competition

Team Gesture Quiz Battle!

It’s a game where one person on the team looks at a prompt and acts it out with gestures, while the other members try to guess what it is.

It tests the team’s ability to cooperate—choosing movements that are as clear as possible and carefully observing even the small details.

Setting a time limit to push for quicker answers is also recommended; the rush to convey the idea might lead to some funny, unexpected movements.

If you gradually make the prompts more detailed and difficult, you’ll likely start to see each person’s unique style in which parts they focus on when they move.

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kappamaki

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