[Play Right Away!] Exciting Recreation Games Recommended for Elementary School Students
Lively, fun recreation games that get elementary school kids excited! Whether in the classroom or the gym, there are plenty of activities that bring smiles to everyone’s faces.
Here, we’ll introduce fun ideas ranging from team-versus-team cooperative games and brain-teasing hiragana quizzes to active ball tag—everything from no-equipment options to games you can enjoy with simple prep.
These games help deepen friendships and reveal new sides of each other, so be sure to enjoy your time with friends through play!
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Rhythm, Music, and Dance Games (1–10)
Greeting game
Let’s greet according to the time of day! Here are some greeting game ideas.
These fun activities help you learn greetings suited to different times and cultures in a game-like way.
Walk around to music, and when the music stops, look at the illustration the teacher shows and say the appropriate greeting for that time of day—this helps develop decision-making skills! You can also incorporate greetings from other cultures, such as the United States and France, to learn greetings from around the world and expand your vocabulary.
Give it a try!
Beef Tongue Game
This is the “Gyutan Game,” a lively game you can play without any props.
All you need are both hands and the chant “gyutan.” First, put your hands together like a clam to get set, then start the chant.
For the first round, you only say “gyu” in “gyutan,” and on “tan” you clap your hands with a sharp tap.
In the second round, the number of “tan” increases by one, so you say “tan, tan” and clap twice; in the third round, you say “tan” three times.
As the number of “tan” claps keeps increasing, the tension and excitement build! With each round, kids get more absorbed and have a great time—highly recommended.
Rhythm, Music, and Dance Games (11–20)
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.
Number guessing game
It’s a number-guessing game where you try to predict how many people will crouch.
Everyone stands in a circle and, while jumping, says “Ready, 1!” or “2,” guessing how many people will crouch.
You can crouch yourself, or stay standing and just guess the number—it’s up to you.
It’s simple, but it uses both your body and your brain, and it’s a lot of fun.
It’s hard to guess the number of people who will crouch, so when someone nails it, the group is sure to cheer.
It’s also a great game for chilly or rainy days when kids want to move around—you can play it indoors in a small space.
Turtle-turtle hop
Let me introduce the “Kame-Kame-Pyon Game,” a no-prep game you can enjoy on the spot.
The rules are simple: each participant places one hand flat on the table.
Choose a leader, and on the chant “kame kame pyon,” everyone raises one finger of their choice.
If the leader raises the same finger as a participant, the leader loses.
If your raised finger doesn’t match the leader’s, you’re safe, and the role of leader rotates.
The last person remaining wins.
If you have a large group, dividing into teams is also recommended.
It’s a game that tests concentration and observation skills—give it a try!
Not the ball-bouncing version of ‘Antagata Dokosa’
Do you know “Antagata Dokosa”? It’s a children’s song from Kumamoto, and it’s strongly associated with being sung while playing with a handball (temari).
In recent years, though, “Antagata Dokosa” has been used for a different game.
In this version, players line up in a row, place their hands on the shoulders of the person in front, and jump forward with each character of the lyrics.
However, when the lyric reaches “sa,” they jump backward.
It looks simple, but it’s surprisingly difficult because you have to synchronize your timing with the people in front and behind you.
Musical chairs
Is this another game that needs no explanation? It’s musical chairs, a simple, exciting game everyone can play.
Arrange chairs in a circle—one fewer than the number of participants—and walk around them to music.
When the music stops, sit in a chair; the person left standing loses.
It’s precisely because it’s so simple that everyone gets absorbed and it becomes so much fun.
