Great for field trips too! Outdoor recreation and games for elementary school kids: hands-on play
Many people probably imagine that when it comes to how today’s elementary schoolers play, they’re gaming or enjoying their favorite streaming videos.
Even if you want to play outside together or let them experience nature, you might find yourself thinking, “What do elementary school kids actually enjoy?” or “They’ll probably get bored right away…” and struggle to come up with good ideas.
So in this article, we’ve gathered outdoor recreations and games that are recommended for elementary school students and can be enjoyed outside.
There are plenty of activities that let you play using things found in nature, even without balls or special equipment.
Try incorporating them not only into family outings, but also on school field trips and during extracurricular lessons.
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- [Play Right Away!] Exciting Recreation Games Recommended for Elementary School Students
- Outdoor Recreation Popularity Rankings
- Recommended outdoor games and recreational activities for lower elementary school children
- Fun nature activities that children will love. Recreational games.
- [Elementary School] Games and Recreational Activities to Enjoy at a Forest School Camp
- Outdoor games and recreational activities recommended for children
- Recommended outdoor games you can enjoy without any equipment
- Recommended outdoor recreation for junior high school students: A roundup of fun outdoor activities
- [Active Outdoors!] A roundup of garden games you can enjoy with your kids
- Get Active! Outdoor Play Ideas for Elementary School Kids
- A simple and fun co-op game that enhances teamwork
- Indoor and outdoor activities that avoid crowding. Enjoyable for students from first to sixth grade.
[Great for Field Trips, Too!] Outdoor Recreation & Games for Elementary School Kids: Experiential Activities (11–20)
Night hike
The winner of the 2nd Japan Booksellers’ Award was Riku Onda’s Nighttime Picnic.
It’s a coming-of-age story about high school students who take part in an event where they walk 80 kilometers through the night, and it was also adapted into a film starring Mikako Tabe.
Shihori Kanjiya and Aki Nishihara also appeared in it.
It’s perfect for the long nights of summer—how about organizing a night hike for elementary schoolers? They can’t handle an 80-kilometer trek, of course, but a shorter walk could become an unforgettable event!
Rock Picking Game
If you’re going somewhere with a pool, I recommend trying the “stone collecting game.” In this game, you drop stones or similar objects into the pool and dive to pick them up.
The rules are simple: the child who collects the most stones wins—but it gets surprisingly exciting.
This activity also has the added benefit of helping kids naturally learn how to move underwater.
outdoor cooking
Cooking, which would be categorized as housework at home, turns into a fun recreational activity just by doing it outside with the kids.
Making curry or having a barbecue is a camping classic, right? These days, there are even campgrounds where the staff handle fire-starting and cleanup so you can just enjoy the cooking, so let’s check out places like that too.
Snorkeling
Unlike scuba diving, snorkeling is an easy activity to enjoy and is hugely popular at tourist spots and seaside resorts.
If you stay within a depth where you can stand, there’s no risk of drowning, and even children who aren’t confident swimmers are sure to have a blast! If water gets into the snorkel, it can cause panic, so make sure to properly teach how to clear it.
If your school isn’t near the ocean, you can use a pool and turn it into a treasure-hunt event to enjoy snorkeling! Fun fact: “Schnorchel” is German, while “snorkel” is English!
sledding
If you’re looking for an activity that uses both your head and your body, cardboard “sledding” is a great choice.
In this recreation, you slide down a grassy hill using a cardboard sled you’ve made yourself.
You’ll use your brain to figure out how to build a faster sled, and your body to master riding it—making it a two-in-one activity.
Another perk is that cardboard keeps the cost low.
Rope climbing (tree climbing)
Kids love climbing trees.
Since they can always climb the usual way, if you’re doing it as an outdoor activity, I recommend rope climbing.
Because this activity involves using ropes, the appeal is that you can safely climb higher than usual.
Places with tall trees are rich in nature, so it’s also great if your goal is to connect with the natural environment.
Sweet potato digging experience
Sweet potatoes grow large in almost any region of Japan.
You plant them in the comfortable season around May to June and harvest them in autumn, when a pleasant coolness still lingers, so both planting and harvesting can be enjoyed comfortably.
Because sweet potatoes are resistant to disease and rarely suffer from continuous cropping issues, many school gardens grow them.
If you head out to the suburbs, you’ll find plenty of farms offering harvest experiences, making them perfect for autumn field trips.
The sweet potatoes you harvest can also be cooked in home economics classes—sweet potatoes might just be a treasure trove of teaching material!
Rock-paper-scissors leaf collecting
If you’re looking for a nature-themed activity, how about this “Rock-Paper-Scissors Leaf Collecting” game? In this game, the child who wins rock-paper-scissors gets to pick up a fallen leaf, and you repeat this many times.
However, each time they must choose a leaf that differs in shape or color from the previous ones.
Because kids look closely at the leaves, it becomes a great prompt for observing nature.
kite flying
Speaking of kite flying, it really brings to mind New Year’s, doesn’t it? These days you can even buy kites at 100-yen shops, and there are easy DIY kits, too.
It’s a perfect leisure activity not just for New Year’s, but also in spring and summer—seasons with more sunny days than winter and pleasant breezes.
But don’t underestimate it as just a kids’ game! Controlling a kite while taking the wind’s strength and direction into account can be quite challenging even for adults.
How about giving it a try as a parent-child activity, saying “This is tricky!” together while you fly a kite?
fishing
If you’re heading to a river or the sea, I definitely recommend trying fishing.
It’s a two-for-one activity: fun to catch and delicious to eat, and even elementary school kids get super excited just seeing the fish.
These days, there are plenty of campgrounds where you can fish, so you can cook and eat your catch right away.
Visiting a fishing pond is also a lot of fun.