Indoor and outdoor activities that avoid crowding. Enjoyable for students from first to sixth grade.
Some of you may be looking for games that can be played while maintaining social distance as a way to prevent colds and protect against viruses.
Games that can be played without close contact—such as ones that involve “minimal talking” or “keeping children from getting too close to each other”—are ideal.
In this article, we’ll introduce games that elementary school students from first to sixth grade can enjoy.
We’ve picked a wide range of themes, from activities that can be played in the classroom to ones that let kids move their bodies outdoors.
Try setting different rules for lower and upper grades and give them a go!
- Play ideas kids can enjoy from 1st to 6th grade [indoors & outdoors]
- [Play Right Away!] Exciting Recreation Games Recommended for Elementary School Students
- [Elementary School] Quick and Easy! Indoor Recreational Activities Perfect for Lower Grades
- Fun Indoor Games for Elementary School Kids Without Any Equipment
- [Children’s Club] Easy and fun indoor games. Exciting party games
- Recommended for upper elementary grades! Exciting indoor recreation and games
- [Elementary School Rec] Recommended Games and Performances for a Fun Party
- Elementary School Fun Day a Big Hit! Indoor Game Idea Collection
- [Elementary School] Indoor Games and Recreational Activities Recommended for Upper Primary Grades
- Outdoor games and recreational activities recommended for children
- [For Kids] Exciting Class-vs-Class Games: Team Competition Activities
- A big hit at after-school childcare! A special feature on group games and activities you can play without any equipment
- A simple and fun co-op game that enhances teamwork
Indoor and outdoor activities that avoid crowding. Enjoyable for grades 1 through 6 (11–20)
Text erasure
Let me introduce a letter-erasing game you can enjoy with nothing more than a whiteboard.
First, write out the full set of Japanese syllabary (the gojūon) on the whiteboard.
Then make words by combining those syllables and erase each character as you use it.
Keep repeating this and experiment to see how many characters you can erase in total.
It’s not a competitive game, so everyone can cooperate and play together.
You can take turns in a large group, or split into smaller groups—either works.
By the way, a tip is to use “ぬ,” “む,” “ろ,” and “る” early on.
Tail tag game with social distancing
A tail-chasing game where you tuck a tape “tail” into your pants and try to grab each other’s tails like tag.
Some of you may have played it in elementary school.
Here’s an adapted version of that tail game: the Social Distance Tail-Chasing Game.
The tape used as a tail is made about 2 meters long so you can enjoy the game while keeping social distance.
With a 2-meter length, you don’t need to get close to your opponent, so you can play safely while avoiding crowding!
Caricature Game
A portrait-drawing game everyone can enjoy with just paper and pens.
How to play: first, pick one person in the group as the model, and the other members draw that person’s portrait.
You only get one minute to draw! Do this for every person in the group.
When all the portraits are finished, gather the drawings and shuffle them.
Then, pick four drawings that you think are portraits of yourself.
The person who correctly identifies the most drawings they made wins.
It’s an even more exciting game when the players aren’t confident in their drawing skills!
A Daruma’s Day
You know the game “Daruma-san ga koronda,” right? A variation of it is called “Daruma-san’s Day.” Normally, when the It player turns around, everyone has to freeze, but in this version you have to move according to a prompt.
For example, if the caller says, “Daruma-san spun,” you must spin.
It also gets exciting if, instead of specific actions, you call out animal names.
Ultimately, players aim to tag the It player, but try to adapt the rules so there’s no physical contact.
NG Word Showdown
The “NG Word” game is a fun activity that can liven up gatherings with people of all ages.
In this game, words that people might casually say in conversation are designated as “NG words,” and the winner and loser are determined by how many times those words are said.
How to play: First, each participant writes one NG word on a piece of paper.
Collect all the papers, shuffle them, and then have everyone hold one above their head so that everyone else can see it, but they themselves cannot.
Start a conversation in this state, and the person who says their NG word the most times loses.
Frisbee
To avoid crowding, it’s important to keep your distance from others, right? Frisbee is the perfect game for times like that.
Originating in the United States, frisbee is a sport where you throw a disc shaped like a pie back and forth.
It flies farther and more slowly than a ball, so even people who aren’t good at playing catch can enjoy it.
And it’s not just about tossing it—there are techniques in frisbee, too.
By learning different throwing styles and practicing, you can discover the deeper world of frisbee.
Illustration Telephone Game
The game of Telephone is something many people have played.
The “Illustrated Telephone Game” is a variation of it.
The first player looks at a prompt image and draws an illustration resembling it.
When finished, they show their drawing to the next person, who then draws their own illustration in the same way.
Because the game is about how much you can convey using only drawings, no conversation is allowed during this process.
After the last person finishes their drawing, they reveal what they were drawing along with the picture.
If the final answer matches the original illustration, you’ve succeeded!
Gesture Game
A gesture game where you express everything with body movements instead of words.
Just by using gestures, you can enjoy many different ways to play.
One of the most fun styles is to respond instantly with a gesture to a prompt from the questioner.
As soon as the questioner says a prompt, you react and express the answer with a gesture.
If you ask questions at a pace of about five seconds per round, the game gets more challenging and becomes more enjoyable both for the person gesturing and for the audience.
Once you get used to it, everyone watching can become a questioner and throw out prompts, too.
Kick the can
Isn’t kick-the-can a simple game that all children can enjoy? It’s especially perfect for the era of social distancing.
Choose one person to be “it,” draw a circle on the ground, and place an empty can inside it.
Once someone kicks the can away, the game begins.
While “it” returns the can to its spot and counts, everyone else should hide.
The appeal of kick-the-can includes helping to strengthen lower-body muscles.
Players can also enjoy the sense of accomplishment that comes from hiding from “it.” In addition, it’s great for developing control when you kick the can to hit the target.
Small Number Game
All you need is paper and a pencil, and any number of people can play the Small Number Game.
It’s a simple game where you win if the number you chose doesn’t overlap with anyone else’s.
Here’s how to play: first, have everyone choose a number from 1 to 20.
Once everyone has chosen, the teacher or leader announces the numbers one by one.
When your chosen number is called, stand up.
If you’re the only one who stands, you win; if others stand up too, it means your numbers overlapped, so you lose.
Give this game a try to enjoy playing with a large group while avoiding crowding.