Indoor games and recreational activities recommended for spring
Introducing indoor activities and recreation games perfect for spring!
Spring’s warm, pleasant weather feels great, but there are still days that can be a bit chilly.
As the rainy season approaches and rainy days increase, indoor play naturally becomes more common.
That said, keeping kids who want to play outside entertained indoors can be quite a challenge.
So in this article, we’ve gathered indoor activities and recreation games you can enjoy with children!
From active, movement-based games to sit-down activities that encourage focus, we’ve compiled a variety of ideas.
Use this list whenever you’re unsure what to do for indoor play.
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Indoor spring-friendly activities and recreation games (11–20)
Spring hand-play song
When it comes to easy indoor activities, hand-play songs—games you play while singing—are a great choice.
There are plenty of songs related to spring.
Let’s learn songs like “Haru ga Kita” and “Tsukushinbo” together, add some choreography, and have fun! Even when the weather’s bad and you can’t go outside, singing lyrics that evoke spring helps you picture the scenery and feel the season.
Plus, singing loudly with big gestures is a great way to relieve stress!
Mat exercises at home
How about doing some mat exercises at home? From forward rolls to cartwheels, there are plenty of beginner-friendly moves for small children, so why not look up a few and give the deep world of mat gymnastics a try? To prevent unexpected injuries, be sure to lay down a mat and watch out for corners or spots that could hurt if you bump into them.
Sometimes it helps to get a hand from Mom or Dad—the feeling when you land a move for the first time is really special.
It’s also a sport practiced in school PE classes, so it makes for great preparation!
Tail-tag game
A fun game that’s like tag with an extra twist: the “Tail-Taking Game.” Many children may have played it during everyday activities at nursery or kindergarten, or at sports day events.
You can use anything for the tail—long towels, plastic ribbon, sashes, you name it! You can also adjust the difficulty by changing the tail length or limiting the size of the area where players try to grab each other’s tails.
Be sure to play carefully so it doesn’t get too intense and lead to injuries.
Torn-paper collage
A classic game that’s been around forever: torn-paper collage.
I remember making a huge piece as a class for some event.
Usually, you work quietly on your own, doing detailed tasks on drawing paper.
Any base picture works—something like a coloring page is fine, or you can draw your own original and paste onto the picture you made.
You paste small torn pieces of origami paper on top of the drawing, and these days there’s origami that’s colored on both sides.
Using that makes it more colorful, and since you don’t have to worry about which side is up, even little kids can enjoy it easily.
Tissue Catch
Let’s try “tissue catch,” a game enjoyed on popular variety shows, to liven up rainy days indoors.
The rules are simple: just grab a fluttering tissue as it falls from above.
You can adjust the difficulty by using your non-dominant hand or by trying to grab it with chopsticks.
You can also set a time limit and compete to see how many tissues you can catch within that time.
It actually uses more of your body than you’d expect, making it perfect for getting some exercise when you can’t go outside!
Fruits Basket
The classic recreation game “Fruit Basket.” Players are divided into groups by fruit names.
When a fruit is called, everyone with that fruit stands up and moves to a different open seat.
The person who can’t find a seat gives the next prompt, and the game repeats.
When “Fruit Basket” is called, everyone must move regardless of their group.
You don’t have to use fruit names, and you can also play without grouping.
Try using different prompts like the clothes people are wearing or what they ate that day.
Indoor color tag
The tag game “Color Oni,” which we often played on schoolyards and in parks! It’s a special version of tag where you choose a color, and if you touch that color, you can escape from the chaser.
But since it’s Color Oni, wouldn’t playing indoors offer more variety than outdoors, with so many more colors around? At home, you can set colorful targets that are hard to find in a park, and you might get clever ideas because you know your home so well.
That said, you’ll still be running around, so be careful not to trip or bump into things while you play!
Origami ‘Cherry Blossom’
Early spring is when entrance and graduation ceremonies overlap.
Planning the decorations can be quite a task, right? In times like these, let the kids help make the decorations! You can create authentic cherry blossom decorations with origami! The folding steps are a bit intricate, but once you learn them, they’re easy to do.
There’s one step where you’ll need to use scissors, so be careful when handling them.
If you write messages on the finished decorations and display them, it’ll make for a heartfelt and wonderful ceremony! It’s a fun way to get ready, so we highly recommend it.
Prefecture Quiz
Many adults have likely visited numerous prefectures for business trips or travel.
Some of you have probably been to famous tourist spots like Tokyo Tower or Osaka Castle.
Even children, though they may not have been there, learn about the prefectures in social studies or encounter many sightseeing spots through games.
So how about hosting a “Prefecture Quiz” tournament to get everyone excited? There are plenty of quizzes uploaded on the internet and video sites, so feel free to use them as references.
Prizes might make it even more exciting!
ring toss
Ring toss is said to have originated from cowboys playing by tossing horseshoes.
You often see it at festival stalls and school culture festivals.
Why not enjoy this easygoing game together—the kind you might think, “Hey, I could do that too”? If you don’t have a ring toss set, start by making your own.
With old newspapers and tape, you can easily make the rings.
For targets, filled plastic bottles—like PET bottles filled with water—work well.
It’s likely to be handy for small local events, too!