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.
- Indoor recreation popularity ranking
- A collection of simple indoor recreational games
- Elementary School Fun Day a Big Hit! Indoor Game Idea Collection
- Games and activities everyone can enjoy together. A collection of fun play ideas.
- [Elementary School] Indoor Games and Recreational Activities Recommended for Upper Primary Grades
- Fun! Spring activities for children: recreation and hands-on play
- [For Kids] Fun Indoor Game Ideas for After-School Day Services
- Indoor games for parents and children: fun activities that use the body and the mind
- [For Kids] Today's Recommended Recreation Idea Collection
- Fun Indoor Games for Elementary School Kids Without Any Equipment
- Recommended for upper elementary grades! Exciting indoor recreation and games
- Brain-teasing game roundup
- [Simple Games] Recommended Indoor Recreational Activities for Adults
Indoor springtime activities and recreation games recommended (51–60)
Let’s pretend to be animals and play
An activity that lets kids move their bodies freely indoors is “pretend to be animals.” It’s a game where you become an animal and imitate its movements.
With this, children can be active without worry even in small spaces or in apartments where noise is a concern.
When you can’t go outside, stress can build up easily, so it’s perfect for a change of pace.
To make it even more fun, we recommend making animal masks in advance.
Doing so helps kids learn more about animals and enjoy the fun of creating things.
It’s a great indoor activity for parents and children to enjoy together!
Origami “Name Tag”
Spring often brings big changes—moving up to a new grade or switching classes—and you meet many people for the first time.
You’ll probably start by learning each other’s names, and that’s where making name tags comes in handy.
With just a single sheet of origami paper, you can create an adorable tulip-shaped name tag.
There’s no cutting with scissors or gluing involved, so even young children can make them safely!
Origami ‘Sakura Bowl’
Let’s try folding a springlike cherry blossom dish with origami.
When you think of spring, you think of cherry blossoms—it’s one of the season’s symbols.
Making and displaying or using items with a cherry blossom motif really enhances the spring mood.
You’ll create a boat-shaped piece with origami, which will become a single cherry blossom petal.
Make five identical petals and glue them together to form a cherry blossom.
Cherry blossoms are pink, of course, but using different shades of pink origami would be cute as well.
Finger Catch
Everyone stands in a circle.
Hold up the index finger of your right hand, and make a small ring with the thumb and index finger of your left hand.
Next, place your right index finger into the ring of the person to your right.
At the leader’s cue—“kya, kya, kya, catch!”—pull your right index finger out and squeeze your left-hand ring tightly.
If you’re too slow pulling your finger out and it gets caught, you lose.
The leader may also use feints like “cabbage” or “candy.”
Newspaper Rock-Paper-Scissors
A game you can play anywhere as long as you have a newspaper: Newspaper Rock-Paper-Scissors.
Each player takes a sheet of newspaper, places it on the floor, and stands on it.
Play rock-paper-scissors: the winner stays as is, while the loser folds their newspaper in half and stands on it again.
Keep repeating.
The player who can no longer stand on their newspaper, or who loses their balance and steps off, loses.
Standing on one foot still counts as being on the newspaper, so that’s safe.
It’s a game that tests not only your rock-paper-scissors skills but also your sense of balance.
Clay play
Let’s try making seasonal crafts with clay! With the handmade boom, you can now buy clay inexpensively at 100-yen shops and the like.
Clay also lets you create your favorite colors, gives you a lot of creative freedom, and is easy to dispose of, so you can enjoy crafting without hassle.
Among the different types of clay, resin clay is especially recommended.
It’s very safe and easy to handle, and it finishes smoothly, making it perfect for figures and fake food.
Have fun creating pieces that evoke the feeling of spring!
paper cup holder
Do you know the bottle flip challenge? It’s a game where you flip a plastic bottle that’s about one-third full of liquid and try to make it land upright.
Thanks to social media and video sites, it’s become something we see a lot.
But let’s all have fun with something that might have been around even before the bottle flip: standing up a paper cup.
You can throw it by hand or kick it—change up the rules however you like and try to get the cup to stand.
It’s a non-digital game you can enjoy indoors—perfect for a rainy day!
Hana Ichi Monme
An old traditional children’s game, the nursery rhyme “Hana Ichi Monme.” You split into two groups, line up in single file, and face each other to play.
The song seems to vary a bit by region and generation, but the basic way of playing is the same.
While singing, one side advances and the other retreats, alternating back and forth, and then each team sends out a representative to play rock-paper-scissors.
The loser joins the winner’s team, and you continue like this; the team that ends up with more members wins.
It’s simple, but it’s a game you can enjoy indoors.
Evolution Rock-Paper-Scissors
When I go into the city, I sometimes come across umbrella specialty shops.
I’ve never actually gone inside, but even someone like me who only ever uses 200–300 yen plastic umbrellas can’t help wondering, “What kinds of umbrellas do they have?” I’d love to try one that suits the spring rain.
Let me introduce an indoor game that won’t be defeated by rainy weather: Evolution Rock-Paper-Scissors.
It’s a thrilling group activity where multiple people play rock-paper-scissors together, and winners keep evolving step by step.
You can all come up with the animals to evolve into on the spot, which makes it even more exciting.
It’s much more fun to play than it sounds on paper.
If you’re curious, be sure to look it up!
A game of when, where, who, and what happened
It’s a game where everyone writes words on cards for each category—“when,” “where,” “who,” and “what happened”—and then combines them to create silly sentences for fun.
It’s easier if you separate the cards by category and draw randomly from each to make a sentence.
It’s a recreational activity that also helps you learn how to create sentences while having fun.