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Lovely Play & Recreation

Fun! Spring activities for children: recreation and hands-on play

We’ve gathered springtime games and activities we’d love children to experience.

After making it through winter and with the weather getting warmer, it’s the perfect season to get moving outdoors.

Many children have probably been eagerly waiting for this time of year.

In this article, we’ll introduce recommended games and recreational activities, focusing on those unique to spring.

We’ve included activities you can enjoy near home as well as leisure outings ideal for spring, so please use this as a reference when planning family trips, everyday play, or outdoor activities at daycare or kindergarten!

Fun! Spring activities for kids: Recreation & hands-on play (11–20)

Spring Flower Matching Game

[Make and Play♪] Spring Flower Matching Card Game 🌷 #preschoolcrafts #preschoolteacher #teacherresources #traineeteacher #teacherlife #withkids #constructionpaper #matchinggame #paperart #papercraft
Spring Flower Matching Game

Build kids’ concentration while they play! Let me introduce a spring flower matching game.

You’ll need flower illustrations, construction paper, glue, and scissors.

The rules are simple: find pairs of identical picture cards, and the player who collects the most cards in the end wins.

What flowers come to mind when you think of spring? It could be fun to go outside with the children and look for flowers to turn into cards.

Remembering where previously flipped cards were is an important key to success! It’s also great because you can adapt it for each season.

Spring Things Bingo

Let’s aim for bingo! Here are some ideas for a spring-themed bingo.

When you think of spring, things like cherry blossoms, tulips, and Children’s Day come to mind! How about sharing words that pop into your head and creating your very own bingo card? It’ll feel fun when you find matching words with your friends or family.

If you’re playing at a preschool, it’s also great to turn each idea into a simple illustration, cut them out, and paste them to make your bingo cards.

Give it a try!

pressed flower(s)

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pressed flower(s)

In this age where everything is becoming digitized, there may be many children who don’t even know what pressed flowers are.

The image of dried flowers is similar to that of dry flower arrangements.

Thin pressed flowers can be laminated and used as bookmarks—surprisingly stylish! Spring is a great season for pressed flowers because so many flowers are in bloom.

They’re easy to make: just wrap the flowers in a few sheets of paper and place a weight on top.

Then simply wait a few days.

If you’re in a hurry, wrap the flowers in paper towels, sandwich them between pieces of cardboard, secure with rubber bands, and microwave for about a minute.

After a few tries, you’ll start to get the hang of it!

soap bubble

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soap bubble

Winter is so cold that it’s hard to play outside, but once spring arrives, it gets warm and playing outdoors becomes fun again! That’s why I recommend soap bubbles! It’s not easy to do bubbles indoors, right? Using store-bought bubble solution is fine, but if you make your own, you can create bubbles that don’t pop as easily! It’s also a plus for parents that you can make it with ingredients like purified water and laundry starch that are available at pharmacies or home improvement stores.

If you make the bubble solution together with the kids from scratch, it’ll make the whole experience even more exciting!

Spring Sports Day

Yamanote Academy Kindergarten, Junior Class, Spring Sports Day
Spring Sports Day

Run, throw, laugh, and have fun! Here are some ideas for a spring sports day.

Many people might associate sports days with autumn, right? In recent years, however, more places have started holding them in spring.

The reasons include more stable weather, a lower risk of heatstroke, and the desire to avoid packing too many events together.

As for the events, it’s nice to choose ones like sprints and ball tosses where you can watch the kids give it their all.

The look on their faces—after they refuse to give up, gain new skills, and build confidence—is truly inspiring.

Picnic

Three sisters who enjoyed a picnic with their close friends
Picnic

On warm, sunny spring days, you feel like going on a picnic, don’t you? Just spreading out a picnic blanket in a spacious park or on a gentle hill and eating a packed lunch is enough to make you happy.

It’s exciting to think about what to put in the lunch, too.

Try asking your child what they’d like.

If you have plenty of space, you might also enjoy playing some light sports together with your child.

Fun! Spring Activities for Kids: Recreation & Hands-on Play (21–30)

Exercise play you can enjoy at home

Introducing age-appropriate physical play you can do at home [Rakuwakai Health Class Web Edition]
Exercise play you can enjoy at home

Even when you can’t play outside, you still want to move your body! In times like that, let’s enjoy some active play at home.

For infants and toddlers, try baby massage or touch-and-play activities.

For preschoolers through elementary school kids, how about a spy game with a treasure hunt or a round of table tennis on the table? For the spy game, setting up obstacles around the room and preparing a treasure map can really liven things up.

For table tennis, you can substitute household items: a tissue box for the net, a pot lid for the paddle, and a super ball for the ball.