Indoor Games for Preschoolers

10 Fun Indoor Games for Preschoolers

There are numerous reasons children may be stuck indoors; snow days, rainy days, cold days, or even days when it is too hot to enjoy being outside.

It is not uncommon to hear how bored a child can become in situations that limit their creative abilities and somehow create a barrier that blocks out any ideas of how to make an indoor day fun.

Indoor games do not need to be complicated or expensive to be enjoyable. Continue reading for ten of the best indoor games for preschoolers.

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Activities for Preschoolers

I Spy

How do you play I Spy in the classroom?

This game can be played anywhere when a preschooler needs some entertainment. Different variations can be played with individuals or groups of children.

One of the most well-known versions is to have one person spy on an item and have the others take turns guessing what the object is. When someone guesses correctly, it is then their turn to spy on something until the game is finished.

Other variations include limiting how many guesses each child gets, focusing on larger or smaller objects, keeping spied things within a particular room, or using a themed game to spy and guess from specific topics such as animals, plants, shapes, or colors.

Indoor Bowling

Rules for indoor bowls

Indoor bowling is an excellent way to help preschoolers engage their motor and cognitive skills while having fun with friends and family.

Reusing saved water bottles or soda bottles and a medium or large-sized indoor-approved ball, setting up a bowling lane is quite simple. Arrange six to ten bottles in a typical bowling triangle and explain the method of rolling the ball to knock over the “pins.”

Carpet tape is a fantastic way to introduce boundaries and aim to keep the ball within the extended rectangle.

Hot Potato

How to play hot potato game

The game Hot Potato is best played with multiple people. Have everyone stand or sit in a circle and be prepared to pass the “hot potato,” usually a bean bag.

The game’s goal is to give the hot potato as quickly as possible to the person next to you before the music stops.

When the music stops, the person holding the hot potato will leave the circle, bringing the remaining players closer together until the last two players pass the potato to each other.

Indoor group games for kids

Musical Chairs

How to play musical chairs with preschoolers

This game is popular among children who enjoy musical activities. After counting how many children will be playing, place one less chair in a group, line, or back-to-back design. The game’s object is to be the last one sitting in a chair at the end of the round.

While music is playing, the children will walk, skip, hop, or dance in a circle around the chairs, but when the music stops, everyone must quickly find a chair and sit. The child left standing is then out for the rest of the game.

A chair is taken away when one child is out to keep the chair count one less than the number of children. Suppose there are not enough chairs to play with.

In that case, other variations include taping construction paper to the floor, using Velcro placeholders on the carpet (popular in preschool classrooms), or laying out carpet sample squares available from flooring stores.

Freeze Dance

How do you play the freeze game?

Freeze dance is a fun game that gets children up and moving but also teaches listening spatial awareness, and following rules. When a song is playing, preschoolers can dance in their designated area, but when the music stops, they must freeze.

Any preschooler still moving must then sit down until the next round.

Bubbles

Children can try to break as many bubbles blown through a bubble wand, try to save the bubbles being blown, try to blow a giant bubble, or even see who can blow the tiniest bubble.

Another option is to place a small dime-sized drop of dish soap in the middle of a paper plate with a little bit of water and have each child mix up their water and soap with one end of a straw while gently blowing into the other end to create bubbles on their plate.

The Chicken Dance

How do you play the chicken dance?

A classic for children and adults, the chicken dance is an engaging way to teach multiple-step directions, listening, and self-regulation. First, everyone uses their hands as beaks, then uses their arms as wings, shakes tail feathers, and claps four times. As the music gets faster, so must the dancing.

Sardines

How do you play sardines for kids?

Sardines is a new take on the original hide-and-seek. Instead of everyone hiding from one seeker in this game, multiple seekers are looking for only one hider. When a seeker finds the hider, they must join the hider in their spot until the last seeker finds all the hiders packed into one location like sardines.

The Floor is Lava

How do you play the game floor is lava?

For this game, preschoolers must stay off the direct floor when it is declared to be lava. Chairs, benches, carpet samples, construction paper, or any other readily available supplies can be used to create bridges, obstacles, and stepping stones.

For a team activity, create different courses the children need to help each other over and through to get to the next level.

Red Light, Green Light

What are the rules to Red Light, Green Light?

This game encourages children to use their listening skills and gross motor and cognitive skills.

When a teacher or parent is facing away from the children, they say the light is green, and the children can move forward, but when the teacher turns to face the children and says red light, the preschoolers must stop where they are and not move.

If anyone is caught moving, they must go back to the starting line and try to catch up while the light is green. The first child to the “light” is the winner.

Let us know in the comments what indoor physical activities for preschoolers you enjoy playing.

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