Fun games for preschoolers in the classroom

Zoo Animal Movement Game- Are you looking for a fun, easy game for your Zoo thematic unit that builds in following directions, listening, and movement? Roll and Move with the Zoo Animals will give your children multiple opportunities for learning while having fun too! London Bridge — This one never gets old!

Watch the video to learn how to play this classic preschool game. Farmer in the Dell- This one is fun to sing and easy to teach. Watch the video to learn how to play this classic preschooler game. Rolling Pin Races- Grab some rolling pins and have fun with these races! Bowling with Plastic Bottles- Save those plastic bottles for a fun bowling game! Paper Plate Ring Toss- Recycle some paper plates and make your own ring toss game!

Musical Chairs — This classic game is great for teaching children patience, gets students up and moving, and learning how to deal with frustration a very important life skill! Ring Around the Rosy- Watch the video to refresh your memory of how to play this classic memory game!

Head Shoulders Knees and Toes- Watch the video and remember how easy it is to play this preschool game. Hokey Pokey- Your preschoolers will have fun with this classic simple song. Cool Bear Hunt Movement Song- Students will learn work on their social skills and oral language skills as they go on a cool bear hunt.

Number Race Game- Your preschoolers will have better retention of their numbers since it pertains to their life. Glow Stick Hide and Seek- Did somebody say glow sticks? Grab some glow sticks and play this super fun version of hide and seek.

Best of all, they were having a wonderful time—and learning more than you know. Believe it or not, classic preschool games are much more than just fun for children. Read on to discover how each game secretly models real-world situations and helps kids learn how to live and act. This kid-favorite is an excellent game for teaching strategic thinking. Duck, Duck, Goose teaches children to plan ahead and gives them immediate feedback on the quality of their decisions.

This game helps teach kids to resolve arguments peacefully, deal with disappointment and practice patience. Set chairs in a circle, one fewer than the number of children in the game, and then play music as kids walk around the circle. Every time the music stops, children must try to sit on a chair. Then remove a chair and begin again. As a game of Musical Chairs progresses, children must learn to deal with the frustration of being out of the game, therefore practicing patience and waiting graciously.

Simon Says is an excellent game for helping kids learn to pay close attention to instructions, while also giving them a taste of leadership. That gives them extra motivation to listen closely to the entire set of instructions before getting started. Self-awareness is an important skill for children to develop as part of the learning process. Mix up the cards and pass them out for kids to use when playing the game. After a few whole class sessions to make sure kids understand the rules, you can have them play in small groups so that each student gets more opportunities to participate.

Minimize the chance of small accidents and the disruption to your desk arrangement by playing a chair-less version of the game. Give each child a carpet square or small piece of construction paper to lay on the floor: these will be the spots that kids try to sit on when the music stops.

I like to divide the class in half and run two simultaneous games of chair-less musical chairs. I know dozens of teachers who swear that classroom yoga has been a huge hit with students and increased their energy and focus. Each one is about minutes in length, so you can either let the kids vote on several Maximo videos to complete, or choose one to end your indoor recess time and get the kids ready to transition back into learning.

Most kids love to dance or just be silly with their friends, so this is a great way to get kids moving indoors. So, I like to start or end the indoor recess period with a freeze dance to make sure the kids get a chance to move around a bit before or after a calmer activity, like small group choices. I love this approach, because I think choice is a really important element for kids and I want them to have some control over how they spend their break. I like to have the indoor recess choices written on chart strips with magnets on the back.

I then call kids up to use a dry erase marker to write their names next to the choice they want, with a maximum of names depending on the activity for each choice. It usually takes less than 30 seconds to have a handful of kids erase their names and re-write them in a different spot, and prevents kids from asking to switch later on due to personality conflicts in the group.

Ask parents for donations or check thrift stores for various building and construction toys. On your classroom computers or tablets, create a folder called Indoor Recess Games and fill it with the sites or apps that are okay for use during indoor recess.

Are we allowed to do this? Teach your class classic board games such as Sorry! Card games and puzzles are also good alternatives.

It takes too long to clean up! I used Play Dough as an indoor recess option with my third graders and it was always the most popular choice. Buzz is an excellent game for younger kids who need to recite long lists such as a series of numbers, letters of the alphabet , and days of the month. You will need: Sheets of white paper, pencil, pen or sketch pens, drawings or images. When asked a question, the ideal thing to do is answer. But not when you are playing this game, which older kids and teens will enjoy playing.

The game gets hilarious when students get imaginative and creative with their answers. Four corners is a simple game of chance that can energize students and keep them awake after the lunch hour. You will need: A room with four corners and enough space for a group of students to stand. This game is an interesting way to make children listen and focus on the voice of another person.

Avoid -ing or -ion words. You can increase the complexity of the game by restricting them to a particular theme or topic. The mime is a fun game to revise verbs or action words. It can be played with primary or middle schools kids.