Daycare Games for Children: Indoor Games for Little Kids

The child daycare center in my town does a fantastic job on rainy and bad-weather days. However, at about the time the local school dismisses class, the building attendance grows very large. Still, by mixing and using several games, the children have a lot of fun at the daycare.

The lady, who runs the day care, says that once a week, she will use google search to find different games to put to use during the week at her care center. This is a list of some of the games that she likes to use.

Duck Duck Goose, Even bigger kids love to play this game at the day care. Everyone sits in a circle and one person who is "it" walks around the outside of the circle and taps each individual on the head saying "duck". When "it" says the word "goose", that person gets up and chases "it" around the outside of the circle back to where they were sitting. If "it" makes it back without being tagged, there is a new "it". To teach younger children how to play, an older child will hold their hand and be a guide.

Seven Up. All the children will sit at their desk with their heads down and eyes closed. Seven children standing at the front then walk among the other children and tap one on the head. Those that get tapped raise their hands into the air. This lets those that are up know who has been tapped and who hasn't. After seven have been tapped, the tappers go back to the front of the room. The children with their hands held up now try to guess who tapped their head. If they guess right, they switch places with those that are up. As long as nobody guesses correctly, they get to stay up.

Hide the Eraser. Two children hide an eraser (2) of them. they do this while everyone has their head down and eyes closed. They must hide the eraser in the room were it can be partially seen. The children then raise their heads and open their eyes. As soon as they see it they raise their hands. The first three hands that are raised only get to point out where they see an eraser. If they are correct, then they take a child's place that was up. Older children can work as pairs with the smaller ones. Actually, you can do this silently by having older children work with the younger ones through the entire game. when it comes time to hiding the eraser, the older ones just assist while the smaller ones hide the eraser.

Toilet Paper Relay. Two teams sit on the floor and make a long line sitting next to each other. On one end, a child is given a paper bag. On the other end a roll of paper. On the word "go", the child with the roll takes off a one sheet square and passes it the child next to them. They in turn pass the small square down the line of children to the one holding the paper bag at the end. Only one sheet square at a time is passed. However, as fast as the first person can get it tore, they pass the next. You can either time the race or go by an entire roll. When finished, have the children sit together and count how many squares are in the bag. Then have each line count the others to make sure their is no mistakes. This teaches how to count as well. The game works better if timed.

Over and Under. Form lines with all children facing one direction. Now have them space themselves by placing their hand on the persons shoulder in front of them. Now give the person at the front either a ball, balloon, or bean bag. The first person passes it through their legs to the person behind them. that person then passes it over their head to the person behind them. When the object reaches the back, the last person goes to the front of the line and repeats. When they eventually get back to the end of the line where they started from, they all sit and raise their right hand. The first line to do so is the winner.

Printing Press. Divide the group into two groups. Place each group on one side of a line that goes down the middle. They sit on the floor. Give each group a stack of old newspapers. On the word "go". each group starts rolling newspaper into small balls as quickly as possible and tosses them to the other groups side. The children on the other side try to make paper balls plus toss them back to the other side as quickly as possible. After about three minutes, call time. Now count up the balls of paper on each side. The team with the lease amount of paper balls is the winner. focus the game on just getting the paper balls over the center line. At the end when you are done working on the count, have the children pick up the paper balls for disposal. this helps to teach responsibility in cleaning up.

Pencil Relay. Have the children sit in a circle. You need two circles at minimum. The numbers should be equal. They face the center of the circle. Next give one child ten unsharpened pencils. On "go" the child passes the pencil to the person next to them and start it around the circle. When it is finally passed back to them, they place it in the center of the circle and quickly start the next pencil. When all ten pencils are in the middle, you have a winner. You can go by time or by the amount of pencils. I recommend using the full amount instead of time.

Animal Pantomime. In this game a child comes to the front and can imitate any type of animal they want. However, they can't make a sound. A child sitting on the floor raises their hand and tries to guess the animal. Only the child with their hand up gets to guess. If they are correct, they change places. In some cases, the animal imitator will whisper their animal to an adult that regulates the game. This avoids cheating and keeps the game running smoothly. If a child has trouble with an imitation, have an older child assist them.

Where am I. With all the children sitting in a certain area or at their desk, have a child stand and look them over closely. They have to pay attention to where everyone is at. Now have that child leave the room. They can go into the hall or turn their back to the group. Now the adult points to one of the sitters and they trade places with one of the other children. When the "it" comes back into the room, they have to determine who has traded places. If they guess correctly, they exchange places and a new person becomes "it". Always only have two people trade places. Otherwise it becomes to hard for the smaller children. This works best if you can have a child leave the room temporarily.

Handshake Scramble. Have an even number of children make a circle. Now with their right hand they reach across to hold the hand of the person across from them. With their left hand, they shake the persons hands to their left. Once everyone is holding to separate hands, they try to make a circle. They are not allowed to drop hands. They step over, under, and around to figure it out. It is permissible for some to be facing in and some out on the circle. Again the main rule is not to drop hands. An older child works great with younger children because they can give directions on this game.

Remember that like any game children will loose interest after a while because their attention spans are short. If for some reason a game doesn't work, just move on to another. Always move quickly to another game. Announce the name of the game and demonstrate it first. Explain it well. When you finish each game, announce and say that's the end of Pencil Relay or Duck Duck Goose. This way children will remember the game the next time you play.

All these child care center games can be played inside. You want to keep them quiet but, many times that will be hard to do, because when children have fun, noise is made. Don't shout at them to be quiet or scold. Just put your finger to your mouth and shush. Encourage them to do so. I know that any many day care centers their are smaller children taking naps. Just simply remind the game players of this. Lastly, have fun yourself.