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Calming Games for Pre-K

Most pre-kindergarten children have plenty of energy to spare. When it is time for recess or playtime, young children can sometimes become overly rowdy and excited. Educators can organize a few calming games for the children to play to ensure they slow down and playtime ends happily. Encourage them to stay calm and play the games by awarding small prizes to game winners or for a job well done.

Easy Games
- Have the pre-kindergartners play a game of sleeping lions. Ask everyone to lie on the ground and pretend to be asleep. They cannot talk or move at anytime or they are out of the game. Walk around the room trying to catch children that move or talk and remove them from the game. The last player remaining wins the game. Another idea is to place random items, such as a coin, a block, a brush or wrapped candy, in different socks. Pass the socks around and have the children feel the items in the socks. Tell the children they cannot talk at all. After everyone has felt each sock, the child who can guess the most correct items in the socks wins the game.
Memory Games
- Divide the children into groups of three or four. Give each group a memory game to play and remind the children they must play quietly. One child flips over two cards. If he has a match, he keeps the pair and plays again. If not, the turn moves to the next player. The child who finds the most pairs out of each group wins a small prize. You can also play a memory game by placing several random items on a tray. Have the children look at the tray and remove the tray from the room. Award a small prize to each child who can remember the most items from the tray.
Reading/Television Games
- Ask the children to sit in the floor and read a book to them or allow them to watch a television show. Some books ideal for pre-kindergartens include ̶0;There̵7;s An Alligator Under My Bed̶1; by Mercer Mayer, ̶0;Lunch̶1; by Denise Fleming and ̶0;Brown Bear, Brown Bear, What Do You See?̶1; by Bill Martin Jr. Television shows for them to watch include ̶0;Super Why̶1; and ̶0;Dora the Explorer.̶1; Tell the children to pay close attention to the book or television show. After you read the book or watch the show, ask the children questions related to the book or show. Each child who answers a question correctly earns a small prize.
Sound Games
- Record sounds like keys rattling, a baby crying, water dripping and someone clapping on a CD or MP3 player. Have the students lie down on their backs or sit quietly in their chairs and listen to the sounds. Each child who can guess a sound correctly earns a prize. Alternatively, record the voice of each child̵7;s mom or dad. Any child who can correctly guess his parent̵7;s voice wins a prize.

Kids Games