Fun & Easy Games for Kindergartners to Play

Outdoor Games

• Many traditional children's games are best enjoyed outdoors. They may involve chasing, running or throwing balls. Examples include tag games such as TV Tag or Hide and Seek. Ball games include kickball and four square. If you are organizing active games like this, make sure you have a playing area that is large enough for the kids to run around, preferably a smooth grassy area where they can run without tripping. Set boundaries to the playing area, and make sure that all the children know where the boundaries are--otherwise some enthusiastic game of tag might take kids far away from the playing area and adult supervision. For ball games that involve throwing or kicking the ball, decide on rules and consequences for accidentally hitting other children with the ball. While the children are playing games, watch for possible safety problems, and pause the game if necessary to ensure everyone's safety and enjoyment. For games where one person is "it," pay attention to whether one child is "it" for a long time. Kindergarten children are often at very different levels of physical development, so a small child might have a hard time ever catching anyone else and might be stuck as "it" for too long. If this happens with your group, you can set a time limit for how long one person can be "it" to avoid frustration for players.

Indoor Games

• If you need to keep your group of kindergartners indoors, especially if your space is small, you should choose less active games. Kindergartners are strong enough to injure each other or break things inside if they run too fast or throw a ball too hard, and they are young enough to have a hard time remembering to throw gently and be careful. You can avoid this by choosing games that are designed to play inside. Circle games like Duck Duck Goose, Farmer in the Dell and Hot Potato are perfect for a small indoor space, since they require most of the players to stay in a circle. Games that involve simple mental challenges as well as some physical activity are also good choices, such as Mother May I and Simon Says.