10+ Easy Games for Kindergarten Students

Kindergarten students can enjoy scavenger hunts, read aloud time, hopscotch, and competition games. You can play games inside or outside, online or screen free. Kindergarteners usually enjoy playing with other kids or with caregivers.

Kindergarten aged students are growing social skills and playing games together is a great way to grow and practice those growing skills.

What Are Some Good Games for Kindergarten Students?

Indoor Games

Tape Hopscotch

Painters tape on the floor can make a great hopscotch game.

Get a bean bag or pillow to throw onto the board and hop around the obstacle.

The game will be more fun if the adults join it.

Floor is Lava

Put some pillows on the floor and try to cross the living room without touching the floor.

You can change the layout of the pillows to make the game more challenging or ask your kindergartener to set up the hardest course they can think of and you can try to cross it!

Balloon Bounce

Blow up a balloon and toss it in the air and make it a team effort to keep it from hitting the floor.

This is a great indoor or outdoor game and can be played with two players or 12. Keeping a bag of balloons in the junk drawer can be a great boredom buster.

Outdoor Games

Scavenger Hunt

Help your kindergartener notice the world around them by collecting items from the backyard.

You can do a scavenger hunt without a premade list! Send your child off to collect:

3 leaves that are the same color
One very heavy rock
One dry thing
2 red things
2 matching things
1 square thing

These descriptions will allow your child to use some creative thinking to complete the challenge.

You could also use a picture list if your child is a pre-reader.

This can work very well on a walk or hike where you will be outside for a few hours.

Tag

Tag is a great game for a group of kindergarteners. You can mix in some variations like freeze tag, TV tag or team tag.

Blob tag is a great cooperative version of tag where the group must work together to capture everyone.

In Blob tag each player who is tagged joins hands with the person who tagged them, forming a big blob. The blob then works together to tag all the players.

Capture the Flag

Capture the Flag is a great game for a small group or a large group.

Each team hides their flag according to agreed upon rules. The other team tried to find and capture the flag. The team that finds the flag first wins.

Learning Games

Alphabet Game

Search signs, books, or license plates for the letters of the alphabet.

Depending on the age of your child you may need to provide a printed copy of the alphabet to help them on their search.

Word Hunt

Write a list of words that you know you will see on your walk, at home or on your drive. Challenge your kindergartener to find all the words on the list.

For more of a challenge, set a timer for the word hunt.

Patterns

Finding and creating patterns is an important developmental activity for children’s brains.

You can ask your child to find an interesting pattern in your home. You may have to give them a start by pointing out a pattern that you observe.

Keep the brain going by giving them a handful of silverware, blocks or pen and paper and ask them to create a pattern that is interesting to them.

Shape Hunt

Choose a shape and find all the examples of that shape you can! You will be surprised at how many circles you encounter in a day.

Tally the shapes you find and count up the tallies at the end of the day.

Reading

Reading books together has a lot of benefits for your child. Choose a cozy spot and a few books to read together.

If your child is beginning to read you can try partner reading and helping grow those skills.

Games for a Group of Kindergarten Students

A big group of kindergarteners can enjoy group games that will allow them to work together to solve a problem to reach a goal.

Choose cooperative games whenever possible to encourage teamwork and problem solving.

LeapFrog

Give your group a starting line and a finish line and see how quickly they can get across the finish line.

You can give them a time to beat or have them try 3 times to see the best time they can get.

This group game requires a lot of space and coordination which all kindergarteners may not be ready for, so adjust the game to suit your kids.

Human Knot

Have children stand in a circle and join left hands, then join right hands with someone different. The group then needs to work together to untangle.

This game should be limited to 4-6 players in each circle or the challenge may be too difficult and become frustrating for kindergarteners.

Telephone

Have students stand in a line and let an adult or player whisper a phrase into the ear of the player at the beginning of the line.

Pass the sentence from person to person until it reaches the end of the line. The last player says the phrase out loud.

Rotate roles in the game as the sentence starter and sentence sharer.

Games To Play With A Kindergartener

Kindergarteners enjoy playing in large or small groups and they can play a variety of games indoors or outdoors. Games that reinforce social skills can be really engaging for 5-6 year olds.

They are growing rapidly in social skills and they enjoy playing together and with their caregivers.

Set aside time regularly to play with your kindergartener and you can get to know them and help them learn and grow.