Kindergarten and Preschool Games

place heart shapes on the wall of the gymnasium
divide children into groups of 4 or 5
the children see who can hit the heart-shaped target the most times in the group using a bean bag or ball

Hide a Heart

children face the gymnasium wall with their eyes closed (nobody peeks)
teacher places a heart in a pocket, hood or inside of a sweater showing only a small part of the heart
the child chosen to have the hidden heart must keep this a secret
once the heart is hidden, have children begin their search
direct different movements for the children to move while looking for the hidden heart (running, jumping, hopping, galloping, shuffling or marching)

GAMES FOR THE OCEAN THEME UNIT

Kindergarten and Preschool Games

Ocean Animal Tag

children lineup on one side of the gymnasium
choose 2 or more students to be IT
divide the children into groups of 4 or 5 in each group
give each group an ocean animal name
the students that are IT call out the ocean animal's name
the ocean animal group that is called out must run past the children that are IT to the safe zone
if a child gets tagged they join the children that are IT
the game continues until all the children are tagged

Killer Sharks and Fish

Equipment - noodles and beanbags

Children lineup on one side of the gymnasium (safe water zone).
Beanbags representing fish are distributed throughout the gymnasium. They are in danger of being eaten by the killer sharks. The children must save them and bring them back to the safe water zone.
3 or 4 children are chosen to be the killer sharks. They can use a noddle to tag the fish savers.
The children must pass the killer sharks and try to save the fish and bring them to the safe water zone.
If a child gets caught they must go to the safe water zone and do an exercise like 10 jumping jacks, wall pushups, hops or stepping off and on a bench. After doing the exercises they can continue the game.
The game is over once all the fish are safe.

Octopus Tag

2 children are chosen to be the octopi or IT
the octopi tries to tag the rest of the children
if they are tagged they become octopi tentacles. They are not allowed to run like the octopi but they must stay still. They can move their arms (tentacles) and body but not their feet to help the octopi tag the others
the game is over when all the children become octopi tentacles.

GAMES FOR THE TRANSPORTATION THEME

Kindergarten and Preschool Games

Equipment - hoops

Car Driver or Airplane Pilot Game

children hold a hoop around their middle representing their transportation method
start their vehicle
teacher plays music representing a radio in their vehicle
you may want to vary this by having obstacles on the road. Examples- climb over benches representing hills or jump over a mat representing a bridge over water
have children vary the speed of their movement
once the music stops the children exchange their vehicles

Vehicle Driving (a co-operation game )

children are divided into partners. One child is the vehicle and the other the driver
the car must close his/her eyes and depend on the driver to steer him/her away from other oncoming vehicles

Hot Air Balloon Game

Equipment - blown up balloons

How many times can the children hit a balloon to a partner without hitting the ground?

GAMES FOR THE SPACE AND ROBOTS THEME

Kindergarten and Preschool Games

Flying Asteroids Game

Equipment - soft sponge balls (asteroids) of different colors (one per half the class is a good number to have). Choose one ball that is a different color from the rest. This will be called the hazardous, dangerous or destructive asteroid.

divide the class into two teams
each team is not allowed to pass the center line in the gymnasium
when he teacher signals, the children start throwing the asteroids
when the teacher signals again, they stop throwing. The team that has the dangerous astroid receives a point against them

Variation - the team with the least asteroids on their side of the line receives a point when the signal is made.

Space Commander Game

Equipment - 3 or 4 noodles (laser beams)

designate the play area, the children are not allowed out of these boundaries
assign 3 or 4 space commanders
the commanders run around trying to touch the other children with their beam (noodle).
if a child is caught by the laser beam they must freeze
children can be unfrozen by another child by touching their hands 3X
the game can be replayed using different commanders

Copy the Robot Game

have children make robot movements. The other children copy the movements

Variation - the children are all robots. They must listen to their master's instructions (teacher). Teacher gives oral instructions like take 10 steps forwards and hop right 2 times. This is a good listening game.