7 Active Games for Preschoolers to Play at Home

Do you feel like there are days where you play with the same toys with your kids for hours on end?

You are not alone!

There’s only so many times every day that I can play with (insert your child’s favorite toy here). I like mixing it up, especially by playing games and keeping my kids physically active. If your children learn how to be physically active at a young age, they will be more likely to keep those healthy habits as they grow up.

Why is it important to be physically active? Well, take a look at these sobering stats from the CDC:

• 1 in 5 children and young adults (6-19 years old) are obese.
• Physical inactivity can lead to energy imbalances
• Sedentary people are at risk of developing type 2 diabetes
• Inactivity causes an increased risk of developing breast, colon, and lung cancers.
• People who are not active have an increased risk of developing cardiovascular disease and high blood pressure.

Need I go on?

With my experience as a physical education teacher, I have come up with 7 EASY and FUN active games that you can play with your preschooler, so they can lead a healthy lifestyle!

And here’s the good news… You can play all of these games at home!

1. Dinosaur Tag

This is one of my favorite games to play at home because it’s super easy to set up and it can be done indoors or outdoors.

Age level: 3 years old +

Equipment:

• 1 hula hoop
• 1 basket
• 15 objects to collect
• Cones/poly spots or sidewalk chalk can work if you play this outside!

Where can you play this?: We have a long open hallway between our kitchen and family room that we use to play this game. If you’d like to play outdoors, your driveway is a perfect spot to play!

Players needed: 2+

Instructions for playing Dinosaur Tag:

1. Choose one person to be the tagger - they are the dinosaur! The dinosaur will be in the middle protecting their food.
2. The other person will start where their basket is placed.
3. That person will attempt to run through the dinosaur’s cage to get ONE piece of dinosaur food and bring it back to their basket without getting tagged by the dinosaur.
4. If they get tagged, they must return to their basket empty-handed and try again!
5. If they get tagged, and they have a piece of food in their hand, they must put it back before returning to the start.
6. The dinosaur has a designated area that they must stay in, so there are some safe zones (in the hula hoop and near the basket of the other player).
7. The game is over when all the food is collected, and then you can switch dinosaurs!

Check out the video below if you would like to see how we play this game indoors with a limited amount of people.

2. Capture the Flag

All kids LOVE to play capture the flag. Whenever my students get a free choice day, this is one of the most popular choices by far!

Age level: 4 years old +

Equipment:

• A Flag (you can get creative and use scarves, stuffed animals, balls, or any other toy!)
• A Center Line (either jump ropes tied together or sidewalk chalk if you're playing outside)

Where can you play this? This game is preferably played outdoors since you want a large open area to run. However, if you have a big basement or you have an open floor plan that has a lot of space, then that’s another option!

Players needed: You can play this game with as few as two people. Of course, it’s typically more fun when played with more!

Instructions for playing Capture the Flag:

1. Create two equal teams depending on how many people you have playing.
2. Make a center line by either using cones, tying jump ropes together, or draw a line using sidewalk chalk on the cement.
3. Have each team hide their flag somewhere on their side.
4. To get the flag, one person must cross the center line and retrieve the flag from the opposite team and bring it back to their side without getting tagged.
5. If they get tagged while on the other teams side, you can just have them return back to their side if there is a small group playing OR if there’s a larger group then you can have them freeze.
6. To get unfrozen, someone from your team has to cross over and tag their hand to bring them back to their team.
7. If a player gets tagged trying to come back to their side and they have the flag, they must put the flag back, and they are either frozen on the other team's side, or they just have to return back to their side if there’s not enough players.
8. The game is over when one team can get the opposite team's flag

Take a look at the video below to see how we play Capture the Flag at home with just two people!

3. Trash Collectors

Who can relate to this? I know I can! Unfortunately, dumping out our toy bins is son’s newest obsession. So why not turn that obsession into a game, where at the end they must clean it up?

Age level: 3 years old +

Equipment:

• A whole bunch of toys!
• 2 baskets (toy bins or laundry bins)
• Poly spots or some type of floor marker (optional)

Where can this be played?: Trash Collectors should be played indoors, so you don’t have to take all of your toys outside unless they are already there!

Players Needed: At least 2!

Instructions for playing Trash Collectors:

1. Either let your kids dump out their toys, or you can have it set up where everything is already out.
2. To encourage more movement in this game, you can spread out the toys around the house that they have to clean up!
3. Have a basket dedicated to each person who is playing.
4. Your kids will pretend they are garbage collectors, and they are working to clean up the house!
5. They will run to pick up an item, run it over to their basket and stop at the poly spot.
6. They are to throw their toy in the basket using an underhand motion.
7. Throwing isn't necessary. They can run and put the toys in the basket instead. Throwing is just an added gross motor movement that I like to implement!
8. They can’t move on to pick up another piece of trash until they make it in the basket!
9. The person with the most toys in their basket at the end is the winner!

4. Pin Knock Over

What kid doesn’t like knocking things over?

I will admit, I have played this game with my students, and I get excited when I knock a pin down, and I’m 31 years old.

Age level: 4 years old +

Equipment:

• Toy bowling pins or empty milk jugs
• Some type of soft balls (dodge balls or yarn balls)

Where can you play this?: This game should be played outside. On the off chance, if a ball gets thrown and knocks something over in your house, I would hate to be a reason why this happened!

Players Needed: at least 2!

Instructions for playing Pin Knock Over:

1. Divide teams evenly.
2. Each team should have an equal amount of pins on their side (I use 3 when we play at home).
3. The goal of the game is to knock down the other team’s pins by kicking, rolling, or throwing the balls at the pins. If we are playing inside, I allow my kids to roll or kick the ball. If we are outside, they can throw the balls as well.
4. While they are trying to knock over the other team’s pins, they are also in charge of defending their own pins! They are allowed to block balls from knocking their pins down.
5. If someone knocks down a pin themselves, they can put the pin back up.
6. This is not a game where you are aiming to hit people! You are aiming at the pins. If someone does get hit with the ball, the person that threw the ball must do 10 jumping jacks before returning to the game!
7. The first team to knock down all 3 pins first wins.

Want to see how to play this game indoors? Here’s a quick video to see how it’s done!

5. Toilet Tag

Yes, you read that correctly, this game is called Toilet Tag - and your kids will love it!

Age level: 3 years old +

Equipment: None!

Where can this game be played?: Indoors or Outdoors.

Players Needed: at least 4!

Instructions for playing Toilet Tag:

1. Choose 1 person to be the tagger.
2. If someone gets tagged, they are frozen and they will kneel down on one knee and put an arm up.
3. To get unfrozen, someone has to come over and “flush” the toilet by moving their arm down.
4. To make it a little funny, the person who is “unfreezing” can sit on their knee that is bent and say FLUSH! (make sure that everyone playing is comfortable with that before including this in the rules)
5. Both players are then back in the game, and they can run!
6. You can switch taggers at any time.

At our latest family get together, I tried to play this with my nephews and sisters. The kids thought it was hilarious.

6. Red Light Green Light

I love this game because it applies to real-life lessons!

Age level: 3 years +

Equipment: None!

Where can you play this game?: Indoors or Outdoors!

Players Needed: at least 3.

Instructions for playing Red Light, Green Light:

1. Choose one person to be the stoplight. They will move to one end of the playing area.
2. All the other players line up on the opposite end waiting for directions from the stoplight.
3. When the stoplight says “green light” the players move towards the stop light.
4. When the stoplight says “red light” the players freeze.
5. If the stoplight catches someone moving during “red light”, that person is out.
6. The first person who makes it to the stoplight player and tags them, wins!

7. Duck Duck Goose

This is an oldie but a goodie.

Age level: 3 years old+

Equipment: None!

Where can this be played: Indoors or Outdoors!

Players Needed: at least 3, but the more the merrier!

Instructions for playing Duck Duck Goose:

1. Have all the players sit down criss-cross applesauce in a circle formation.
2. Choose one player to be the first “ducker”.
3. That person will walk around the circle and tap each player on the head saying “duck”, “duck”, “duck”, until they get to someone that they’d like to say “goose” to.
4. When they choose the "goose", they will stand up and chase the player one full time around the circle.
5. The player who was the “ducker” will try to get back to the empty spot before getting tagged.
6. If they get tagged, they must go to the center of the circle until the next round. Once one round is played, they can return to the circle.
7. If they don’t get tagged, they remain in that spot and the game continues.
8. Whether the original “ducker” gets tagged or not, the person who was “goosed” is the new “ducker” and the game starts again!

Check out this video of our duck, duck, goose game in action!

Physical activity is essential for all of us, but sometimes it’s hard to come up with games on your own. You may think you can’t play certain games because you don’t have the correct equipment.

Well, guess what… YOU CAN play these games. The cost is usually very minimal and you will have the equipment to use forever, which I believe is a great investment. You get to have fun with your kids and keep them active!

About the Author:

Deena Keller is a health and physical education teacher and the creator of ABCDee Learning, a website with fun and engaging resources to help children learn and stay active. To learn more about ABCDee Learning and explore more activities for children of all ages, click here. You can also follow ABCD Learning on Instagram at @ABCDLearning