5 Minute Games for Daycare-Little Sprouts Learning

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A great way for children to burn off energy and have fun is to play these 5-minute games for daycare. These games are also easy to set up so you can put them together and have them ready to play in no time. And make your daycare lesson plans easy!

Kids playing daycare games, red rover, outside

We don’t have a ton of time to get things going when there are all these kids and just us. So having 5 minute ideas to bail us out in busy times is a great back up to keep around.

You also don’t need many supplies to get these games set up and if you do crafts in your daycare, you probably already have them on hand. And we are all pressed for time and trying to get everyone together on time. Check out these other 5-minute prep ideas for daycare:

And if you’re looking for more low maintenance ideas, check these mess free activities out.

Games to Play at Daycare

Many of these games are also educational. That means while they are burning off some of their energy, they will be learning a variety of different subjects. For instance, they will be learning math, practicing hand-eye coordination, working on learning their letters, and more.

Shape Bean Bag Game This game is easy to set up and all you need are the bean bags. It can teach shapes, colors, counting, taking turns and more!

Feed the Monster Clothespin Puppets Not only will the kids have fun making the puppets, but these puppets are also used in a game. Once the puppets are finished, the object of the game is to transfer the pom poms from one dish to another. The first one to get the most pom poms in the dish within the 5 minutes is the winner.

Roll A Cupcake Dice Game An easy-to-set-up game for your daycare, kids will love playing this cupcake-themed game as they learn about the importance of communication.

Land Sea Air Game A few energetic kiddos are all you need to make this game work! It’s a twist on Simon Says and will have kids jumping onto either land, in the sea, or as high in the air as they can. It can be a quick little game that they can have fun with.

Color Matching Clothespin Game An easy-to-make game for your daycare children, this color matching game is fun and educational. To set up the game, all you need are clothespins, a paper plate, and some colorful markers. To play the game, shuffle the clothespin and clip them on the plate (not matching the colors), and have the kids correct to make the colors match.

Feed the Penguin A fun game to help preschool-aged children to learn numbers and counting! The two included printables and some goldfish snacks are all you need to get started. The goal is to roll the paper dice and have the kids match the number to how many fish they put on the penguin’s belly. Add a 5-minute timer and see how many numbers they can get through.

Balloon Tennis Game Another fun indoor game that will help them burn off all that pent-up energy, the balloon tennis game is easy to set up. For toddlers and young children, you can tie the balloon on a string and hang it from the ceiling allowing them to hit it with their hands or paper plates.

No Prep Pocket Games Not much prep is needed for these fun games for your daycare children. You can find a variety of different 5-minute games the kids can play that are easy and quick to put together.

Build Your Own Emoji Face The free printables can be printed and cut out allowing children to make their own emoji faces. From happy to busy faces, the kids will love making their own emoji faces and this can be turned into a fun quick game for them to play.

Alphabet Matching Card Game Just print out the cards, scatter them around, and have the children see how many matching alphabet letters they can match in 5 minutes.

Skittles Candy Game A simple bag of Skittles is all you need to play this game. All the kids have to do is pick a skittle color (you can have them choose their favorite, or a random color, and answer the question according to the color they’ve chosen.

Would You Rather Game Grab a few of these would you rather questions and have the kids play a fun game with them! You can print the questions out on paper, cut them, and have the child choose one. If you want something even quicker, just print out the questions and read the questions out loud.

Love Themed Games These love-themed minute to win it games are fun for preschoolers and daycare students. Even though many of these games are on a one-minute timer, to stretch them out, just give the kiddos an extra 4 minutes and you have some fun 5-minute games for daycare.

And check out these fun garden games for kids here too!