Games to Play on Your Classroom Rug

Tic Tac Toe: Draw a tic-tac-toe board on your classroom rug using masking tape or chalk. Use beanbags or other small objects as game pieces. Children can take turns placing their game pieces on the board, trying to get three in a row.

 

Animal Charades: Write the names of different animals on index cards and place them in a basket. Children can take turns picking a card, and then act out the animal on the card while the other children guess what animal they are pretending to be.

Simon Says: Have one child be “Simon” and give instructions to the other children. The instructions can be anything from “Simon says hop on one foot” to “Simon says touch your nose.” The children must only follow the instructions that are preceded by “Simon says.” If they follow an instruction that doesn’t have “Simon says” in front of it, they are out. The last child standing becomes the next Simon.

Beanbag Toss: Place a basket or bucket on one side of the rug and have children take turns tossing beanbags onto the rug. Each child gets three tosses, and the goal is to get as many beanbags as possible into the basket. You can make the game more challenging by increasing the distance between the basket and the rug.

Musical Chairs: Place chairs on the rug, one less than the number of children playing. Have the children walk around the chairs while music plays. When the music stops, they must quickly find a chair to sit in. The child without a chair is out, and one chair is removed for the next round. The last child sitting wins.

Follow the Leader: Choose one child to be the leader, and have them perform a series of movements or actions while the other children follow. The leader can do things like hop on one foot, crawl like a crab, or dance. Encourage the children to be creative and come up with their own movements when it’s their turn to be the leader.

Balloon Volleyball: Blow up a balloon and divide the children into two teams. Use masking tape to create a net in the middle of the seating rug, and have the children take turns hitting the balloon over the net. If a team fails to hit the balloon back over the net, the other team gets a point. The first team to reach five points wins.

Obstacle Course: Create an obstacle course on the rug using objects such as cones, hula hoops, and tunnels. Children can crawl, hop, skip, and jump through the course, trying to complete it as quickly as possible. You can time each child and have them try to beat their own record.

Bubble Wrap Hop: Place a piece of bubble wrap on the rug and have children take turns hopping from one bubble to the next, trying to pop as many as they can. For an added challenge, you can assign a color to each child and have them only pop bubbles of their assigned color.

Memory Game: Place several objects in pairs on the rug, such as a ball, a toy car, and a stuffed animal. Give the children a few minutes to look at the objects, and then cover them with a blanket or towel. Have them uncover an object and then guess where the matching item is. What’s Missing?: Place several objects on the rug and have children take turns closing their eyes while you remove one object. When they open their eyes, they have to guess which object is missing.

Hot Lava: Pretend that the rug is hot lava and the children have to navigate around the room without touching the rug. Place pillows, cushions, and other soft objects on the floor as stepping stones. Children can take turns being the leader and deciding where to place the stepping stones.

Alphabet Relay Race: Divide the children into two teams and have them line up on opposite sides of the rug. Place a pile of alphabet cards in the middle of the rug. When you say “go,” the first child in each line runs to the middle, picks up an alphabet card, and runs back to their team. The next child in line then runs to the middle and picks up another card. The team that collects all the alphabet cards first wins.

Animal Hopscotch: Cut out animal shapes on place on the rug. Children can take turns hopping from one animal to the next, making the sound of the animal they land on.

Shape Sorting: Cut out several different shapes from construction paper and scatter them around the rug. Call out a shape, and have the children run to find a shape that matches. Once they find it, they can bring it back to a designated spot on the rug.

Sock Skating: Place a sock on each child’s foot and have them skate around the rug. You can make it a race or have them follow a designated path.

Alphabet Hopscotch: Use a seating rug to create a hopscotch grid on the rug, but instead of numbers, write one letter of the alphabet in each square. Children can take turns hopping from one letter to another, calling out the letter as they land on it.

Color Matching Game: Cut out several different colored circles from construction paper and scatter them around the rug. Call out a color, and have the children run to find a circle that matches that color. Once they find it, they can bring it back to a designated spot on the rug.

Number Maze: Using a grid style rug to create a maze. Using numbers instead of letters. Start with the number 1 and have children follow the path of the maze by hopping from one number to the next in order until they reach the end.

Shape Twister: Create a twister board on the rug, but instead of colors, write different shapes in each spot. Children can take turns spinning a spinner or rolling a dice to determine which shape they need to touch with their hand or foot.