Recreation includes all those activities in which several participants engage, interact, socialize, and learn together. While its main function is fun and entertainment, these activities also stimulate the body and emotions. It is recommended that children participate in recreational games since these promote and reinforce knowledge that generally can only be acquired in this type of social environment.
Although games do not necessarily have to be focused on teaching certain social and personal guidelines, there is nothing wrong with promoting these in a fun way so that, for the children, understanding behaviors or reasoning is anything but tedious when presented directly, which can often be boring and hard for them to understand.
Sack races are perfect for children to play outdoors, even better if in the countryside. It is a competitive game that develops strength and works on agility and coordination. As is known, participants must get inside sacks — such as potato sacks, large bags, or pillowcases — up to the waist and follow a set route. If desired and if the sacks are large enough, obstacles can even be added to the course.
To move, jumping is the only allowed motion. If played in teams, participants must return and hand the sack to the next teammate who will take the relay.
2. The handkerchief game.
Each player who manages to reach their zone with the handkerchief will earn a point. In this way, the main objective of each team is to earn as many points as possible to be the winner of the game.
It is a game of observation and reaction. To play it, the children must sit on the floor side by side in a circle, while the adult leads.
During the game, the children must pass the ball to each other as fast as possible while music plays or, alternatively, a child or adult counts inside the circle. When the counting stops, the player holding the ball is eliminated.
The game continues until only one child remains, who will be the winner. To make the activity more entertaining, variations can be introduced such as passing the ball to people who are named. The goal in this case is speed and the reaction with which the children participate, which also encourages cooperation and cognitive development.
4. The Neverending Story.
This last one is an ideal activity to stimulate imagination: the neverending story, which is an oral game perfect for training children’s minds.
It starts with one participant telling a story, then the next must add a sentence to it, but always starting from the beginning. The idea is to recite the
