🎉 After-school games for all ages

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After-school care is a special setting: a big group of mixed ages, kids who are tired after a full school day, and often little equipment or space. These games were chosen with after-school staff in mind.

The answer to mixed ages is a game with a low floor and a high ceiling: a younger child can join in right away, and an older child still won't get bored. Charades and Hot and Cold work so well for exactly this reason, because they need no prior knowledge, just enthusiasm. When you want more competition in a big group, The Great Team Challenge lets you split kids into mixed-age teams instead of by grade, so big and little kids play together, not against each other.

Practical tip: divide the room into zones before you start, one for free movement and one for quiet activities, so kids who need a break are not stuck in the same space as kids who are running around.

Our top picks

💪 Everyone vs. Capy: The whole group takes on Capy in seven challenges, so mixed ages win or lose together.
🐉 Invent an Imaginary Pet: A seated, creative activity for the hour after lunch, when some kids are too tired to run.
📐 Four Corners: A choosing game with short dashes between corners that lets energy out even in a closed room.
🧟 Fold-and-Draw Monsters: Head, body and legs drawn by three different kids: a quiet corner that children come back to again and again.

All 92 games

Describe and DrawAges 6+ · 2-20 players · 10-15 min People BingoAges 6+ · 8-30 players · 10-20 min Closest Guess WinsAges 8+ · 2-30 players · 10-15 min Silly Inventions PitchAges 8+ · 3-20 players · 10-20 min Challenge Tic-Tac-ToeAges 7+ · 4-20 players · 15-25 min One-Sentence StoryAges 7+ · 3-20 players · 10-20 min Bracket BattleAges 6+ · 4-30 players · 10-20 min Picture RevealAges 5+ · 2-30 players · 5-15 min Group SculptureAges 6+ · 5-20 players · 5-10 min Freeze DanceAges 4+ · 4-30 players · 5-10 min One-Star ReviewsAges 10+ · 3-20 players · 10-15 min Finish the SentenceAges 8+ · 3-30 players · 10-30 min Excuses, Excuses!Ages 7+ · 3-30 players · 10-20 min Name, Place, Animal, ThingAges 6+ · 2-30 players · 10-20 min Get Me Out of This!Ages 9+ · 3-30 players · 10-25 min What Would You Do?Ages 7+ · 2-40 players · 10-30 min Family Trivia NightAges 7+ · 2-40 players · 10-30 min Secret AgentAges 8+ · 6-20 players · 10-15 min I Went ShoppingAges 6+ · 4-20 players · 5-10 min Crazy LetterAges 7+ · 3-20 players · 5-10 min If I Were an AnimalAges 5+ · 4-25 players · 5-10 min Challenge WheelAges 5+ · 4-20 players · 10-20 min Everyone Knows But MeAges 8+ · 5-20 players · 10 min Wrong Answers OnlyAges 8+ · 3-20 players · 5-10 min Four CornersAges 5+ · 8-30 players · 10 min What's the Connection?Ages 8+ · 2-20 players · 5-10 min One-Minute MovieAges 10+ · 4-20 players · 10-20 min Who Switched Places?Ages 5+ · 6-25 players · 5-10 min Six UsesAges 7+ · 3-20 players · 5-10 min Silent Line-UpAges 7+ · 6-30 players · 5 min Emoji RiddlesAges 7+ · 2-20 players · 10 min Keep the Balloon UpAges 4+ · 2-20 players · 5-10 min Five-Second CategoryAges 7+ · 3-20 players · 5-10 min Minute to Win ItAges 6+ · 2-20 players · 10-20 min My Favorite ThingAges 5+ · 4-25 players · 5-10 min Everyone vs. CapyAges 6+ · 5-30 players · 15-25 min Name and MotionAges 4+ · 5-30 players · 5 min Mystery BagAges 5+ · 4-20 players · 10 min Who Am I?Ages 6+ · 3-20 players · 10-15 min Invent an Imaginary PetAges 5+ · 3-20 players · 10-15 min Who Made That Sound?Ages 5+ · 6-25 players · 5-10 min Cup Tower ChallengeAges 5+ · 2-20 players · 5-10 min Challenge DiceAges 5+ · 3-20 players · 10-20 min Speed Ball PassAges 5+ · 8-25 players · 5-10 min What's Missing? (Kim's Game)Ages 5+ · 3-20 players · 5-10 min Hot and ColdAges 4+ · 3-20 players · 5-10 min Invent a SuperheroAges 6+ · 3-20 players · 10-15 min This Is Not a BroomAges 6+ · 4-20 players · 5-10 min Drawing ChainAges 6+ · 4-20 players · 10-15 min Speed MeetingAges 8+ · 8-30 players · 10-15 min Blind DrawingAges 6+ · 4-20 players · 10-15 min Egg and Spoon RaceAges 5+ · 4-20 players · 10 min The Mirror GameAges 5+ · 2-20 players · 5-10 min What's Changed?Ages 5+ · 4-25 players · 5-10 min Do the OppositeAges 6+ · 4-25 players · 5-10 min The Human MachineAges 7+ · 5-20 players · 10 min What Will Everyone Say?Ages 8+ · 5-20 players · 10 min One Line, Three EmotionsAges 8+ · 3-20 players · 5-10 min Freeze FrameAges 7+ · 5-20 players · 10-15 min Dance SwitchAges 4+ · 4-30 players · 10 min The No-Instrument OrchestraAges 5+ · 5-25 players · 5-10 min Sock BasketballAges 5+ · 2-20 players · 10 min Copy MeAges 4+ · 4-20 players · 5-10 min Paper Airplane ContestAges 6+ · 4-30 players · 15 min The Great Team ChallengeAges 7+ · 10-30 players · 20-30 min Add-a-MoveAges 5+ · 4-20 players · 5-10 min The Yes/No GameAges 7+ · 2-20 players · 5-10 min CharadesAges 6+ · 4-20 players · 10-20 min Fact or Fib?Ages 6+ · 2-30 players · 5-15 min Would You Rather?Ages 7+ · 3-30 players · 10-15 min Simon SaysAges 4+ · 4-30 players · 5-10 min Find Someone Who...Ages 6+ · 8-30 players · 10-15 min This or ThatAges 6+ · 5-30 players · 5-15 min Walk Like a...Ages 3+ · 4-30 players · 5-10 min The Secret WinkerAges 8+ · 8-20 players · 10 min Human MemoryAges 6+ · 8-24 players · 10-15 min Red Light, Green LightAges 4+ · 5-30 players · 5-10 min Find Your TwinAges 7+ · 8-30 players · 10 min Drawing TelephoneAges 7+ · 6-20 players · 10-15 min Musical Chairs With No One OutAges 4+ · 6-20 players · 10-15 min Color HuntAges 3+ · 3-30 players · 5-10 min Shrinking IslandAges 5+ · 5-20 players · 10 min Forbidden WordsAges 7+ · 4-20 players · 5-10 min Three Truths and a LieAges 8+ · 4-20 players · 10-15 min TelephoneAges 6+ · 6-20 players · 10 min Word LinksAges 8+ · 2-20 players · 5-15 min Invent a New HolidayAges 7+ · 3-20 players · 10-15 min Fold-and-Draw MonstersAges 5+ · 4-20 players · 10-15 min Switch Places If...Ages 5+ · 8-30 players · 5-10 min Sell Me This!Ages 8+ · 3-20 players · 10-20 min Who's in My Group?Ages 7+ · 10-30 players · 5-10 min Tic-Tac-ToeAges 4+ · 2-30 players · 5-15 min

Questions and answers

How do you play with a group that has both 1st graders and 5th graders?

Choose games that need no prior knowledge, like Charades or Hot and Cold, and split into mixed-age teams instead of by grade to balance the level.

How long should an after-school game block be?

Usually 20-30 minutes per block, with the option to extend if a game really takes off with the group.

What do we play when it rains and we can't go outside?

Pick games that suit a room: Four Corners, Shrinking Island or Sock Basketball for movement, and Fold-and-Draw Monsters or What's Missing? for quiet time. Switch between the two every 15-20 minutes.