Even though children enjoy rain, being stuck indoors for too long can become tedious. Whether it’s due to a rainy day, a snowstorm, excessively hot weather, or any other unforeseen situation, engaging in indoor activities is the perfect solution to uplift everyone’s spirits.
We have no control over the weather gods or the unavoidable circumstances, but we have compiled a curated list of fun indoor activities for kids. These convenient activities will uplift their gloomy spirits and bring joy to everyone’s day.
1. Toothpick Drop
This simple indoor activity provides an opportunity for your toddler or preschooler at home to practice their fine motor skills. You only require toothpicks and a saltshaker or empty spice jar with the multi-holed lid. Show your child how a toothpick can be put into one of the small holes. While this activity many seem overly simple to an adult, to a young child it is great practice for thier fine motor skills.
2. Touch-and-Feel Boxes
This is an excellent indoor game for children, helping them shift their focus from sight to touch in a world that heavily emphasizes visuals. The objective is to train their minds to process information beyond the appearance of objects. To begin, place intriguing items in containers that require children to reach in and identify them solely through touch. Shoe boxes are ideal as they can be easily cut with scissors and block light. Creating the boxes is part of the enjoyment – allow kids to decorate them, but ensure a child-sized hand hole is cut on the side beforehand. Fill each box with an item and let your children take turns guessing what they are. Encourage questioning and provide clues if necessary.
3. Fizzing Painting
Transforming painting into fizzy painting using basic kitchen science adds an extra level of excitement to one of kids’ most beloved indoor activities.
Steps for Creating a Fizzy Painting:
- Combine baking soda and water in equal proportions.
- Incorporate food coloring into the mixture to create fizzy paint.
- Allow your child to use the fizzy paint to create a beautiful picture on a sheet of paper.
- Then instruct your child to use a pipette to incorporate vinegar into the artwork.
Wow! Your painting is bubbling with creativity and excitement, making it a fantastic way to delve into the arts.
4. Build a DIY Fort
Building a fort with cushions, sofas, chairs, and blankets is a highly favored activity among preschoolers and toddlers on rainy days.
Create a cozy atmosphere by placing your child’s beloved toys, plush animals, books, and nutritious snacks within the tent.
5. Sorting
You can effortlessly organize this as another indoor activity to prepare kindergarteners. Engaging in a sorting game allows children to analyze, describe, compare objects, and exercise critical thinking. To start, form “bins” by simply using tape on a flat surface.
When engaging younger children in sorting activities, colors present the simplest approach. An effective method involves securing colored construction paper with tape and then collecting suitable objects to correspond with each color. LEGO Duplos are particularly suitable for this purpose.
Sort items based on the surface texture or the type of material, such as wood, plastic, or metal.
There are other ways to add variety to the game. One option is to turn it into a proper game by calculating how quickly children can locate 5 objects of each kind. Another option is to establish a specific order they must follow while retrieving the items – starting with red, then blue, then yellow, and repeating the sequence.
6. Shaving Cream Painting
Include sensory shaving foam painting in your indoor activities for toddlers and preschoolers, along with crafts and painting.
Begin this enjoyable activity by applying shaving foam onto a piece of paper. Introduce a small amount of liquid food colouring or tempera paints to the shaving cream and allow your child to engage in play.
7. I Spy
The game of I Spy and its different versions are excellent ways for young children to explore and familiarize themselves with their surroundings through their senses. To introduce a child who has never played, you can begin by selecting a hidden object that is easily visible and saying, “I Spy something that is blue,” and see if the child can correctly guess what it is. If there are multiple children, they can take turns searching and making guesses.
There are a few variations to consider: Restrict the number of attempts for each child. Alternatively, provide descriptive hints such as “I Spy something that has a circular shape.” The level of difficulty can be adjusted by choosing more inconspicuous items or altering the descriptions, for instance by focusing on textures like bumpy or soft.
8. Minute To Win It Games
Minute to Win it games offer an enjoyable means of spending time with children and relatives. They are amusing, simple to organize, and, importantly, can be enjoyed by individuals of any age.
9. Balance Beam
Don’t be fooled, this indoor game is simpler to set up than you believe. Take some painter’s tape (be cautious with the flooring) and create a line of any length. Then, have your child try to follow the line to the end as a challenge.
Try securing additional lines at various angles to create spirals and zig-zags, as they always provide an enjoyable experience. This is an uncomplicated physical activity that can be easily practiced to help prepare for kindergarten.
Reverse the challenge by having the child walk the tape line in the opposite direction or blindfolded (with their socks off to enhance their sense of touch).
Additional options: Attempt walking in a straight line placing your heel directly in front of your toes, or experiment with hopping along the line while keeping both feet on it.
10. Play Card Games
Playing card games is a fantastic way to enjoy valuable indoor time. They are not only simple and enjoyable but also suitable for playing with children of all ages, making them an ideal choice for a family activity.
11. Tape Maze
Constructing a tape maze indoors can be an incredibly enjoyable activity if you can make enough room on the floor. You can create a basic maze for young children or enhance the challenge for older kids by incorporating dead ends.
Can the children successfully dribble a small ball through the maze without crossing any of the tape lines? Utilize a timer to record the duration it takes for the children to navigate the ball through the maze, and then encourage them to strive for a better time.
For children learning number recognition and counting, a number maze is an excellent option. Mark numbers along the maze so that the child can follow them in the right sequence from start to exit.
12. Read Biographies
Help your young readers find the right inspiration through biographies for kids, which are filled with stories of scientists, athletes, artists, and ordinary individuals who have made a significant impact on the world. These thought-provoking tales are guaranteed to positively influence children.
13. Play Jigsaw
Jigsaw puzzles, which are adored by both families and kids, make for a beloved indoor activity. Additionally, they effectively enhance collaborative and cooperative skills in those who engage in solving them collectively.
14. Design a Driving Course
Once again, it is necessary to have painter’s tape for this indoor activity. Create a road map on the floor for your children’s assortment of matchbox cars and other small vehicles that we all seem to gather. Employ your creativity by incorporating additional elements to construct a street setting or utilize furniture in the room as barriers. The children will thoroughly enjoy driving around town throughout the entire day.
The possibilities are endless with the tape course. Let your imagination run wild – you could have trains gliding along train tracks or unicorns gracefully prancing on rainbows. By incorporating cardboard boxes or tin cans, you can construct an entire bustling cityscape.
15. Host Indoor Picnic
There’s no need to hurry outside for a picnic. Instead, arrange a comfortable rug on the floor and use adorable paper plates and cutlery to organize an indoor picnic that the entire family can enjoy.
To create a memorable indoor picnic, opt for nutritious snacks, play some music, and engage in a classic game such as UNO, Guess Who, or your family’s preferred choice.
16. Sock Basketball
Are you looking for a fun indoor activity involving basketball? Absolutely! Just grab some socks and make them into “snowballs,” find a laundry basket or smaller containers for added difficulty, and you’re ready to go. Children can take turns attempting to score by throwing the snowballs, and they can even try longer throws for extra points if they’re feeling adventurous!
Additional variations of sock basketball include having each child throw the ball, and if they successfully score, they must take a step backwards. The child who manages to score from the greatest distance emerges as the ultimate winner.
17. Try Origami
Trying your hands at origami is one enjoyable indoor activity to do with kids. This soothing paper folding art offers numerous possibilities for you and your children to create various things.
18. Play Hide and Seek
Playing Hide and Seek with the entire family is an incredibly enjoyable experience. This timeless game, which is one of the most thrilling indoor activities for families, will test your ability to discover the perfect hiding spot within the confines of your own home.
19. Sock Hockey
One of the safest ways to enjoy playing hockey is without the need for helmets or sticks! Our preferred goal is a plastic laundry basket placed horizontally. Choose a child (or adult) to be the goalie and attempt to throw the socks into the goal.
Transform your soon-to-be recycled cardboard box into an excellent sock bean bag toss activity. Create holes of different sizes and shapes, assigning scores to each one. Flip the box over, and voila – you instantly have a carnival-style bean bag toss game. Whether you opt for soft socks or small ping-pong balls as projectiles, the choice is yours. It’s entirely up to you whether you want to include small prizes.
20. Pen Down Letters
Rather than staying indoors, make the most of your time by writing heartfelt letters to one another to express your love. This activity not only serves as a delightful gratitude practice for both children and adults.
Now is the perfect moment to express gratitude and appreciation for the times when the other person brought joy into your life or went out of their way to make your day more enjoyable.
21. Make Paper Planes
Get together with your children and relive your childhood by creating paper airplanes. To enhance the enjoyment, organize a paper plane competition down the hallway to determine which one flies the fastest.
22. Hot Potato
Be cautious as this indoor game can become quite silly! However, it is a wonderful activity that can be enjoyed by children in kindergarten all the way up to older grades. Simply find a soft ball or rolled up socks and toss it gently to a child. Instruct the child to pass it on to another person as swiftly as they can. Each child should continue this cycle. The duration of the game is uncertain. The main goal is to keep the ball moving!
If you have a sufficient number of children, you can engage in this indoor activity called “Hot potato variations.” Play brief intervals of music as the children pass the object among themselves. When the music stops, the child who last touches the object is eliminated from the game. Continue the process until only one child remains.
23. Karaoke
Hosting a karaoke party at home is a delightful way to engage the whole family and uplift spirits on rainy days. Embrace the joy of singing and dancing with one of the most enjoyable activities, karaoke.
It doesn’t matter if you don’t have a karaoke set, as long as you’re willing to come with the right vibes, by the way.
24. Play Chess
Invite your family to your home for an indoor Chess tournament and discover who is the ultimate grand master among you all!
Chess is a wonderful traditional indoor game that families can enjoy together, providing a fantastic opportunity to enhance your child’s critical thinking, strategic abilities, and mental strength.
Engage in knockout games and allow the top contenders to vie for the prestigious grandmaster’s title.
25. Play “Telephone”
Telephone, is a fantastic family game that is ideal for indoor play with a large number of participants. It is guaranteed to cause an eruption of laughter!
26. Play Trivia
Engaging in a fun trivia game is likely one of the top choices for families on rainy days, as it effectively combats boredom and activates their mental capacities.
Engage your kids in an enjoyable and stimulating question and answer session to keep them occupied at home. It is an excellent method to make the most of your time indoors.
27. Play Guessing Games
Children’s guessing games are not only a source of abundant amusement, but also a great method to stimulate their cognitive abilities and encourage analytical and logical thinking.
28. Never Have I Ever Game
Playing a round of Never have I ever questions designed for children will always be entertaining. These questions cover a wide range of topics, from humorous to deep, and provide a fantastic opportunity for kids to engage in conversation and share stories.
29. Riddle Each Other
Both children and adults find riddles extremely popular. Engage your mind and stimulate your thoughts with an enjoyable riddle session. Transform it into a game of competition by establishing a time limit and granting points.
30. Crack Funny Jokes
Crack some silly classic jokes or guess knock-knock jokes to keep your kids entertained and giggling indoors, as everyone enjoys jokes.
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