10 Indoor Activities for Kids

Unless you’ve been living under a (very warm) rock, you’ve noticed that temperatures lately have been downright frigid. Letting the kids play outside to get some energy out just isn’t practical or comfortable in such cold conditions. As a parent, trying to keep your children active and engaged while trapped indoors can be a stressful challenge.  Aside from allowing them to sit in front of the television or an iPad for hours on end, it’s tough coming up with fun ways to keep them occupied instead of driving you crazy with complaints of being bored.  Luckily, we’ve compiled a great list of clever indoor activities sure to entertain your young ones and keep them smiling while cooped up in the house this winter.

  1. Using the white side of a roll of wrapping paper or an old white bed sheet, help your kids trace their entire bodies with a black marker. Then give them some art supplies and let them have fun coloring themselves in.
  2. Give the kids an inflated balloon and challenge them to see how long they can keep it in the air without it falling to the floor.
  3. Find a yoga DVD or YouTube video and encourage them to follow along and try the poses themselves. They’ll get to move their bodies and release some energy, and you can always decide to join in on the fun!
  4. Make a life-sized tic-tac-toe board using masking tape on the floor or carpet and the backs of paper plates to create the X's and O's.
  5. Add a little bit of glitter to your child’s Play-Doh. The extra sparkle will make an ordinary activity seem new and special.
  6. Use balled up white socks to hold your own indoor snowball fight.
  7. Give the kids a bag of marshmallows and a box of toothpicks and challenge them to build sculptures out of them.
  8. Using a small ball and a bunch of empty water bottles, create a bowling alley down the hallway of the house.
  9. Play hide 'n' seek using a designated stuffed animal. Have your kids close their eyes and count while you hide the animal somewhere inside the house, and then wait for them to find it before hiding it again.
  10. Make glow-in-the dark balloons using glow sticks and white balloons. Wait until it gets dark outside or designate a room to close the blinds, and then activate the bracelets and place them inside the inflated balloons. Then sit back and watch the excitement and fun as your kids toss the glowing balloons around in the darkness.