24 Indoor Activities to do with Your Children

24 Indoor Activities to do with Your Children

When you feel stuck at home, your children probably do too! But being at home provides a great opportunity for Moms to engage with their children, build better relationships, and enhance everyone’s mood. With a little creativity, you can get your children off the screen and actively develop a deeper connection with them at the same time. Here are some ideas to get you going: 

·      Balloon Volleyball in the Living Room: Blow up a balloon. Working together as a team, see how long you can keep the balloon from touching the ground; or give each person their own balloon to keep airborne for as long as possible.

·      Phone Photography Contest: Choose a subject: a baby, a teddy bear, a tree in the back yard, your bowl of soup, or even each other. Have each person take four pictures from different angles and lighting perspectives, then have everyone say what they like about each other’s’ photos. See Phone Photography Tips for ideas and ways to make your pictures even better. 

·      Bathtub Finger Painting You can either buy tubes of finger paint, or make your own with easy recipes that add an extra fun twist to your activity. Letting your child paint in the tub makes bath time even more fun, and to clean up – just wash it down the drain!

Freshly baked chocolate chip cookies

·      Bake Chocolate Chip Cookies: Not many kids, or adults for that matter, can resist a good chocolate chip cookie. Allowing your children to help in the kitchen will create memories for them and will fill your home with nostalgic smells.

·      Make a Furniture Obstacle Course: Position dining room chairs and have the kids run around them or crawl under them on their tummies. Use a couch for summersaults or a crawl space. Sturdy side tables are great to crawl under or over or go around. Use blankets and weights to create tunnels, and even add large pots and pans to add a musical dimension to your creation. Encourage your kids to add their ideas too! Plot your course using masking tape arrows, and time each person to see who can complete it the fastest. 

·      Draw an Animal: Let your child choose their favorite animal or use a more exotic animal, such as a buffalo or a zebra. Look up “images of _(animal name)­_” on your phone. Have your child choose a photo to draw from. You can proudly display the finished drawings on the refrigerator, or let your child give their picture to a family member or friend.

·      Have a Themed Dress Up Dance Party in the Living Room: Pull out the box of dress up clothes or go to your closet and have fun choosing complete outfits, shoes and all, to wear to your dance party. Make space in the living room, turn down the lights, turn up the themed music, and let loose!

·      Plant Seeds for Your Vegetable Garden: Gather a few empty egg cartons and place them on a sheet pan or another tray that won’t leak water. Spoon soil into each egg compartment, compacting it down (your children will love helping with the dirt!). Then, choose what seeds you want to grow, put a seed in each hole, cover it with a layer of dirt, and water it. Mark the carton with a felt pen so you remember what you planted. Place the tray in a warm spot close to a window, and watch it grow each day!

Tea Party with pink polka dot tea pot.

·      Have a Tea Party: Set out crackers or cookies and steam some milk to pour into teacups or mugs. (Maybe even make it chocolate.) Sit down together and pretend you are in a different time and country.

·      Play a Card Game: Teach your kids an easy card game, such as Go Fish or Old Maid, and play a few rounds with them.

·      Play Indoor Hide and Seek: Any time of the day is fun for this game, but especially at night or with darkened rooms when it is harder to see each other.

·      Read Bible Stories: Anytime is good for reading to our children, but especially at naptime or bedtime when things are calm and they can ask you questions about the Lord.

·      Read a Story and Draw a Picture About It: Get out the crayons and let your children express what they are hearing you read in the form of a picture.

·      Dress Up Phone Portraits: Have your children dress in a costume like a bunny, dinosaur, or put on their Sunday best and have serious portraits taken. Learn more about using the Portrait Mode on your phone for frame-worthy photos.

·      Make Playdough: Have your children join in the fun by  helping you make playdough, or try 3 ingredient fluffy slime.

·      Indoor Treasure Hunt: Make a list of 10 household items that your kids need to find, such as toilet paper, keys, dirty socks, etc. Be creative.

·      Music Contest: Have each child find some way to make music. They can play harmonica, drum on pans, play the piano or even just stomp their feet. Give them one minute to “play their song.”

Boy drawing a picture using crayons

·      Write a Letter or Create a Card for Friends or Family: Use crayons, colored pencils, glitter, stickers, pipe cleaners, or whatever you have on hand to create beautiful cards to show someone you care.

·      Build a Lego Farm or Castle: Imagine you are there. Get on the floor with your child and build structures and pastures with Lego fences and pretend a storm is coming. Create a story for the family in the creation.

·      Create a Relay Race from Room to Room: Place a piece of paper in each room describing what needs to be done; for example, 10 jumping jacks or five summersaults. Maybe tie ankles together to have two people work as a team.

·      Do a Scientific Experiment from Pinterest: Check out science experiments for kids on Pinterest for a range of fun options, from dancing raisins to a water xylophone.

·      Make a List of People to Pray For: From grandparents and cousins to their friends next door. Use this list to guide their bedtime prayers.

·      Play Doctor: Even if you don’t have a doctor kit, you can use earphones as a stethoscope, blueberries as pills, and a spoon to look in their ears and throat. It’s a great way to talk about sickness and the importance of a healthy lifestyle with your children.

·      Charades: Compose a list of 12 to 15 words on small pieces of paper and fold them up. Make them easy enough to so your child can act them out. After the game, put the words in a Ziplock bag and save them for next time, adding to the bag each time.

You can change the narrative in your home from feeling stuck or bored to having fun and encouraging one another. When you choose to engage with your children, you’ll begin to cherish these moments and build memories for your kids to take with them into their future.