It’s been incredibly difficult, having the children stuck indoors for what feels like most of 2020. Children are young and full of energy, they want to run and explore and be free, yet they’ve been cooped up unable to meet with friends or take part in the hobbies that they love. While it doesn’t look like this is going to change in the immediate, that shouldn’t stop you having quality time with your children. So here are our suggestions. Here are 15 of the best indoor activities, especially for those high-energy children that have been stuck inside and are in need of some fun!
1. Hot Lava
The floor is hot lava and you can’t step on it! This game involves a lot of jumping around on objects that are strewn around the room. Pick certain things that you don’t mind the children stepping on such as couch cushions and blankets, and you’ve got yourself a cost-effective, energy-burning game!
2. Scavenger hunt
Scavenger hunts don’t have to be elaborate (although treasure hunts are cool!), they just have to be fun. Some of the best indoor activities can be scavenger hunts that have been put together last minute. Children find any games fun, such as ‘find everything downstairs that is round’ or ‘find a yellow object in every room.’
3. Old school games
Children love learning old school games like hopscotch, so create an outline of hopscotch together. You can use tape if you want to do it indoors or colourful chalk if you want to do it outside. Either way, it’s a fun activity to do together and there’s lots of jumping to make everyone tired.
4. Build a fort
Who doesn’t love making a fort? Some of the best indoor activities involve making forts out of household objects such as empty cardboard boxes or couch cushion and bedsheets, just try it and ask your children afterwards! This is such a great activity to do together as you can keep it up for a while after and act out stories or camp in the living room.
5. Mix up the usual routine
If you are too tired one day, why not just make the usual routine longer? You have the time and it gets dark earlier! This can be as simple as letting your kids have a longer bath or making it more fun for them by breaking some glow sticks and having a glow in the dark bath. When it comes to bedtime, how about getting the whole family in bed to read a chapter together every night?
6. Bust out the board games
We all have some board games stored somewhere in the house, so why not get them out and have a few fun and competitive hours together. Whether you have Cluedo, hungry hippos, mousetrap, battleships, snakes and ladders, twister, or even just a jigsaw puzzle, there is nothing like this kind of quality time as a family.
7. Camp in the living room
This is a great family activity and it can easily last all day. From setting up the tent and sleeping bags to watching films, having a picnic, and sleeping in it overnight, camping indoors is a fun and easy activity to entertain the little ones.
8. Crazy obstacle course
Building an obstacle course doesn’t take much time, but it can provide hours of fun until everyone is completely burnt out. Get creative when you build your course. You can outline a track where your children have to crawl under blankets and hop over pillows, you can even set up areas where they have to do a certain activity (such as bowl over a certain amount of objects before they can move on). If you have older children, keep them engaged by tying them together with a younger sibling so they have to work together to complete the course.
9. Play hide-and-seek
One of the best indoor activities has to be hide-and-seek. It is a family favourite after all. As well as being fun for all ages, hide-and-seek allows you to spend some time as a family making memories. You can mix it up too, by playing it in the dark or by allowing the hiders to move around the house!
10. Bring nature inside
It’s getting cold outside and we can’t do much anyway with the current Covid restrictions, so bring the outside indoors! Why not bring piles of leaves or sticks inside and try and make some arts and crafts with them? If it snows, gather some in buckets and let your children experiment with spatulas, measuring cups, and their fingers. Although this will need to be cleaned up, messy play is very stimulating and is important for a child’s development!
11. Bowling
Out of the best indoor activities, bowling is quite a good one. You can buy a soft indoor bowling set or set up your own skittles with pop cans, toilet rolls or empty washing up liquid bottles. Whatever you have, get creative and see how many everyone can knock over.
12. Movie marathon
Having a movie marathon is a great indoor activity to have when it’s cold or raining outside. Take in turns to choose the film and make it a cosy activity by pulling the couch forward and bringing out lots of blankets.
Tip: If you have high-energy children that find it difficult to settle for long periods, then consider exhausting the list of physical activities first before moving on to this one!
13. Arts and crafts
What’s great about arts and crafts is that you can get creative with anything and children love getting messy! All you have to do for this one is to cover the table with newspapers or a plastic sheet and then bring out the arts and crafts. You may have bought some paint or you may have certain materials and fabrics that your children can use, but if you don’t, you can try baking and decorating instead.
14. Make chores fun
Having the children home a lot these past few months has meant that parents have had to get even more creative with what ‘fun’ means. We’re talking about – making chores fun! It is possible, and if you have a lot to do around the house, it’s a win-win for everyone. Children love to get involved so give them certain task and challenges to do every day. You can load the dishwasher together, hang the washing up, or tidy their bedrooms, just think of ways that you can make it into a game and you’ll have some keen little helpers.
15. Makeshift playroom
Do you have a garage or a spare room that you can convert into a temporary playroom while your children are indoors? If you have any outdoor toys that be used indoors, wash them off and utilise your garage space for playing. If you have to work from home, then move all your children’s toys into the spare room so they can play and not disturb you. Your kids can really get active if they have space to draw with chalk, roller-skate, skip, play basketball, or throw a ball around, so work with what you have.
When in doubt, ask your children what they want to do
Here are some of our best indoor activities to get you through the next few months. If you don’t find everything you need here or you are still worried about keeping your children entertained, then don’t forget to ask them what they want to do. Ask them what they enjoy doing or what they can come up with and you may just be surprised!
At Schoolhouse Daycare, we enjoy learning, encouraging confidence and we love life! If you think your child would enjoy life at Schoolhouse, then please do not hesitate to arrange a visit.