While we all love getting fresh air and sunshine, sometimes getting outside isn’t an option. Whether it’s due to bad weather, an unexpected school closure, or some other reason. Once you’re indoors, your kids can get cabin fever quickly if you’re not prepared, since we all know kids have a lot of energy. That’s why it’s always good to have a stash of indoor activities for kids at the ready. We’ve corralled our list of favourite inside kids activities as a starting point for you and your little ones.
1. Bring The Outdoors In
Whether it’s forts made of blankets and pillows or pop-up tents, you can recreate the camping experience without having to deal with mosquitoes or mud. Why not get involved and help your kids construct their own super-fort in the family room? IKEA has provided instructions on how to build forts using blankets for kids. Assembly requires no special tools or parts, only household items. There are instructions for six architectural variations called Cåstle, Cåve, Cåmping tent, Förtress, Höuse, and Wigwåm. Check them out here!
2. Leave Out A Jigsaw Puzzle
Jigsaw puzzles are great because everyone can do them. Just leave one out on the table, and the family can float by and try to fit in a few new pieces whenever they have a few minutes to spare. There are many puzzles you can buy online, made for all age groups. Plus, studies show that puzzles improve collaboration and cooperation skills!
3. Do A Science Experiment
You can do a ton of at-home science experiments with very little prep and setup, often with items you can just grab from around the house. There are a lot of different types of science experiment online tutorials. For example, if you sit a “cloud” of shaving cream on top of a jar of water, then add drops of blue water one-at-a-time, when the “cloud” becomes saturated, you get blue rain and the water cycle in a jar. Super fun and also educational!
4. Go On A Treasure Hunt
It’s easy to rig up an indoor finding game and keep the kids entertained for hours. You could come up with a scavenger hunt-style list of items your child has to find all over the house, or put together a series of clues that lead to one big prize at the end. Great for making your kids feel like real life pirates and will keep them entertained for ages!
5. Cook And Bake Together
As long as the kids are stuck indoors, why not spend the day together making a family-favorite recipe? Make cooking and baking fun with your assistant chiefs by assigning responsibilities. Not only will they feel important and useful, they’ll also be proud they helped make something. Plus, you get to get some cooking done for the week and some yummy treats to eat after!
6. Play Hide And Seek
Hide and seek is a children’s game that has been around a long time and has remained a favourite amongst kids. It’s a simple and fun game but that’s what makes it so much fun, you don’t need any fancy equipment! You could use the whole house and get creative with the rules of the game. For example, you could change it up by having the counter recite the alphabet instead of counting to ten.
