Baby it’s cold outside – and my kids are getting cabin fever. Capt. M. and Mr. B. love to play outdoors. This winter has been extremely cold leaving little time for the kids to enjoy the outdoors. This has resulted in the kids running around like wild animals! Seriously!
Tonight I am brainstorming ideas to keep the boys busy indoors and hopefully exert some energy.
Indoor Activity Ideas
- Swim in the bath tub. Most kids love baths – throw in some new toys and swim goggles in the middle of the day. Capt. M. loves to practice going under water with his swim goggles on in the bath tub.
- Make a fort in the living room. Drape a sheet over chairs or furniture. Make some popcorn and let the kids eat it in their fort.
- Turn up the music and dance! This is a great workout for mom too. Plus the kids get a good laugh at watching me dance – not pretty!
- Let the kids play in the sink. Fill the sink with water and allow them to play with measuring cups, spoons and plastic containers. Water and soap keeps Mr. B. entertained for a very long time.
- Bake a special treat. My kids love to help in the kitchen. It always takes twice as long and results in a huge mess, but they really enjoy helping.
- Read a book and then act out the scenes. My boys love to pretend that they are dogs or dinosaurs. Great imaginations!
- Play board games or do puzzles. If your kids are young, adapt the game rules so that they can play along. Most of the time we don’t play the games according to the original rules since the boys are 2 and 4 – we make up new rules!
- Arts and crafts are always a hit. Bring out the glitter, glue, construction paper, paint and whatever you have on hand. Spread a newspaper out on the table for easy cleanup.
- Blow up some balloons and have an indoor volleyball game. Or play hot potato with the balloon. Just make sure that the rules are clearly stated – no tackling, climbing furniture or pulling each other down. Yes, I have boys! If you don’t have balloons, make sponge balls!
- If all else fails, I break out the Wii. I limit the time and I only allow them to play games that make the boys move. Capt. M. gets quite a workout with home run derby and tennis!
What are your ideas for indoor kids activities? I am sure that many of you have stir crazy kids at this point!
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Renae is a married working mom of two handsome boys. She works as a registered dental hygienist by day and blogs here at How to Have it All by night. She enjoys cooking from scratch, working in her vegetable garden and functional training.
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Thanks for the great ideas! We have a long house, so we let the kids bring their tricycles indoors and ride them back and forth – they race each other and have a great time for hours!!
Alecia,
Yes! We have brought the tricycles inside before. I have not done it this year since Capt. M. is now riding a bike without training wheels – he thinks tricycles are for babies. They had fun when they did it last winter though!