Thinking about what to do in case you’re stuck inside with your children throughout the day?
Sometimes it’s just not possible to go out and enjoy the fresh air and to tire out active and highly energetic children. But there are many reasons we may find ourselves stuck inside, unable to get out and play. The weather is regularly a significant factor – it can turn miserable in a heartbeat and scupper plans
These activities will not only fight boredom (which equals less whining, woohoo!) but will also challenge their minds and muscles – strengthening their bodies and releasing all that pent-up energy – ultimately leaving you with stronger kids (albeit a little sweaty), that won’t fight you when it comes to hitting the hay. A worthy outcome indeed.
- Start a daily gratitude practice as a family at the dinner table or before bed. Take turns talking about what you are grateful for in your life and the world.
- Look at pictures and videos of children when they were babies.
- Set up a pretend store and take turns as a cashier.
- Turn old toilet paper and paper towel tubes into telescopes.
- Put apples and peanut butter stacked together for a tasty snack during craft time.
- Invent a story together and take turns deciding on the characters.
- Organize a crafting cabinet so that the children can help themselves.
- String beads or bracelets together and send one to a friend.
- Alternately put small toys in pillowcases and let the others guess what they are.
- Use old grain crates to stack them to towers.
- Break out magazines and make collages to exhibit throughout the house.
- During the homemade pizza night, children can make their toppings.
- Blowing bubbles with kitchen utensils and homemade bubble formula.
- Make sock puppets and build a theater to perform them.
- Create bedroom window banners with all the handicraft supplies you have at hand.
- Mix a batch of strawberry shortcake biscuits and serve with berries and homemade whipped cream.
- Create the ultimate croquet set with obstacles and obstructing gates.
- Take a putter, sink, and plastic cup off the lawn and turn your yard into a mini-golf course.
- Grab a few ladders, pool noodles, deck chairs, and build an obstacle course above and below.
- Take photo scavenger hunts for each other.
- Plant a herb garden in the house and keep it near the kitchen window.
- Video chat with grandparents or friends and ask them to read a book to young children.
- Learn a new card game with small children and teach it to a group.
- Use pool noodles to make a great fortress.
- Blast out to your kid’s favorite music for a dance party.
- Plant seeds for a vegetable garden that everyone will enjoy.
- Bake homemade granola for energizing yet economical breakfasts.
- Make a beanbag-toss ladder game for playing after dinner.
- Sign up for a far-away pen pal and write weekly letters.
- Grab binoculars, a guidebook, and a notepad, and take a bird-watching walk.
- Create an ultimate croquet game with obstacles impeding each wicket.
- Make sock puppets and construct a theater for performing with them.
- Blow bubbles with kitchen items and homemade bubble formula.
- Create bedroom window banners with craft supplies you have on hand.
- Mix up a batch of strawberry shortcake biscuits and serve with berries and homemade whipped cream.
- Plant sunflowers in cups on a windowsill and then transfer them outdoors once they have sprouted.
- Start a homemade instrument band.
- Paint colorful garden rocks and encircle the house with them.
- Gather items that signify your era and bury them in a time capsule.
- Set up a table, chairs, and teacups for a fancy tea party.
- Melt old crayons into rainbow crayons using muffin tins.
- Make a watch-me-grow-up slideshow and send it to far-away relatives
- Construct an indoor or outdoor fort.
- Have pets pose for photos you can use to paint watercolor portraits.
- Hold a paper airplane making and flying competition.
- Once it’s warm enough, camp out overnight in the backyard.
- Recycle whimsical items into a fairy garden in a shady spot.
- Spray a glow-in-the-dark maze onto the lawn for evening fun.
- Put on an outdoor play, original or adapted.
- Pack up juice boxes and snacks for a leisurely bike ride.
- Spend the day learning to juggle.
- Lay on blankets in the yard and read books or poetry out loud.
- Make muffins or coffee cake with blueberries and share some with an elderly neighbor.
- Make models from kits on a sunny porch or patio.
- Plan a hydrated hike destination you can reach from home, then rest, then go back.
- Paint words, names, or destinations on scraps of wood and make them into signposts around the yard.
- Make a role model collage with images and words and then share what you admire aloud.
- Gather up white clothing and shoes, then tie-dye them or decorate them with permanent markers.
- Come up with a fantastic family vacation then start a vision board you can add to over time.
- Research, practice, and put on a magic show complete with hats and capes.
- Create a family nature journal that includes pressed samples and photos you can add to all summer.
- Hang rolled paper against a flat wall and let each child make a colorful graffiti statement.
- Research another era and make retro paper dolls and outfits.
- Make found-object wind chimes to hang by front and back doors.
- Grab a couple ladders, pool noodles, and folding lawn chairs and construct an over-under obstacle course.
- Make up photo scavenger hunts for each other.
- Pick up a putter, sink some plastic cups in the lawn, and turn your yard into a mini golf course.
- Research group dances and have after-dinner practices.
- Search online by day and study the constellations you will watch for by night.
- Virtually visit a faraway place of each child’s choosing through the internet.
- Make a family patchwork quilt by giving each family member a certain number of squares to finish. Use fabric scraps from around the house.
- Make homemade pizzas from scratch.
- Make origami with waterproof paper and hang them from tree branches in the yard.
- Practice all day for a family talent night.
- Practice colorful cookie, cake, or cupcake decorating.
- Study fashion history and then pull together fashions out of recycled materials.
- Sit around the fire pit and share what you like about books you are reading.
- Set up an indoor or outdoor theater, pop popcorn, and stream a favorite movie.
- Arrange a stuffed animal parade.
- Drape together a napping or reading tent with sheer drapes hung from the ceiling.
- Create an oversized map for an outdoor treasure hunt.
- Construct a city out of recycled items.
- Craft a maze in the yard with masking tape or painter’s tape.
- Learn a new card game.
- Share what you appreciate about time together with your family over homemade pie or cake.