As a parent living through the mandatory stay at home in order to prevent the spread of COVID-19, you will probably have a lot on your mind. Schools have been shut down indefinitely, social activities have been postponed and you’ve probably been asked to work from home. All these have left you locked in at home with your kids and the big question is “what do we do with all this free time?” In this article, we’ll share a few fun indoor activities for kids that will help you keep them occupied and maintain order while still learning from home.
One of the first steps in preparing for time at home with a child or kids is to create a schedule. Let there be time for learning, doing chores and playing. Also, maintain sleep times, so they don’t find it difficult to return to their regular schedule when it is all over.
When it’s playtime, feel free to choose from one of these fun indoor activities for kids.
10 Fun Indoor Activities for Kids this Period
1. Animal charades
Animal charades is a great game for developing a child’s imagination. With printed charade cards that have both images and words, kids can act out animal sounds and actions while others on the same team guess what animal is being acted out.
2. Indoor treasure hunt
An indoor treasure hunt or a scavenger hunt is one of the fun indoor activities for kids that never gets old. It involves hiding made-up treasures around your house and creating several connecting clues that will help your kids find the treasures. If you feel like you don’t have the time or patience to create clues, try downloading some printable clues online. A quick Google search will provide you with lots of options.
3. Play cards
One cool thing about playing cards is that both you and your kids can join in the fun. There are also tons of card games, so it’ll be difficult to run out of options.
4. Freeze dancing
Freeze dancing is a game that needs no introduction. But just to refresh your memory, freeze dancing requires you to play a party song of your choice and assign someone to stop the music at random intervals. When the person stops the music, everyone must instantly freeze. Anyone caught moving is out of the game. The last person standing (or dancing), wins.
5. Balloon juggling
Speaking of fun indoor activities for kids that require stamina and concentration, try balloon juggling. Balloons may sound like pretty easy objects to handle, but try challenging your kids to keep the balloon up for a timed period without letting it touch the ground.
6. Sock basketball
How good are your kids’ dunking skills? You’ll find out with sock basketball. The set up for this is quite easy. Find a laundry basket and place it at a safe spot where there are no breakables. Stuff a few socks into one sock to form a ball shape. Then challenge your kids to take turns at getting the sock ball into the laundry basket. To make it more fun, pair up in teams. Mommy with son and daddy with daughter or vice versa.
7. Karaoke
Almost everyone loves to sing in the bathroom, but how about singing live with the lyrics to the song displayed on a screen? This one is great for family bonding because it allows everyone to loosen up and be goofy. All you need is a screen, which could be your laptop, projector or TV. Connect to YouTube or check out this online karaoke with thousands of songs to choose from.
8. Finish-the-story challenge
One way to make reading fun is by letting kids participate in the stories, either by taking up characters or deciding how the story ends. With this challenge, you can start a story and tell your kids to continue the story by saying the next sentence. Each person takes a turn in developing the story with one sentence after another till it ends.
9. The alphabet game
Looking for fun indoor activities for kids that encourage learning? Say hello to the alphabet game. Even if it’s just you and your child, both of you can play this game. You’ll have to go through the entire alphabet, so this is perfect for early childhood education and your child will be learning while having fun. The first player says a word that starts with the letter A, the next player says a word that starts with B, the next player C, then D until letter Z. You may decide to only allow words from specific categories like “fruits.” so if the first player says Avocado, the next play has to say a fruit that starts with B and so on.
10. Hot potatoes
“Hot Potatoes” is similar to sock basketball. It’s also perfect to play with kids in preschool or elementary. Roll up a few socks and position your kids around a small room, then have them toss the rolled-up sock to their sibling from their under-arm. The fun part is that the tossing has to be done as quickly as possible without dropping the sock. If you’d like to spice it up, assign someone to play and stop music at random intervals. The last child to touch the sock when the music stops has to leave the game. Continue this until only one child is left and crowned champion.
These are just a few fun indoor activities for kids to keep the anxiety down during this period. For more ideas, check out our post on 10 fun after-school activities for kids. Also, feel free to get creative and come up with some ideas yourself or hunt for more ideas on the internet. With these activities and the routines you’ve created, spending time indoors should be more fun than you thought. It could also serve as a great opportunity for you to bond with your kids.
