When it’s cold outside, come in and try some fun, inside games. Some you played when you were young. Adapt them to fit your needs inside or invite some friends over for a Game Day play date!A SCAVENGER HUNT is a fun game for any age group. You can come up with five to ten items for your children to find around the house. Use colored paper for younger children to find the colors of the rainbow. Or leave clues on each item to find the next. Riddles or rhymes are fun ways to steer children in the right direction. Older siblings may enjoy setting up their own scavenger hunt for younger brothers or sisters. You can also come up with a theme—a costume theme, for example. Have each clue be a piece of a costume--necklaces, crown, gloves, etc. The dress is last and you have a princess dressed up ready to play. You can quickly add a treat or surprise at the end to become a
TREASURE HUNT. The treasure can be a movie and popcorn or special craft to do together.
Another inside activity for a group is to create an OBSTACLE COURSE. Pull out blankets or mats to cover the floor and then set up your course. You can crawl through a tunnel (under the table), jump into a moat (box of pillows) or go through a forest (streamers hanging down) all while blindfolded. Hula hoops, jump ropes and ball tosses are all good props.
Another inside activity for a group is to create an OBSTACLE COURSE. Pull out blankets or mats to cover the floor and then set up your course. You can crawl through a tunnel (under the table), jump into a moat (box of pillows) or go through a forest (streamers hanging down) all while blindfolded. Hula hoops, jump ropes and ball tosses are all good props.
Take your family CAMPING--inside. Set up as many activities to do with camping as you can. You can set up real tents, use the pop up ones or even make your own. To make your own, drape towels or blankets over two chairs. Stretch the blanket by moving the chairs far apart. A S’mores area can be made in the kitchen and cooked in the microwave. Have hot dogs and other “camp” food for lunch or dinner. Sing songs around the fireplace.
Have a BLOCK BUILDING contest. Pull out all the building blocks you have--mega blocks, brick blocks, Legos, and Lincoln Logs. Set a time limit for your children to make the tallest, widest or longest tower or structure. They can work individually or in a group.
An easy inside activity is BOARD GAME time. Pull out all the board games you have. We are always amazed at how many we have when we do this! Then get small groups of children together to play. Rotate around to try several different games. These are fun to leave up for a while and then come back to after lunch or at another time. This also answers the question: “What can I play with?” How about all those games on the floor? For those moms who like to organize toys periodically this is a good chance to match up all those little pieces to the right games.
Another easy inside activity is PUZZLE TIME. My children like to pull out all the different kinds of puzzles we have--block puzzles for the youngest, pirate, princess or cut out shape puzzles for the older ones. We give each puzzle its own area and just travel between each puzzle working on it a little and then moving to the next until they are all complete. What fun to see all the puzzles taking up the floor! This is fun when friends come over, too.
BOOK TIME is a quick time soaker for those long winter afternoons. Stand up your favorite books in a circle and go around and share the stories or just look at them. Or do book searches where you find all the dinosaur books and look through them together. You can also set aside a time where all family members read for half an hour in the same room. The only rule for this is that all family members are reading something.
Some other oldies but goodies are musical chairs, hide and seek, pick up sticks or making card towers. Freeze Dance is a combination of tag and dancing. Play any kind of music and let all the children dance. When the music stops, they must freeze. This is a good way to get the energy out before you play another game. Painting, play doh and coloring are all easy inside activities to do. Or just give your child a variety of “tools”-- paper, glue, glitter, buttons, etc. and let them make their own project. The possibilities are endless when you plan an “inside” day.
