Easy indoor games and activities for kids
Easy, fun, minimum prep
So as we're settling into quaratine mode, we're all going to need to start getting creative with the activites and games we play with our kids in our homes. If you don't have a yard to play in or the rainy weather is keeping us inside, then this list of indoor activities for kids will help your family thrive during COVID-19 self isolation and lockdown.
These recommendations and ideas don't require much preparation or extra materials to help save you from any unneeded trips to the shops.
Build a Cubby
Pull out all your spare blankets and pillows! Turn that kitchen table on it's side! It's time to build a cubby house! Kids love cubbies and pillow forts and they can spend hours building and playing in them. And once the cubbies are built, it's a great place to spend some time reading or drawing, bring in the soft toys for a "meeting", set up a pretend shop or start a spongeball skirmish! (Keep reading to find out more)
Sponge Ball Skirmish
Divide your family into two teams and build some makeshift battle forts on either side of your arena (living room). Start throwing some soft foam balls at each other and make up some battle rules around how you get "out" and win the game (or check out our rules using the link below). This is such a great fun high-energy indoor game that requires team-work. Oh, and don't forget to put away anything breakable
Hide and Seek
An easy game to play with your kids in your house or apartment that requires no prep and no materials. Someone counts to ten while the others hide and then they "go seek".
Cook-off
Although you'll want to be careful rationing out your precious ingredients, this could be a fun and educational way to spend time with your school aged kids. Giving them an opportunity to test out their cooking skills and cook you dinner at the same time!
Indoor Scavenger Hunt
Why not sit on your couch and create a scavenger hunt for your kids to do. This gets kids moving around, using their energy to find various items throughout the house. Your scavenger hunt can be as creative as you like - finding items you've hidden, solving clues and completing activities.
Find some great scavenger hunt ideas here
Create A Commercial
This one is ideal for school-ageds kids - get them to create a commercial for a random object (with some restrictions and rules) and see what they come up with. They can have a lot of fun coming up with a silly skit, dressing up and singing songs. Could be done using a phone camera or just performed as a drama.
Make Your Own Board Game
If you've worn out all the board games in your cupboard, maybe it's time for you and your kids to invent your own. Get creative and use cards, dice, strategy, logic, spinners, tokens and more. Kids love inventing their own stories and rules, and making the artwork on the game can be fun too. Younger kids will obviously need a lot of help putting it all together, but older kids might be able to surprise you with what they come up with on their own.
House of Cards
Pretty much self explanitory, as the name suggests - get each player/team to build a house of cards. The player with the tallest tower in the allotted time wins!
Make sure the kids don't destroy each others towers... or let them go wild, it could be a bit of...
Make a Stop Motion Animation
Using a digital camera or a phone camera, set up an animation studio and get your kids to come up with a story to tell using their toys or lego. Stop motion videos will take a considerable amount of time and care, but can be a great tool to teach children patience and determination. Once you've taken enough frame photos (at 12-25fps you may need quite a few photos to make a few seconds worth of video) then you can put them together using a phone app or video editing tool, like Windows Movie Maker or iMovie.
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