Indoor Activities for Kids – How to Keep Your Kids Active Inside

Disclaimer: I do use affiliate links on my site, meaning that if you purchase anything through my affiliate links above, I receive a small commission at no additional cost to you. My views and opinions are never swayed because of this. I only recommend products and services that I trust and love!

With Winter looming, we are facing a season of increased inside time with our kids. This can be hard for both children and the parents who care for them. Without wide open spaces to run around and explore, it can feel like our kids are bouncing off the walls trying to get their energy out. Either that or they’re zombies in front of a screen. Neither of these scenarios sound great, if you ask me. If you’re looking for ways to keep your child active indoors, this post is for you!

This post is full of indoor kids activities to keep your child active this winter while stuck at home.

Materials to Buy to Keep Kids Active Inside

Colorful Masking Tape – I know this seems like an art supply, but masking tape really comes in handy for creating paths to follow, grids to park cars in and all sorts of fun things! I ALWAYS have tape on hand to create quick activities that my kids absolutely love!

Activity Cubes – Talk about a versatile item! You can use these to make all sorts of games to keep your kids moving. I bought them when I decided to start homeschooling my kindergartner, with the idea to make games and activities to help teach early reading skills like letter recognition. There are endless ways to use these blocks!

Scarves – Add scarves to your child’s dress up box so that they can use them as an extension with dancing! Throw them in the air and twirl around! Your child will love theses!

Golf Set or Croquet Set – My children love this so much! Of course we run into the game of finding what else they can hit with the clubs BUT overall they are good about using the clubs for target practice and practicing hand eye coordination by hitting balls. I personally feel good about this being an inside activity ESPECIALLY when we’re trapped inside during the winter for long periods of time.

Bilibo Seats – Kids love rocking back and forth and spinning around and around in these bucket type seats. They use them by themselves, but we also bring them out every time we create an obstacle course inside! Definitely a crowd pleaser!

Sit and Spin – Both my children enjoy this classic toy. My son is known for spinning round and round RIGHT when it’s time to settle down for bed.

Balance Board – I love, love, love, LOVE this toy! My son and daughter use it together like a teeter totter. They use it flipped over as a hill to climb up or a step to climb up onto something taller. This is another toy that always seems to make its way into the mix when we’re building an epic obstacle course. So glad we have it to keep my kids active inside!

Indoor One Person Trampoline – Shouldn’t every home have a space where their kids can jump their wiggles out?!

Online Resources to Keep Your Kids Active Inside

Cosmic Kids Yoga   – We discovered Cosmic Kids Yoga at the beginning of this year and totally fell in love with it. The host is so entertaining and the fun story lines make yoga accessible for younger kids. This is a great way to get your kids moving and it’s totally free!

Go Noodle

Indoor Activities to Keep Kids Active Indoors

Obstacle Courses

There are endless possibilities when it comes to creating obstacle courses in your home! Use what you have to create items to jump on, crawl through, balance across, and move through in other unique ways that get your kids burning off some extra energy when they are stuck inside.

Use lined up dinning chairs to create either a tunnel or a bridge. Use pillows to jump onto for a soft landing. Climb over large ottomans. Bring out your other large motor toys like the balance board and Bilibo seats. Use tape to create a path to balance on or lines to jump over. Let your kids come up with their own paths too! Moving all the furniture around will tire them out all on its own.

String Maze

My daughter is ALWAYS playing with yarn and string and getting it tangled up and creating a gigantic mess. I came back from running an errand and she had created a maze throughout our entire condo. It wound through the bathroom, through the closets, into the kitchen, looped around the couch, back into the bathroom to loop onto the faucet, and back out to the living room again. It feels like I walked at least half a mile trying to rewind the string.

BUT this gave me an idea! Why not do it on purpose?!Tie a little treat to the end – a new book. a lollipop, a bit of candy or some paintbrushes to reveal your next activity, whatever else you can think up. Put the treat tied to the end of your ball of string or yarn into a drawer, close the drawer, then walk all around the house creating a maze of string for your child to follow!

They’re sure to burn off some energy eager to find whatever treat the trail you create leads to!

Balloon Challenges

How many times can you hit the balloon up into the air before it hits the ground? Try volleying back and forth with a sibling or friend! Can you stand on one leg and keep the balloon up in the air? What about hitting the balloon up in the air and then spinning underneath it?! How far forward can you hit the balloon? Use tape to mark how far you get each time and see if you can best yourself! What other balloon challenges can you come up with?

Disclaimer: My mom has taught me to be weary of balloons with young kids. Balloons are a terrifying choking hazard. NEVER let your child put a balloon in their mouth and ALWAYS clean up the pieces of a popped balloon. Practice caution when having balloons around your children.

Balloon Tennis

All you need for this indoor activity is (clean – unused) fly swatters, balloons, and tape to create a line that mimics a net! Use the fly swatters to hit the balloon across the line, if it hits the floor on your side of the tape the other team gets a point! Super fun, just make sure you have enough space to play so things don’t get knocked over and damaged.

5 Pieces of Tape

This one sounds a bit too good to be true, but I PROMISE you can tire your kids out with just 5 pieces of tape set parallel on the floor spaced out about 1 foot apart.

Ask your child if they can jump over each piece of tape. Can they jump from the first piece of tape all the way to the 3rd? From the first to the 4th? Can they jump from the first line ALL THE WAY to the last line?

After exploring all your options jumping, see if your child can put their hands and feet on the first line then slowly walk their hands forward to see how far they can stretch while leaving their feet back on the first line. THEN try keeping your hands on the first line and walking your feet back to the different lines until you can’t go any further.

You can also keep one foot planted on the first line while you walk your other foot further and further, spreading your legs as far as they can go.

This is a fun way to practice balance and build strength all while getting your child to be active inside and have fun!

Streamers in the Hallway

To me, this indoor activity can best be described as resembling a spy movie where you’re trying to get through a hallway filled with laser sensors zig zagging from wall to wall. Your child will have to crawl, contort and high step over streamers to make it down the hall without tripping the streamers and pulling them off the wall. Can they conquer the challenge?

Dance Parties

Never underestimate the power of dance! Put on some fun music and get out there and dance your heart out! Your kids will have a blast seeing you having fun and will DEFINETLY get tuckered out right along with you. A dance party is the perfect indoor activity to chase the blues away that come from being stick inside.

Climb Up the Wall

Literally, let your children climb the walls. (As long as you’re comfortable with it, of course.) Have your child put their back against the wall then lean forward to put their hands on the floor. Then proceed to have them walk their feet up the wall and see how long they can hold it. This is a great exercise for both you and your child to build upper body and core strength and your child will be shocked when you encourage them to climb up the wall!

Listen and Move Songs

Look up the Party Freeze Game by the Kaboomers, Animal Action, or the Listen and Move song. These songs aren’t only lots of fun for younger kids but they work on the skill of following one step instructions and practicing self-control. Winning all around with this indoor activity!

Cleaning Up Challenges

Put on a timer for 5 or 10 or 15 minutes depending on how old your kids are and see how fast they can clean up a room! You might have a little push back for this one but it’s always worth a shot. Making clean-up a challenge or competition usually makes it a lot more fun for kids!

Golf Target Practice

Cut up a carboard box to create a target for a fun indoor kid’s activity. Create different size holes to vary the level of difficulty depending on your kids’ ages. This golf set comes in handy for this indoor activity.

Activity Cube Games

I use these activity cubes SO MANY WAYS for homeschooling my daughter. However, I also use them as a way to get up and move! Put yoga poses or animals or other movements on each side and let the cubes tell you how to move. It’s fun to see what comes up and encourages your child to move in different ways. Getting exercise while stuck inside can be tricky and this is a fun indoor activity that will help you and your kids stay moving!

Scavenger Hunt

My daughter, 4-years-old, is currently obsessed with scavenger hunts. Basically she would like to do a scavenger hunt for every single holiday from here on out, for the rest of our lives.

We did one for the first day of homeschool where she had a new school supply hidden with each clue. When asked what she wanted to do for her birthday she said “A scavenger hunt to find my presents!” I’m fairly certain we will be doing one for Halloween as well…

Anyway, all this to say, I have been on the hunt for free scavenger hunts because taking the time to come up with the cards is just not something I have time to spend brain power on.

Pinterest is a fantastic resource for printables and these are a few of the ones I have used or plan to use in the near future.

As your child runs all over the house searching for clues, you’ll totally understand why I love this as a fun indoor activity to keep kids busy and active.

Whether you’re spending more time inside because it’s winter or poor air quality in your area or because it’s too darn hot outside, we could all use a little extra inspiration to keep our kids active and busy while staying inside. This list of indoor activities for kids is sure to ease some of the pent up energy your children have and help you, as parents, find a little reprieve in your day.

Have fun as you explore this list of indoor activities for kids!

COMMENT with what you’re doing to stay active inside right now! What are your favorite indoor activities for kids?!

PIN this post to keep coming back to!

SHARE this post so friends can benefit and be inspired too!

LIKE Big Love Small Moments on Facebook to stay up to date on the great things happening here!