Monthly Archives: April 2016

Do You Want to Build a Snowman…Inside? 20+ Indoor Activities for kids

indoor snowman play

No snow, no problem! (I really hope you read that in a cheesy infomercial voice.) Seriously though, you can play with snow inside, that you make yourself. I found this on Pinterest and it is by far my most repinned pin. It’s super easy to make, you likely have the ingredients on hand, it can be stored in an air-tight container for reuse, and it feels cold! Click here to get the recipe.

I am an indoor person, but my daughter is an outdoor person. So I am slowly adjusting to playing outside, and at the same time constantly trying to find things she will enjoy that we can do inside. These activities were also great when it was super cold but we didn’t have any snow, or we did have snow but also had a wicked cough/fever/runny nose. Regardless of what keeps you indoors, staying inside doesn’t have to be miserable, and you don’t have to watch an endless stream of movies/tv (not the ones you like.)

Here is a list of indoor activities for little kids, broken into two sections: close supervision and minimal.

Close supervision:

  • Play Snow
  • Play-dough
  • Coloring
  • Painting
  • Building a project (Home Depot kid crafts are great, blog post coming soon)
  • Make a necklace/bracelet
  • Make cards for family members
  • Make cookies or cupcakes and decorate them
  • Clean the house (I know, sounds awful, but kids actually like helping. For tips on how to get kids involved, check out our article here)
  • Do yoga with your kids

Minimal supervision (great for when you’re feeling under the weather)

  • Decorate puppets and then tell stories with them (you can print off some animals or people, or just use a brown lunch sack and draw a face)
  • Play with Duplo/building blocks
  • Read books
  • Listen to music
  • Build a fort (then watch a movie from your fort)
  • Create a town for Hot Wheels by drawing roads on a large piece of paper or cardboard. Then drive cars around on it
  • Bring out toys that have been sidelined
  • Play restaurant (this can be minimal if you lay on the couch and “order food”)
  • Magnetic dolls like these (if your child is old enough)
  • Give your kids some pom poms and an empty container and watch them entertain themselves
  • Build towers (I have no idea why kids love building and knocking down towers so much, but you can literally just lay there and stack, then do it again after they knock it down)
  • Do puzzles (I got a bunch of puzzles at the dollar store, they are just barely starting to fall apart after a year, so I will probably replace them soon)

The important thing to remember is that as long as your kids are fed, happy and (mostly) clean, you are doing a good job. Hang in there, guys, there’s sunshine up ahead.