10 indoor activities to get your kids through winter

10 indoor activities to get your kids through winter

There comes a time when the inevitable winter crazies set in.

The kids become restless, chase each other in circles around the house screaming. They bicker and roughhouse. And that is when it’s time to break out the list of indoor ideas.

Here are 10 ideas for keeping your young rascals busy indoors when it’s just too cold to venture out.

1. Build a cardboard play house 

Pick up a large refrigerator box from a local builder, furniture store, or other wholesale distribution warehouse (often they are happy to give away big boxes). Tape one end shut and reinforce the sides with duct tape, then help your child cut a door and windows. Encourage your child to add control panels using things you have around your house, such as string, bottle caps, toilet paper rolls, or other recyclables.

You and your children can set your imaginations loose and create anything from a doll’s house, bear cave, rocket ship, restaurant or a miniature grocery store. (and create an amazing opportunity for some educational fun!)

2. Set up a big art table

Time to go big and cover your coffee table in a roll of newspaper (a large piece of craft paper or plastic will do as well) and find all the art supplies you have lying around. Let your child draw and paint to their heart’s content without having to worry that your walls or furniture will be their next masterpiece’s canvas. This gives a great opportunity to make some handprints for a keepsake, or even to paint some old clothes for a fresh new look!

3. Sumo wrestle

When the kids need to burn off some steam indoors, clear out a space in the living room and line the corners with pillows. Let your children borrow an old t-shirt of yours, stuff it with pillows in the front and back, and let them wrestle each other. Go ahead, try to hold back your own laughter while you referee the match. Just don’t forget to teach them good sportsmanship!

4. Make marshmallow structures

Use dried spaghetti and mini marshmallows to build anything your child can imagine! Experiment with the strength of different shapes and configurations or use this opportunity to introduce some delicious geometry to your little ones.

5. Make cardboard monster feet

With the leftover cardboard you have from the play house, make a pair of monster feet that tie onto your child’s feet with shoelaces and watch them flop around as menacingly as possible.

6. Let your child take a “Mad Scientist” bath

Gather up various sized plastic cups, small containers, spray bottles and funnels, and set up a plastic stool in the bathtub. Let your child take a bath in the middle of the day without the goal of getting clean; rather, let them use the stool as a table to line up the “experiments.” Add soap and bubbles and see what they come up with. A bath bomb would make an excellent grand finale.

7. Make a marble race track

Cut a pool noodle in half lengthwise using a serrated knife to make two racetracks. Then set them up side-by-side on your stairs or propped up against the couch. Let the kids race their marbles or small cars.

8. Indoor scavenger hunt

Hide clues around the house for a hunt that will keep them busy solving riddles and working as a team. Leave a “treasure chest” at the end with a few treats for an extra special surprise.

9. Build a tapestry table

Pick up an old coffee table frame at a secondhand store and staple a large piece of burlap all the way around the edges. Use scraps of yarn and string and large plastic children’s sewing needles and let your child learn to sew on the tapestry table. It’s great for their fine motor skills, and when they’re finished, they can hang it on the wall in their room.

10. Make a reading nook

You can always turn to books! Check out a giant bag of books from your local library and when you return home, build a reading nook in the most comfortable spot in the house with pillows, blankets, and favorite stuffed animals. Then join your child for a reading marathon. If you want to take it a step further, you could dedicate a section of a bookshelf in your home as your child’s very own library. Make a fun library card with them, then let them read away!