81 indoor activities for kids: Ultimate active or calming ideas list
Always something to do for the holidays or rainy day?
Play Choice now has the ultimate activity book collection, with over 60 pages of fun coloring pages and educational puzzles.
Indoor activities are designed to keep you entertained and occupied while you are indoors. They come in different types, such as board games that everyone can enjoy together, active games to burn off energy and have fun, quiet activities before bed to relax, and many more.
Below you will find a list of 81 of the best indoor activities for kids of all ages.
- Dance party (exercise activity): Put on some music and dance freely around the room.
- Pillow throwing (movement activity): Build pillow forts and throw pillows at each other.
- Simon says (movement activity): Follow the leader's instructions and perform the appropriate actions.
- Balloon tapping (movement activity): Tap the balloon as many times as possible before it hits the ground.
- Animal movements (locomotor activity): Imitating animal movements such as waddling walrus and galloping horse.
- Jump rope (exercise activity): Jump over a rope while counting how many times you make the jump.
- Paper airplanes (movement activity): Fold paper airplanes and see who can throw the furthest.
- Letter touch (movement activity): Touch objects in the room that start with a certain letter.
- Air guitar (movement activity): Pretend you're playing a guitar and rock out.
- Play a board game (calm activities): Choose a board game that you like and play it with friends or family. Follow the rules of the game and enjoy the friendly atmosphere.
- Build with blocks (calm activities): Use building blocks to make your own creations. Build towers, houses or other structures and let your imagination run wild.
- Seek and find (calm activities): Hide objects around the house and give clues to find them. This game promotes concentration and problem-solving thinking.
- Read a book (calm activities): Go to the library and choose a book that interests you. Read slowly and enjoy the story.
- Listen to soothing music (calm activities): Put on some soothing music and listen to it quietly. This can help you relax and unwind.
- Build a playhouse (calm activities): Use blankets and pillows to build a cozy playhouse. Make it extra fun by adding toy cars and figures.
- Coloring (calm activities): Grab your crayons and coloring pages and start coloring quietly. This can be a relaxing activity.
- Make puzzles (calm activities): Choose a puzzle that suits your level and try to solve it. This can be a fun challenge.
- Make dough sculptures (calm activities): Use dough to make sculptures. Give free rein to your creativity and create beautiful works of art.
- Build with LEGO (calm activities): Use LEGO blocks to build your own creations. Create cars, buildings or other objects and let your imagination run wild.
- Make your own board game (family activities): Create a game that suits your family's interests. Make up the rules and make the game board and playing pieces.
- Build a Fort (activities for the whole family): Use blankets, pillows, cardboard boxes, building blocks and furniture to build a cozy and cozy hut where you can relax and play games.
- Play a card game (activities for the whole family): Choose a favorite card game such as Uno, Skip-Bo or Bully and play a fun competition with your family.
- Bake treats together (activities for the whole family): Choose a simple recipe and bake delicious cookies, cupcakes or cakes together. Let everyone have a task and enjoy the result together.
- Do a scavenger hunt (activities for the whole family): Hide clues and treasures around the house and let your family look for the hidden treasures. This can be done both indoors and outdoors.
- Make a stop-motion film (activities for the whole family): Use your creativity and make a short film using Lego, clay or other materials. Take photos of your every move and merge them into a movie.
- Discover virtual tours (activities for the whole family): Visit museums, zoos and aquariums online to learn new things and explore interesting places without leaving your home.
- Craft activities (activities for the whole family): Use recycled materials and create personalized gifts for friends and family. Give free rein to your creativity and create unique works of art.
- Play a game of mini football (activities for the whole family): Have a little football match indoors with a soft ball and small goals. Challenge your family to an exciting game of football.
- Have a movie night (activities for the whole family): Choose a favorite movie together and make it extra cozy with popcorn and blankets. Enjoy a relaxing evening watching a movie with your family.
- Roll and Push (play ideas with your baby): Encourage your baby to push and roll toys to improve their motor skills.
- Read together (play ideas with your baby): Read simple books to your baby to stimulate his language development and build a bond.
- Singing nursery rhymes (play ideas with your baby): Sing nursery rhymes together with your baby to promote language skills and have fun.
- Baby dance partner (play ideas with your baby): Move and dance together with your baby to improve his motor skills and have fun.
- Solving puzzles and sorters (play ideas with your baby): Use soft, foam-like puzzles and sorters to help your baby develop problem-solving skills.
- Tactile activities (play ideas with your baby): Fill a container with different textures and let your baby explore to stimulate their sense of touch.
- Blowing bubbles (play ideas with your baby): Introduce bubble blowing toys to keep your baby interested and engaged as he develops his senses.
- Playing with Balls (play ideas with your baby): Let your baby rotate and roll balls to improve his motor skills and coordination.
- Obstacle Course (games with toddlers): Create an obstacle course with cushions, chairs and other objects that children can climb over, crawl under and run around.
- Puppetry (games with toddlers): Make homemade puppets and play a puppet show where children can make up and play their own stories.
- Treasure hunt (games with toddlers): Hide treasures in the house, create an area with “crocodiles” or make lava from the floor and put yourself on a safe boat or island. How are you going to get them? This can be an exciting adventure.
- Crafts with paper (games with toddlers): Give the children paper, scissors and glue and let them create their own works of art.
- Bowling (games with toddlers): Make a mini bowling alley with soft balls and plastic pins or other things around the house that can fall over and let the kids try to knock over all the pins.
- Dance stop game (games with preschoolers): Play music and dance, but stop when the music stops. There are special songs that you can put on or you can stop the music yourself.
- Memory game (games with preschoolers): Put cards with pictures on the table and turn them over, try to find pairs.
- Candy game (games with preschoolers): Use candies on each square and play the snakes and ladders game. This is of course also possible with some other games such as goose board.
- Texture game (games with preschoolers): Collect different objects with different textures and let kids touch and explore them. After a while you can also play it blind where everyone has to guess what the object is.
- Tag (games for toddlers): Run around and tap each other.
- Seek and find (activities for upper grades): Organize a scavenger hunt with puzzles and clues to find hidden treasures in the house. It stimulates problem-solving thinking.
- Cook and bake (activities for upper grades): Choose a simple recipe and make a delicious meal or dessert together. It promotes cooking skills and creativity.
- Do science experiments (upper grades activities): Do simple science experiments with household materials, such as building a volcano or making slime. It promotes scientific thinking and curiosity.
- Hide and seek (games for all ages): Players hide and try not to be found. The game ends when everyone has been found.
- Musical Chairs (games for all ages): Players walk around a circle of chairs while music plays. When the music stops, each player must find a chair to sit on. There is always one seat less than the number of players, so the person who does not find a seat is eliminated.
- Living memory (games for all ages): The cards are spread on the floor throughout the house. Players must find pairs of cards by turning them over. Each player turns over cards when they find one. If the cards form a pair, the player may keep them and play another turn. If the cards do not form a pair, they must be turned over again. Everyone can play at the same time and try to remember which room had what.
- Mad Libs (games for all ages): Players fill in the missing words in a story. They are given random words such as nouns, verbs and adjectives and fill them in the correct boxes in the story.
- Memory game (games for all ages): Players must remember a series of objects or events and repeat them in the correct order. The game becomes increasingly difficult as the series lengthens. For example, “I'm going on holiday and I'm taking….”
- Guess the Object (group games): One player chooses an object in his mind and the other players have to guess what it is by asking questions.
- Clue Hunt (group games): Hide clues around the house and have players find them to solve a puzzle.
- Trivia Challenge (group games): Ask questions about different topics and see who can give the most correct answers.
- Sing your favorite songs (group games): Sing your favorite songs together with your friends.
- Stacking cups (games for a group): Stack cups on top of each other and try to knock them over as quickly as possible.
- Balancing (group games): Balance objects on your body and try not to drop them.
- Indoor hopscotch (made-up games): Draw a hopscotch track on the floor with tape and jump from box to box.
- Assigned areas (self-made games): Is everyone a bit fed up with each other after a day at home? Designate specific areas and boundaries to avoid further irritation. For example, use tape or building blocks to demarcate areas where everyone can play without getting in each other's way.
- Indoor Golf (alternative activity such as bowling): A miniature version of golf that can be played indoors. Players use a putter (this can be anything) to hit a ball into a hole on a specially designed course.
- Soft Ball Dodgeball (indoor ball games): Divide players into two teams on opposite sides of a room. Use a soft ball such as a foam ball or any small soft baby ball you have. The goal is to hit players from the other team with the ball. If a player is hit, that player is out. The last team standing wins.
- Indoor beach volleyball (indoor ball games): Place a softly inflated beach ball in the center of an area with a tensioned “net” (e.g., a rope between two chairs). Two teams play against each other by hitting the ball back and forth over the net. Every time the ball touches the floor on the other team's side, the other team scores a point.
- Paper Ball Basketball (indoor ball games): Make a basket from a trash can or box and place it on one side of the room. Roll up a piece of paper into a ball and use it as the “ball” for basketball. Try throwing the paper ball into the basket from different distances. Assign points to different baskets based on difficulty.
- Drawing (crazy activities): Everyone take a sheet of paper and draw funny and crazy things. Give free rein to your creativity and create the most bizarre drawings you can imagine. The other person must then copy it as best as possible.
- Storytelling (silly activities): Sit in a circle and take turns telling a funny sentence. The next person must then tell the next sentence. Let your imagination run wild and come up with the most absurd and comical stories.
- Face painting (crazy activities): Give each other a makeover by painting each other's faces. Use colorful face paint and make the funniest and craziest facial expressions.
- Clothing fashion show (crazy activities): Put on the strangest and mismatched outfits and walk like a model on an imaginary catwalk. Do crazy poses and make it a hilarious fashion show.
- Pillow fight (crazy activities): Organize a pillow fight with soft pillows. Run around the room and try to hit each other with the pillows. Fun and laughter guaranteed.
- Hints (crazy activities): Play the hints game where you portray objects, people or actions with exaggerated gestures. Use attributes and photos to make the game even more fun.
- Family Photo Booth (Crazy Activities): Make a photo booth with silly props and paper backdrops. Take funny and unusual photos to entertain your family and friends.
- Balloon hockey (games with a balloon): Play with plastic sticks or empty paper towels and a balloon. Try to get the balloon into the opponent's goal.
- Balloon tennis (games with a balloon): Use rackets made from paper plates or other things to hit the balloon over a stretched string.
- Balloon popcorn (balloon games): Sprinkle balloons on the floor and try to pop them by stepping or sitting on them.
- Balloon battle (games with a balloon): Blow up balloons and tie them to your ankles. Try to pop your opponents' balloons by stomping on them while protecting your own.
- Balloon balance (games with a balloon): Try to balance a balloon on your hands or other parts of your body without it touching the ground. Who can keep the balloon in the air the longest without touching it?
- Guessing game (party games): Choose a person to start. This person thinks of a word and gives a hint about that word. The other players must guess what the word is by asking questions that can be answered with “yes” or “no”. Whoever guesses the word gets to start the next round.
- Pictionary (party games): Give each player a piece of paper and a pencil. Choose a subject, such as an animal or a famous person, and give the players a certain amount of time to draw the subject. The other players have to guess what has been drawn. The first person to guess the topic correctly gets to draw the next round.
Indoor activities differ from outdoor activities in that they take place in a building or an enclosed space and often require less physical space and can be done regardless of the weather.
Indoor activities also tend to focus more on creativity, imagination and mental stimulation, while outdoor activities often involve more physical movement and interaction with nature.
From toddler to toddler activity book collection
Educational games and coloring pages for 3 to 6 years
Your toddler and preschooler will love this e-book, along with the accompanying printables. He or she can play with it at every stage of development, together with mom and dad.
Buy at Bol.comWhat we discuss in this comprehensive post:
How does play differ from indoors to outdoors?
Indoor and outdoor play differ in many ways. Indoor play is more controlled and precise, providing a safer environment for children. This is done in a designated playroom or specific areas, often with safety measures such as soft floors or cushions to reduce the risk of falls and injuries.
Indoor play includes structured activities, relying on organized games and toys to encourage imagination and creativity. It provides a space where children can connect and socialize with others in a controlled environment.
On the other hand, outdoor play takes place in open and natural spaces, allowing children to explore and interact with their environment. It offers more freedom and unstructured play opportunities, which contribute to the development of physical fitness and motor skills.
Outdoors, children can experience sensory stimulation and develop an appreciation for nature. It promotes independence, spontaneous interaction and cooperation between children, which encourages conflict resolution and balance.
A comparative study by Saroja Dhanapal and CCY Lim found that indoor and outdoor learning complement each other. The study highlights the importance of both indoor and outdoor environments to provide optimal learning experiences for students.
Toys and soft play equipment can also be used at home to entertain children. This toy is designed to provide a safe and enjoyable indoor play experience.
How do you choose toys to cover all indoor play activities?
Om to have toys that cover all indoor play activities, you should choose toys that are versatile and support multiple play activities. For example, blocks are ideal because they allow children to create different designs. Also choose toys that promote active play, such as climbing, balancing, bouncing and swinging.
Make sure the toys are safe and stimulate the child's physical skills. Toys that stimulate the child's imagination and support different types of play are also important.
To create a safe and fun play environment, you can also consider using foam play equipment that surrounds the child.
What are ideas for a soft indoor playground?
Below are some ideas for an indoor soft play area that you can set up in your home.
Overall best soft play set
Great quality and extremely versatile. With a large set like this you can create a fun play area.
Best soft ball pit
It is a soft pink 'princess' ball pit, this Trendbox Mii mi play pit! It is made of soft memory foam and therefore very safe for your little one.
Best balance activity
They give you six different stones of different sizes, and the idea is that you move from one stone to another without falling!
With these ideas you can create a fun and safe soft play indoor playground in your own home.
What is a fun game in a soft ball pit?
Games in a soft ball pit use the balls and the environment, the pit, to their advantage. A fun game to play in the ball pit is therefore a treasure hunt in the ball pit. This involves taking small toy treasures, such as plastic jewelry, coins or other small objects, and hiding them between the balls. Your child can then go through the container with a scooping net or small bucket and bring everything out of the water.
Why is a safe playing environment so important?
A safe play environment is vital for children as it protects their physical and emotional well-being. It minimizes the risk of accidents and injuries, promotes healthy development, provides space for exploration and learning, and encourages social interaction and self-confidence.
In addition, it prevents traumatic experiences and gives parents peace of mind, while complying with legal standards and regulations that ensure the safety of children in play environments arrange for.
What are fun game ideas for a slumber party?
As a parent, you naturally want your child's slumber party to be an unforgettable and fun experience. Organizing games is a great way to ensure the night is full of fun and laughter, without homesickness or boredom.
Two of the best of one list of 15 best slumber party games are Countdown Balloons, where you put activities and clues into balloons with specific times that you reveal when the time is up, and Would You Rather, where you let kids take turns reading and answering fun questions for lots of laughs.
What are fun game ideas for a children's party?
Organizing games during a children's party contributes to a pleasant atmosphere and the success of the party. The choice of children's party games depends on the age, location and interests of the children.
Two best games for children's parties:
- Cookie bites: This simple game is suitable for children aged 5 and requires little preparation. Hang slices of gingerbread on a string and let the children try to take a bite without using their hands while they are blindfolded. It is a fun and hilarious game that can be played indoors or outdoors.
- Balloon pricking: This exciting game adds an element of surprise to the party. Fill balloons with sweets or assignments and let the children take turns popping a balloon. The assignments can vary from somersaulting to hopping on one leg. The crazier the assignment, the more fun it becomes, and it creates a lot of fun and laughter among the children.
What are fun game ideas for sleepovers?
Sleepovers become more fun with the right games, especially for children who want to feel comfortable outdoors. Taking your own cuddly toy and fun games can help reduce homesickness and create a sense of security.
Highly recommended our list of the best sleepover games is the Jenga Classic Board Game, suitable for children from 6 years old and ideal for sleepovers with different ages. This game challenges children and adults with challenges such as a steady hand and strategic insight. It is compact and easy to carry.
How can your child have fun in the bath?
Bath time is an important daily ritual for children. Not only does it provide an opportunity to get clean, but it is also a moment of relaxation and fun. Children can enjoy the warm water that relaxes their muscles and makes them stronger.
To make bath time more fun, give your child control over aspects such as the amount of foam, toys and water temperature. You can distract yourself with toys or reading a story playing in the bath make it even more enjoyable.
Always something to do for the holidays or rainy day?
Play Choice now has the ultimate activity book collection, with over 60 pages of fun coloring pages and educational puzzles.
Joost Nusselder, the founder of Speelkeuze.nl is a content marketer, father and loves trying out new toys. As a child he came into contact with everything related to games when his mother started the Tinnen Soldaat in Ede. Now he and his team create helpful blog articles to help loyal readers with fun play ideas.