Fun Indoor Activities for the Family

One hard fact of life is that inclement weather can often get in the way of a day of fun and games. If you and your kids were all geared up for a day of outdoors and sunshine at the park, beach, or hiking trails—and you get rained out—you might be wondering what your options are for entertainment.

If a rainy day puts a damper on your plan to get your kids out there in order to expend some of that endless energy, or you were looking forward to having a fun-filled day yourself—there’s no need to worry about other ways in which you and your kids can have a fantastic and entertaining time right in your very own home. Even if you already have a few ideas, there’s a multitude of amazing activities that you might not have considered when it’s time to turn your home into the ultimate venue for a day chock full of games and good times.

If you build it, the fun will come

An excellent way to kick off the fun while simultaneously getting your children’s creative gears rolling is to build things like forts and pretend vehicles. You’ll be able to get the kids moving around while also stimulating their imaginations.

Build a fort

Since as long as couch cushions have been around, building a fort has always been a classic way to have a rollicking time that expends some energy and encourages creative thinking. You’ve probably done this one yourself, so you already know that your kids are bound to have a great time. Building a fort will be fun for both your kids and you, you’ll get to see happy faces on your kids while you remember how much fun it is to create private spots and little nooks and crannies of your own.

Just round up some couch cushions, sheets, blankets, tables or chairs—or maybe you have a small tent or tarp to give the fort a little bit of more secret feel. Stack and arrange every building block to you and your kids’ liking, and you’ve got a neat place to hang out and play pretend. Your kids will have to use their critical and creative skills to construct a sustainable and suitable fort, and they’ll have a blast playing make-believe when they dream up any exciting scenario they like.

Create some pretend vehicles

One way to stay on the move while staying inside is to make some pretend vehicles like cars, trucks, spaceships, and airplanes. If you get a pretty large sized cardboard box, some colorful construction paper, and some markers, you can shape the box using scissors to morph that seemingly boring box into a place that lets your kids’ imagination hit the wide-open road or skies.

All you have to do is cut the box in a way that resembles any number of vehicles and you can decorate your car or spaceship in fun ways by pasting on some cut-out construction paper, or making neat designs with markers. You and your kids can decide on your destination and make up a fun and creative story so that you can take your ride to any number of exciting places.

If you feel like taking the atmosphere to even further heights, you can recreate the insides and interiors of an airplane using your living room furniture and other fun toys. You and your kids can set up various chairs to resemble the cockpit or the cabin, and use stuffed toys as passengers. You can even get in on the fun and play copilot.

Construct an obstacle course

An excellent way to get your kids moving and playing is an obstacle course. Couch cushions, chairs, hula hoops, tables, blankets, yarn—these are all great building blocks for the ultimate indoor obstacle course. Your children will be able to amuse themselves while also getting out some energy.

Make a maze

With some masking tape, or even the same furniture you would use to create forts or obstacle courses, you can design a maze for your kids to navigate through. Building the maze will be a fun activity in itself, and having your kids figure out how to successfully complete the maze is good for the stimulation of critical thinking skills. Maybe you could even get together some toys and have them look for them while making their way through the maze to add another objective to the activity.

Build a racetrack

Making a racetrack using masking tape is a unique way to play with Hot Wheels and Matchbox cars. You can use the tape to shape the course in a number of ways. You can go up furniture (if you’re comfortable with applying the tape to particular furniture pieces), and you can take all sorts of challenging routes through the house.

Sports

You can turn your home into any sporting venue to allow for some fun competition.

Bowling

At-home bowling is super easy to set up and it’s a ton of fun. You can use some masking tape in order create a bowling lane and set up ten empty bottles, cans, or Solo cups at the end of the lane to serve as pins. Go ahead and grab a small plush or plastic ball, and let the good times roll.

Basketball

Take a laundry or beach basket and place it on the floor, steps, or hang it from a doorknob or a hook of sorts. You can use a plush or plastic ball like you would for bowling, or you can even roll up a bunch of socks together in order to make a ball if you don’t have one around the house.

A good game of horse is always fun, or you can simply see who gets the most baskets in a certain amount of time. Having a point system for making buckets from different distances or spots on the floor is always a good idea. You can even set up markers to make a 3-point line and have your kids drain some long-range bombs from downtown. Your basketball court setup probably won’t allow for a thrilling slam-dunk contest, but your kids can still work on their shooting finesse while engaging in some fun competition.

Volleyball

Using balloons to play volleyball is always a blast. In order to make the net you can just tie some string or yarn between two chairs. You can then blow up a balloon in order to make the volleyball—giving the “ball” that extra float it needs to really simulate the game.

Hockey

You can also use balloons to play hockey. You can get a small hockey stick or create your own using cardboard, and let the balloon act as the hockey puck. You can use laundry or beach baskets like you would with basketball in order to create the hockey net; just turn the baskets on their side, and set them up on opposite sides of the room.

On the hunt

There’s tons of fun options for search-related games for you and your children to partake in.

Scavenger hunt

A scavenger hunt is a timeless way to have a good time. Just go ahead and hide various toys or stuffed animals around the house, think up some challenging clues, and you’re good to go.

Lego color hunt

For this unique hunt, you’ll just need some Legos and construction paper. Use various strips of different colored construction paper along with different colored Legos, and have your little ones find hidden Lego pieces that match up with the color of the paper.

Hunt for puzzle pieces

This twist on the typical puzzle is so great for stimulating the mind and getting your kids to move around. You can hide the different pieces of a wooden puzzle and have your kids search for them. Each time your kids finds a piece, have them return the piece to the board and figure out the puzzle just as if they were doing so without the added fun of the hunt.

Get even more creative with arts and crafts

Arts and crafts are enjoyable and engaging to begin with, but there’s some pretty cool ways to take arts and crafts to a different level.

Craft your own unique story

You and your kids can use whatever craft tools you’d like to create some characters and surroundings that make for a great story. You can make your own characters using popsicle sticks for bodies and maybe some cotton balls and googly eyes for the faces. If you want to add some hair, string is always a great option. Color the characters with some markers or paint and go ahead and craft some buildings, dwellings, vehicles, or any environment you see fit so that you and your kids can imagine a wide array of stories.

You’ll get the chance to have some fun by crafting a story mentally, crafting all the characters and scenery, and you have a tactile way to act out all the exciting events. Creating your own unique universe is a fantastic boost to the already super fun activity of arts and crafts.
If you feel like devising a story with tons of paints and crafts is a little too much, you can always just grab some paper and colored pencils or markers to dream up a fascinating world of you and your kids’ own.

Have a field day in your own home

Even if you don’t exactly have a field to run around in, that doesn’t mean that all the games have to be limited to just the outdoors. You can think up a number of great field day activities and create a whole day’s worth of spirited fun. If you have enough kids around—whether they be your own or friends of your kids—you can make teams and see who wins at the end of the day.

Just remember, there’s going to be a lot of running around so make sure that you have the space and that you make your house as safe as possible if your going to take the field day route.

Three-legged race: You can use duct tape or gauze wrap and race away.

Pillowcase race: Using a pillow case is the perfect way to have your own potato sack race without the potato sack. If for whatever reason you actually have a potato sack, then there’s no need to use a pillowcase as a substitute.

For both the three-legged race and the pillowcase race, you can use masking tape to outline a path just like you would if you were making a racetrack or maze.

Tug of war: You can use a bunch of sheets and blankets to make your very own tug of war rope. Make sure you have plenty of open space in whatever room you choose, and make sure you wrap all the materials nice and tight.

Other miscellaneous games

Ping pong ball catch: The setup for the game is pretty simple: all you’ll need is some ping pong balls and some plastic Solo cups. Just place the ping pong ball in one of your kids’ cups, and have them toss the ball back and forth to each other—catching the ball with the cup. If you want to increase the challenge, you can have your kids move further away from each other as the game goes on.

Hide-and-seek: Playing hide-and-seek is another perennial favorite indoor game. You already know the rules; just make sure your kids can’t get into any areas that you deem to be unsafe for hiding.

Board games:

Yes, even though our world is filled with electronic gadgets, board games are still fun. They were fun when you were a kid, and they’re still enjoyable now. Even though it may seem like your kids wouldn’t be interested in the seemingly archaic activity of board games, everyone can get into a good game of Monopoly, Candyland, Life, Clue, Hungry Hungry Hippos, and much more.

Indoor Hopscotch: If you haven’t noticed by now, masking tape is definitely your friend when trying to figure out indoor activities. Just use the tape to create the hopscotch court, and use any lightweight toy you see fit as your marker.

Twister– Twister is always a fantastic go-to option if you’re looking for a game that will expend some energy while staying inside. If you don’t have a twister board, it’s really easy to make one at home; all you’ll need is some construction paper and—you guessed it—masking tape and you can make the board on your floor. Just cut out pieces of various colored construction paper, tape them to the floor, and twist the day away.

There’s no reason to let the inability to play outside rain on your parade. There’s so much stimulating and exciting fun to be had around the house if you just consider a handful of your options. The day might not be filled with literal sunshine, lollipops, and rainbows but you—and more importantly your kids—can still derive all the same joy right from the comfort of your home.