When kids are stuck inside for various reasons, they become bored. Sometimes helping our kids figure out what to play during indoor play can make us avoid encouraging them to use their creativity and imagination all together. Below are a few favorite indoor play activities to add to your repertoire.
Indoor Play Idea 1: Car wash
The car wash has been an activity both of my boys have spent hours enjoying during their indoor play.
Materials needed:
- ·Hot wheels (can also use farm animals, zoo animals, or other water safe favorite toys)
- Container to hold hot wheels or other materials
- 2 cookie sheets
- 2 big plastic containers (a big Tupperware will work)
- Shaving cream (can also use cool whip or pudding for kiddos that put things in their mouths)
- Toothbrush, wash cloth
- Big beach towel
Set up:
I suggest laying a big towel or two on the floor to soak up any water and keep the activity contained. You will set it up like an assembly line. 1) A bowl with cars. 2) A cookie sheet with shaving cream. 3) A plastic container of soapy water to clean cars with the toothbrush and cloth. 4) Plastic container of water to rinse the cars. 5) A cookie sheet at the end to dry. Then, let the kids get playing!
My kids benefit from me showing them how to start this activity. I start by showing them how to cover the cars in shaving cream and model through each step. You can work on so many fun areas like talking about the colors of the cars, counting, and pretend play. I try to ebb and flow my presence with pretend play to give them time to play with me, and then also play with each other or on their own. Kids benefit from play with adults, but independent play and play with peers is so important. It gives kids time to let their imaginations run wild and truly learn through play.
Indoor Play Idea 2: Fort
This is an activity that never gets old for my kids and one I love as a pediatric OT.
Materials needed:
- Lots of big blankets and sheets
- Dining room table or furniture that is close enough together you can connect to make a fort
- Pillows and blanket for inside
- Flashlights and light up toys
Set up:
This is where the fun begins. Have your kids help you problem solve to move items around your family room or basement to create a way to make a giant fort. We have moved chairs, couches, hockey nets, big blocks, tunnels, and more to create a castle like fort. Yes, parents this is a messy one, but one that is worth it! Have a tunnel lead into the fort to act as a bridge to go over the moat to enter the fort. Then, inside the fort set the kids up with a pillow, sleeping bag, and empty basket. Have them think of things they need in their fort like flashlights, favorite toys, and let the playing begin.
Again, you may ebb and flow in and out of your participation with this activity. They may need more help at first and then you can back off and let them use their imagination. After playing, you can let them enjoy a snack and show inside the fort for quiet time and for you to take a much-earned break after some serious fort building!
Indoor Play Idea 3: Grocery store
I will try not to spend too much time talking about some of my go to items in this post (that is a whole other blog post in itself), but I do love all things Melissa and Doug and Learning Resources when it comes to pretend play. When families ask me for gift ideas, I typically will recommend a pretend kitchen, play food, grocery cart, and the Melissa and Doug grocery store set. Kids can build language, cognition, learn about food, explore pretend play, learn turn taking and sharing, and more!
Materials needed:
- Pretend food
- Melissa and Doug Grocery store (or construct an area to set up the store-cardboard boxes can be your new best friend)
- Shopping cart
- Cash register (old school calculator works too)
This is an activity only my youngest is interested in playing now, so I tend to stay with him the whole activity to keep him engaged. We set up our store and then take turns being the shopper and the cashier. He loves the pretend play aspect of this activity, and I love the opportunity to sneak in some learning without him even knowing. We often lead this activity straight into playing restaurant or buying items for a tea or coffee party. We have a small kitchen and kid table near our grocery store set up and he loves to be the waiter. He takes my order, gets the tea pot, and sets the table to have our tea party. We sometimes set up a few stuffed animal friends to join too!
I know to some reading this you will be thinking I already do this with my kiddo and this is not incredibly new material here. My first reason for posting this is to give some ideas to those first-time parents still learning the ropes and wanting some ideas to build on or new toy ideas to add to the list for the next birthday or holiday. My second reason for posting this is to give those second- and third-time parents a boost to keep on playing. I know I have days when doing one more pretend play game seems completely draining, but I dig deep in my mommy heart to keep going.
Play is one of the most important occupations for our kids to learn and grow. Play builds foundational skills no academic curriculum can replace. I hope play is never is lost in this fast paced world we are raising our kids in. Even when our kids are stuck inside, I hope you find inspiration with my favorite indoor play activities.
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