24 Creative Indoor Activities for Kids with a Free Printable
Looking for fun and creative indoor activities for kids? Here are 24 of the best indoor activity ideas for kids that we have used numerous times over the last few weeks.
When my children were younger, we lived in a house with a small backyard. It wasn’t small to my kids though. It was a wilderness ready to be explored, and that wasn’t just because the grass needed to be mowed. Although it did most of the time.
More times than I can count, I’ve lamented to anyone who would listen that I would give anything for a house right now. To be able to send my kids outside to play in the warm Florida sun would be a treat. We could all use the break.
Instead, we go outside together on bike rides or walks around the pond in the apartment complex or draw chalk pictures on the balcony floor. It’s not ideal, but it’s something.
We’ve started a small seedling garden. Every day someone goes out to see if any green has peeked through the dirt. So far, nothing. It’s really an experiment in how well we stored the seeds being that they originated from the raised bed we had in North Carolina. Oh, at least 5-6 years ago. Oops!
Being stuck inside doesn’t have to be a bad thing though. Sure, it’s loud and you’d love nothing more than to send them outside, but if it’s not possible, it’s not possible.
I hope you find these 24 indoor activities for kids helpful. Who knows, maybe you’ll jump in for some fort building or cupcake making. You might really want to supervise that one. If you just want to hide in your closet so you can breathe, that’s okay too.
No judgment here.
Indoor Activities for Kids
You are going to love these creative indoor activities for kids! Use this list as a jumping-off point to come up with seven more for the whole month!
1. Play Board Games
Our favorite board games for kids are by Peaceable Kingdom. The directions are easy for even young kids to understand.
Jega is another one we’ve been playing a lot which stuck at home. We also have Apples to Apples for Kids, Eye Found It! Disney edition, and we sometimes pull out Twister if I’m feeling daring.
Don’t miss these board games that can help improve spelling!
2. Play 20 Questions
This one is fun but sometimes starts fights.
First, have someone think of an object that can be classified as an animal, food, or a person. They then have to tell the other players which category the thing they are thinking of goes into.
Next, have one player ask a Yes or No question to learn more about the object. Only answer the question with a Yes or No.
Then, have the players take turns asking Yes or No questions for a total of 20 Questions!
You can always encourage players to ask questions that build on answers already given, but they are kids. They are going to do what they want to do.
If someone thinks they know want the object is, let the players guess the object at any time by phrasing their guess as a question – “Is the mystery object a lunch box?”
This counts this as one of the 20 Questions.
After they have asked all of their 20 Questions, have each person guess the object by phrasing their guess as a question.
The winner is the one who correctly guesses the mystery object.
The winner chooses the next mystery object!
3. Create a Secret Language
Did you do this as a kid? Sometimes I would write in code, but never developed my own language.
It might also be fun to use the translator from Batuu and write in their language to bring a little bit of Disney magic home.
4. Do an Easy Sewing Craft
For Easter, we bought my oldest a beginner cross stitch kit from Usborne Books. She LOVES it!
It helps it’s all about mermaids.
Pull out the fabric scraps, needle, and thread to sew doll clothes or learn how to stitch. My oldest loves to stitch up stuffies when they get a tear.
5. Bake Cupcakes and Decorate Them
This doesn’t have to be complicated. We use a box gluten-free mix with a can of icing. The most important part is the sprinkles.
They will love them.
6. Make Fruit Popsicles
Fruit Popsicles are so easy and the perfect treat on a hot day.
Our favorite popsicles use coconut water and fresh fruit.
7. Write and Illustrate a Short Story
Depending on your child, this one might take a bit of time, but once they get started and in the groove, they will love it.
Especially when they are holding the finished creation.
One thing that I’ve stressed over and over to my kids is that we have to finish what we start. Whether that is a chore, a project, or whatever, I want them to get into the habit of following through. I don’t want them to grow up and have a pile of half-completed projects.
For the illustrations, we have paint, glue, tissue paper, construction paper, crayons, markers, and colored pencils available.
Let their imagination soar.
8. Have an Indoor Scavenger Hunt
This is so fun!
Here is a list of 10 scavenger hunt ideas for kids if you need some help getting started!
9. Host a Tea Party
My kids have tea parties constantly.
They dress up all fancy. Someone is the waiter. They have snacks and fresh fruit waiting at the table when you sit down.
Sometimes it’s just water in the teapot but most of the time it is caffeine-free tea.
If you want to fancy up your tea party, these Jammie Blossom Tea Biscuits are perfect!
10. Write a Song
Let them write a song!
When we lived in Colorado, my oldest and two of her friends wrote a song together and would sing it. It was the most precious thing to see what flowed from their creativity.
11. Record a Video
Let them use a phone or iPad and record a video from start to finish.
This is an amazing skill to hone.
It can be anything! An unboxing, playing with their favorite toy, doing a craft, a stop motion video. The possibilities are endless.
12. Choreograph a Dance
This counts as PE too!
Let them work together to choreograph a dance.
With your permission, they could learn a TikTok dance and record that.
13. Make Paper Airplanes and See Which One Flies the Furthest
Making paper airplanes doesn’t have to be boring.
Experiment with different materials to see who can build the paper airplane that flies the furthest.
14. Make Slime
Please do this with supervision. We even wear out “thinking goggles” (thank you, Zoe and Sassafras), a.k.a. our safety goggles.
One of our favorites is this Frozen-themed slime recipe.
15. Make a Collage with Old Magazines
This is something my kids did in their online art class for Earth Day. It’s the perfect way to give old magazines new life.
Give them a theme and have them find pictures that go with that theme.
16. Write a Poem
It would be fun to use the old magazines to write the poem and glue the words on a piece of construction paper. It would look so cool.
April is National Poetry Month so write all the poems.
17. Create an Obstacle Course
We have made all the obstacle courses over the past couple of weeks.
One, I posted on Instagram because I walked out of a room and onto the course, while it was happening. I don’t recommend that. Ha!
Mine have used chairs, crawled through boxes, hopped from pillow to pillow, navigated through chairs, and ran around corners.
The other day they had one in a bedroom where they tied one piece of string all over the place to represent a laser. Friends, I promise you that they came up with this on their own. LOL Attached to the string was a bell. If you hit the string, the bell would go off.
Let me tell you how stressful that was!
I am proud to say I made it from one side of the room to the other without ringing the bell!
18. Make Sock Puppets and Put on a Puppet Show
I’m sure you have lone socks somewhere in your house.
Use yarn for their hair, and add googly eyes or felt for their eyes. You can even use old t-shirts for extra fabric if you want.
Paint a box for the puppet stage and you’re good to go!
19. Make Paper Flowers
Paper flowers are so pretty to have around and brighten a room.
There are so many options.
You can make tissue paper flowers with toilet paper rolls to hang in a window.
Construction paper is perfect is you want to use scissors and cut flower shapes to color and decorate.
20. Build a Fort with Couch Cushions and Blankets
Last week, as a reward for getting all the school work done and chores completed with little grumbling and complaining, they had a sleepover in the living room with a blanket fort made with chairs.
They loved it so much and were so sad to take it down the next day. If we had a playroom, I would have let them keep it up, but we live in an apartment and need all the available space.
21. Make a Pasta Necklace
Have them paint the pasta and then create a pattern with the colors and different sizes of pasta!
Wear it proudly to the mailbox.
22. Read a Book
This is a great time to read chapter books together or have them practice reading to you.
Pile in your bed at the end of the day and take turns reading sections, or however, you want to do it.
Make those memories and raise those readers.
Last month, I would have told you that most of my kids don’t like to read. But over the past few weeks, one has devoured two Harry Potter books, and the boys are loving reading the Zoe and Sassafras series.
23. Write a Letter to Put in the Mail
Writing letters is becoming a lost art. Do your kids know how to write a letter and address an envelope?
Now is as good a time as any to practice those writing skills!
Find a pen pal or have them write letters to family members.
24. Make Bookmarks
There are so many options for this. Color and cut bookmarks are great for this. They can also create their own using art supplies you have on hand.
Origami bookmarks are also fun creations.
Which indoor activity for kids are you most excited about? What are your favorite fun indoor activities for kids?
Defintely needs tese for those rainy days or the South Florida heat.
Thank you for sharing these! We are running out of activities to do. One of our favorites have been to have a baking competition, like the show Nailed It on Netflix. We’ve had a great time doing that!!