Indoor games are great to have on hand for rainy days, cold days, hot days, or just plain “I need a break” days! With these 14 indoor games for kids, you’ll be ready to entertain the children in your life no matter why you need to stay indoors!
My son loves playing outside. We have 8 acres for him to explore and it’s basically little boy heaven! Don’t worry we’re always with him and making sure he’s enjoying nature in a safe way.
But sadly, the weather isn’t always nice enough to be out in. Maybe that makes me a bad mom, but I just don’t want to go out and supervise in all types of weather!
So we play these indoor toddler games on days that aren’t the best for outdoor play.
Some are crazy simple to put together, like numbers 1 and 7. Others take a little bit more set up but will also keep their attention for longer, like 5 and 11!
No matter what you choose, these games for toddlers will be sure the entertain them while you’re inside for whatever reason!
Indoor Games for Any Weather
While most of these are listed as “toddler games”, I’ve found that most of them can be played with children as old as 8 for a really fun time inside!
Educational Games
If you’re stuck inside, why not take the opportunity to teach your kids through play? These educational activities and games will help them establish early learning fundamentals while still having a great time inside!
1. Alphabet Matching Game: This free printable game is easy to pull together and keeps your child busy for quite a while depending on how well they know the alphabet!
It also helps with sorting, letter recognition, and fine motor skills as they search, seek, pick up, and place each letter!
You could even cut out two copies of the letters and play a memory game with half the alphabet at a time!
GRAB THE FREE PRINTABLE ALPHABET GAME
2. Masking Tape Letter Game: This is a great toddler game that combines learning with burning energy! Just use masking tape to create letters on the floor around your living room.
Once you have a few letters in place (I’d say 5-15, depending on space) you can give your child a letter to find and run to!
Every time they get to a letter, give them a physical activity to do, like “do 3 jumps on A” or “bounce a ball on B”, and so on!
3. Barn Yard Sequencing Puzzle: Another free printable activity that takes just seconds to put together. This early math skill activity will help your child solidify the 1-10 number order concepts while giving them a fun puzzle to put together.
You can also print this puzzle in black and white and let your child color it before cutting the strips apart!
GET THE FREE PRINTABLE BARN YARD PUZZLE
Arts and Crafts Activities
If your child likes to get their hands a little dirty with arts and crafts, then these activities are perfect for them! Make the most of a day inside with these fun ideas!
4. Paint the Snow: If you’re playing inside due to a snow day, then you can definitely play this game! Paint the snow sounds like so much fun!
Even if you don’t have access to real snow, you could use a shaved ice machine and these easy homemade snow cone syrups to create a fun craft and snack at the same time!
5. DIY Slime: Most kids love slime and with this simple 2-ingredient slime recipe, it’s easier than ever to make it at home!
This slime recipe is free of borax and contact solution to make it kid safe and quick to make. We usually end up playing all sorts of games with our slime over the kitchen table.
My son especially loves to put me in “slime jail” where he uses the slime to wrap around my hands and stick my fingers together. I put on a good show of being stuck, then summon my strength to break free.
He laughs so hard and then we do it all again!
6. DIY Paint Recipes for Kids: If your child loves painting all the things as much as mine does, then these paint recipes are going to be a big hit!
With three different ways to make your homemade paints, you will definitely be able to make at least one of them! Our favorite way to paint inside is with the homemade water colors.
However, if you have the chance to make the frozen paint cubes, it’s worth the wait! Such fun as an indoor or outdoor activity!
GET THE HOMEMADE PAINT RECIPES
Gross Motor Skill Activities
Looking to just get your kids up and burning energy while having fun? These activities are a great way to help everyone forget your trapped inside for the day!
7. Paper Shape Jump: A great movement activity for busy toddlers! Use construction paper to cut out various different shapes (circle, triangle, square, heart, and so on…) in various different colors.
Tape the shapes to the ground to keep your child from slipping, then call out directions if you want, or just let them hop from one to another!
We like to take the shapes fairly close together so it’s more of a hopscotch type game, however, you can also space them further apart for a game more like the masking tape letter game… that way there is a bit more running involved!
Using different colored paper allows you to call out “red heart” and “pink circle” for a more involved, long-lasting game!
8. Paper Cup Target Practice: Let your child throw things inside without fear of breaking anything! Use some string and paper or plastic cups to create this simple activity.
With a large box on it’s side, hang the cups from the top so they dangle and swing when hit. Then let your child child toss rolled up socks or plastic balls at the cups!
The balls with hit the back of the box and roll out, ready for another throw.
Add a layer of learning to the game by putting letter, shapes, or numbers on each cup, then calling out which one they need to try and hit!
Give them “point” for each correct hit and let them redeem the points for a snack later in the day.
Fine Motor Skills:
Want to work on pinching motions or sorting skills? These fine motor activities will help tune your child’s small movement coordination while keep them happy and engaged!
9. Cardboard Tube Drop Game: If you have a bunch of toilet paper or paper towel tubs, you can easily make this toddler game!
Just create a series of chutes by taping the tubes together, then taping them to the wall. From there, give your child a bowl full of pom poms and let them drop them down the various chutes!
Place a bowl under each drop point to keep them from rolling all over the room.
This is perfect for strengthening the pinching motion, which will help your child with pencil grip later on!
See more about this activity at Teaching Mama.
10. Tongs Pick Up Activity: This may be the easiest game in the entire list to put together. Just grab a set of tongs, a container, and a bunch of block, legos, cars, or other small items.
From there, let your child work to place the items into the container using nothing but the tongs.
Just make sure that the items aren’t too heavy or small to be picked up with tongs. Also, help your child see where there might be danger of the tongs pinching them so they can hold the tongs higher up.
Even More Indoor Activities for Kids:
11. Homemade No-Cook Playdough
12. Sticky Spiderweb Toss Game
13. Butcher Paper Art Scene Activity
14. Homemade Cardboard Construction Set
15. Box and Golf Tees Hammering Activity
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