All kids like to get outdoors to enjoy the fresh air and sunshine. But with the pandemic spreading, you must keep them indoors to ensure safety. While stuck inside, the kids can get bored very quickly and become addicted to the screens. So it’s a good idea to prepare several fun activities inside the house to engage them. If you’re running out of ideas, take a look at our list of the 10 best indoor activities for kids below. Ready, let’s go.
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1. Play lego
It’s not a coincidence that parents all over the world like to buy Lego for their kids. Playing with Lego can have many educational benefits for children. First of all, it can improve their creativity. To construct their own design, kids must use different sizes, shapes, colors of Lego pieces. This allows them to go wild with their imagination and come up with any original work they can think of.
Children crafting with lego also get more skilled at problem-solving by exploring different alternatives to fit smaller pieces into larger ones. Finally, Lego can teach your children to be persistent. A grand work takes time to build and they can only succeed in their endeavor by not giving up.
2. Create a DIY toy
Plastic toys are loaded with toxic chemicals. To protect your kids from plastic toxicity while saving some extra money, why not learn to make toys for them yourself? It’s easy to create a DIY toy. You only need some throw-away paper, pieces of clothes, cardboard boxes, cans to get started. Blocked for ideas? Here’s a curated list of creative toys to get you inspired.
If possible, get your kids in the process. This will stimulate their creativity and teach them the value of recycling.
3. Decorate the room
Another fun indoor activity for your kids is to carry out a home decor project. Start with decorating the common room or the children’s bedroom. Go online for some inspiration and try out a few crazy ideas.
As an example, you could paint the wall with vivid color (bright green), then let the kids draw on it with chalk. If not ready to sacrifice the bedroom walls for art, have your family members paint some pictures instead and hang them on the wall in a creative way. Another innovative idea to decorate the room is to arrange sticky notes of different colors into superhero figures on the wall.
4. Cook with your kids
Indoor days are the perfect time to get your kids involved in household cooking activities. Look for some funny food recipes on the Internet and make them with the children. This is not only an opportunity to spend more quality time with your little ones but also equip them with useful kitchen skills you can use later on. Learning to cook can also help to raise your kids’ self-esteem and fuel their passion for making great dishes. Who knows if they’ll become great chefs one day?
5. Watch movies
This is not the best way to limit your kids’ screen time during pandemic time. However, not all screen time is bad. Watching movies is the best way for kids to enjoy themselves while picking up valuable lessons. If you want the children to reap some educational benefits out of movie time, go for the movies that are fun to watch but packed with core values like heroism, kindness, courage. Consider this list of 10 best movies for children of all time.
6. Go on a hunt
Another way to spice up your kids’ time indoors is to hold an item-hunting game. Make a list of items for the kids to hunt all over the house. Then a series of clues for them that leads them to the big prize. Make sure that this big prize is really “big” (e.g. a toy that your kid asks you to buy for ages). Otherwise, the kids would be very disappointed and wouldn’t be so eager to join the hunt with you again.
7. Color pictures
Coloring is the best way for children to express their personalities and creativity. It’s also the best indoor activity for kids to enjoy themselves when you’re not with them. Buy a coloring book or print out images of your child’s favorite cartoon characters and animals. Then they can fill in the colors for hours. When not working, you can teach them to draw simple paintings and add the colors themselves.
8. Make clay from flour
Clay is toxic. A safer way for your kids to enjoy clay molding is to make a DIY clay from flour. Prepare 2 cups of flour, 1 cup of water, and 1 tablespoon of salt. Mix all the ingredients together until it blends into a thick dough. Now your kids can get creative with your clay art.
9. Play roles
If you want your children to have fun while learning valuable skills, consider letting them play the roles of adults. Tell them to pretend to be a grown-up who lives independently. They can use the vacuum, washing machine, irons to carry out work around the house according to their strengths (Make sure your kids are old enough to do this and know how to operate them).
Through role-playing, your kids can learn to resolve difficulties on their own and understand the importance of doing housework. They’ll also become more independent and be able to fend for themselves when parents are not at home.
10. Read books
One of the most beneficial indoor activities for kids is reading. Reading books can help your child to expand vocabulary and develop creativity. It also opens their perspectives to the world and teaches them to distinguish right from wrong.
For the kids to reap the full benefit from reading, let them choose the books they like to read. It could be from any genre: comic, short stories, science books, novels, graphic books, etc. Don’t force any kind of book on them because it can ruin their experience.
Conclusion.
Being stuck in the house isn’t all bad for the kids if you know how to keep you active and engaged. It’s also an opportunity to teach your kids many useful skills and strengthen family bonds. Hopefully, this list has inspired some fun indoor activities for your kids this summer.