Another rainy day, the kids getting restless, and you’re out of ideas for things to do? You’ve come to the right place. Here are some indoor activities that you and your kids would absolutely enjoy!
1. DIY Marshmallow Toys
A bag of marshmallows and some thin pretzel sticks are all you need to build the perfect puffy pal, a 3-D house, or tepee. Your child simply skewers the marshmallows with the sticks to create his own masterpiece. Add to the fun by placing toy pigs or other animals in the house and challenging your child to be the big bad wolf and blow it down.
2. Sugar-Cookie Pizzas
Even the most domestically challenged chef can pull off this sweet and simple project. Slice several thick cookies from a roll of refrigerated sugar-cookie dough. Gently flatten them a bit on a cookie sheet to widen them, bake, and cool for about 10 minutes. Next, your little Mario Batalis can decorate their pies with strawberry jam or red icing for sauce, shredded coconut for cheese, and red M&M’s for pepperoni.
3. Family Photo Bingo
Improve your child’s memory and help him learn who’s who in your family tree with this photo game. Take nine family photos and arrange them into rows of three, then give your child nine playing cards or checkers pieces to serve as bingo chips. When someone calls out “Daddy” or “Grandma,” your toddler covers the photo with the card. Whoever gets three in a row wins.
4. Bowl-a-rama
Small, empty water bottles and a rubber ball are all you need to transform the family room into a bowling alley — sans silly shoes, of course. Six bottles should suffice for bowling pins; if the bottles fall over too easily, fill them up with a little water or dry pasta for some extra weight.
5. Barbie Beach Party
Grab a collection of bikini-clad Barbies, beach towels (wash cloths), sunscreen (baby lotion), and perhaps a yacht or two (some Tupperware), and head for some fun in the tub. Hint: most Barbies really dig the diving board (faucet). Sunglasses and a tropical beverage (iced juice in a sippy cup) make the experience tantamount to a holiday in St. Tropez.
6. Mini Car Wash
Gather up your child’s fleet of cars, trucks, and spaceships for a detailing job that’ll put your local garage to shame. Load them all into the tub and give them a cleaning with plant sprayers and empty squeeze bottles.
7. Disco Down
Disco has been dead and resurrected so many times, I’m not sure if it’s in or out anymore. But I do know that young kids love to dance to it, even if they think that “Bee Gees” is some sort of sugary snack you’ve been denying them. Dim the lights, close the blinds, hand each child a flashlight (for the full disco effect) and a small scarf to twirl around. Cue up some classic tunes like “Dancing Queen,” by ABBA, and “I Will Survive,” by Gloria Gaynor, and watch the disco magic unfold.
8. Pirate play
Somehow, Pirates of the Caribbean fever has trickled its way down to the toddler set. Doing anything even remotely pirate-like sends many into paroxysms of joy, so give this treasure hunt a try. Wrap a bunch of wooden blocks in aluminum foil, and hide them around the house (don’t get too clever — remember whom you’re dealing with). Give each child a flashlight and a small paper bag, and challenge them to find the buried silver.
Did you enjoy this article?
