Indoor Summer Fun - Activities for When Your Kids Need a Break from the Elements

Summer is here! School’s out, and your kids are excited for freedom and lots of time to play. You’re looking forward to getting outside…. until the first heat wave hits or that low pressure system settles in with days of rain. How do you channel your kids’ energy and excitement when they need a break from the sun, the heat, or the rain?

We have some great ideas for easy and inexpensive indoor fun for the kids – and the whole family – that will keep you from driving each other crazy. (And just between us, we slipped a little bit of learning into these ideas, too!)

1.       Art – What kid doesn’t like crayons or markers?  Spend an afternoon with art projects. If your child is easily distracted, ask him to draw something specific – an octopus, a person in outer space, a favorite cartoon character, etc. Make it silly and fun! You can tack a string across a wall in your child’s room and use clothes pins to display his new artwork.

2.       Science Experiments – The internet is full of easy, at-home science experiments you can do with your kids. From mixing food coloring to make new colors to making homemade slime or playdoh, there are lots of fun ways to introduce your kids to science while having indoor fun.

3.       Read – Sit down to read a favorite or a new book. Have your daughter act out her favorite story. Or have her make up a new story. You can even write out the story in a “book” and have her illustrate it.

4.       Games and Puzzles – Games and puzzles are great ways to keep kids occupied and teach problem solving skills. Even toddlers can play with puzzles that require them to stack objects or figure out what shape fits the right hole.

5.       Building Blocks – Using building blocks like Legos or Mega Bloks can bring out your children’s creativity. Many Lego sets these days come with instructions of what to build, but you can still encourage your kids to create something on their own. Just make sure the block size is appropriate for the age of your child as some smaller blocks can pose a choking hazard. Larger blocks will also help toddlers develop motor skills and coordination.

6.       Exercise – Burning off kid energy can be hard to do when the weather isn’t cooperating. But there are fun ways to burn off energy indoors and sneak some exercise in as well. See how many jumping jacks your son can do in 30 seconds. Ask your daughter to run in place for 30 seconds. Have them do bear crawls or crab walks as play. Have a contest (with appropriate supervision, of course) to see who can walk backwards the farthest without hitting an object or stand on one leg the longest.

7.       Cook – Have your child help out while you’re making lunch or dinner – or just a special treat like homemade ice cream or lemonade ice cream pie. There are lots of kid friendly recipes to try. Your child can help to measure and combine ingredients and begin to learn the basics of cooking.

8.       Music – Have a karaoke time where your kids sing along with their favorite songs. If you have an instrument in the house, you can teach some basic notes or chords for your child to play. Or just play some of their favorite music, and encourage them to dance around.

9.       Forts – Grab some blankets and leftover boxes from Christmas and turn a room into a fort. Building a fort requires imagination and problem solving skills. Your kids may end up creating a pirate ship, a castle, a camp, or just a cozy nook to read or color.

10.   Downtime – Sometimes you and your kids just need some downtime to chill. Grab a blanket, pop some popcorn, turn on a favorite movie, and enjoy having some family time together.

What are your favorite ways to keep your kids entertained inside? Be sure to let us know in the comments!

Do you have a heart for serving moms and helping them teach their little ones? Volunteer as a mentor with us by clicking here.

At One by One, it’s our goal to mentor and educate new moms to parent well. As a part of our education program, we teach moms ways to incorporate games and activities to help their babies develop appropriately. We also teach moms how to recognize if their children aren’t developing on “schedule” and when to see a doctor to determine if intervention is needed. If you’re a mom and would like to join our program, apply for a mentor by clicking here.