25 Fun Indoor Kid Activities To Turn Your Home Into An Adventure!

Playing fun indoor kid activities is a great way for kids to spend their time, especially during school break.

But what type of indoor games and activities should you provide for your children? When school is out, it can clear kids’ schedules for weeks or months with nothing to do.

Parents everywhere start worrying about how to keep their children entertained during school break. Some parents enroll their kids to camps or make travel plans but not everybody has the budget to do this so every single year.

So what can you do to keep your sanity?

Fun Indoor Kid Activities

The key to keeping kids active during school vacations is finding fun indoor kid activities that they enjoy and which will stave off boredom.

When I get a chance, I love to stroll through Michael’s or Joann and look for simple and cheap things for my kids to do. If I run out of ideas, I look for more ideas in books or online. There are fabulous ideas if you are just willing to look.

The following fun indoor kid activities are great examples of projects that kids can do when Mom and Dad are busy. They are safer and less toxic than most store-bought ones and more cost-efficient too!

Fun Indoor Kid Activities … For Toddlers

1. Play Hide and Seek

Toddlers love games. And they absolutely giggle at hiding in corners and small spaces. Just play safe and monitor where they can hide. You should take note that toddlers are easy to please.

Just keep it fun and exciting and you would surely have them rolling in joy. In the end, you would surely cry with laughter when you see them having fun.

2. Learn The Alphabet Game

While toddlers learn to read, recognizing their letters is the first step. And you can make learning their alphabet fun.

All you need is foam letters, construction paper, and bean bags. A foam letter mat is an ideal prop for this game. You can also take a large sheet of pieces of construction paper and create a paper alphabet map. Instead of jumping on the paper, they can toss a beanbag on the correct letter.

3. Find The Shape Game

This is a great way to teach your children their shapes and how to apply them to the real world. If you have blocks, you can start with those. Have your child identify the shapes. For example, “Which block is a circle?”

When your child points to the circle, pick it up and congratulate them. Then encourage them to find other circles in your home.

4. Make A Cave

Want to make a secret cave for the afternoon? Simply put old blankets over the backs of chairs or over a table to make a tent. Grab a flashlight and instruct your child to go read scary stories inside it. And you children will never do get tired.

You would be surprised by how they retain their high level of energy. So if you secure a few blankets, they can safely play for hours.

5. Have A Treasure Hunt

A treasure hunt can be another fun indoor activity for kids who like to play hide and seek. Scavenger hunts are always fun if you’re hunting for things they enjoy. This can be with animals, bugs, dinosaurs, trucks, or whatever they’re interested in.

All you have to do is buy cheap dollar store toys and hide them. You can tell them an exciting treat awaits when they bring all the items to you.

6. Fingerpaint In Primary Colors

Art is important for toddlers because of the way it makes little kids feel special. Toddlers are not only learning to take pride in their accomplishments but also to think and control their hand-eye coordination.

Through art, children learn to identify colors, cause-and-effect, shapes, problem-solving, and cooperation. When your toddler finishes a masterpiece and holds it up to you, doesn’t that make you feel good about both of you?

7. Create Shaving Cream Art

Shaving cream art is fun and easy for young children and it promotes hand-eye coordination. Kids need to learn how to cut, use scissors, and do other things they will eventually do in everyday life.

While this craft is fabulous for learning basic skills, it is messy. You can use a vinyl tablecloth or plastic placemats to just spray some shaving cream on and let them use it as finger paint.

8. Play With Modeling Dough

Playdough is also another great activity for toddlers to develop hand-eye coordination. You can gather some small cookie cutters and old jar lids (for pans) and create fancy cookies – healthy, of course!

Your kids can turn a large box on its side for a counter and place the goodies on display to sell. Of course, you’ll pretend to buy, eat, and enjoy!

Fun Indoor Kid Activities … For Preschoolers

9. Paint With Acrylic

Wet paints…squishy canvas…happy preschooler…is there anything better than seeing a child fully engaged in an art project? Acrylic is a great medium for young children because it can be handled like watercolors. It dries quickly and is permanent once it has dried, however, it is flexible and washes easily from their messy little hands.

10. Make A Collage

Collages are great for fostering children’s creativity. They can be used to create pictures of people, animals, buildings, landscapes, and more. It is an excellent art form that stimulates the senses and helps develop hand-eye coordination.

Your child just needs construction paper, some magazines, Elmer’s glue, and safety scissors. You should have your kids cut out pictures and glue them all over the construction paper. Once their project dries hang proudly on your fridge.

11. Have A Puppet Show

Children are highly imaginative, and you can teach your child to make a puppet at home. Puppets can be used to show your baby how to brush her teeth, how to wash hands etc.

Making a puppet at home may not save you money, but children love a ‘homegrown’ puppet endless. Their imaginations start flying while you are at work with your puppet. They start off on a fantasy trip imagining stories and characters they have heard.

12. Play Savings and Loans

Do you want a way for your preschooler to learn about money and math? Even if your child doesn’t like math, he should learn how to earn and save it as a fun indoor kid activity.

You can save your canceled checks and fake credit cards that come in the mail. Supply the kids with a calculator, pencils, a small table, and Monopoly money. This one was my favorite as a kid!

13. Make Paper Airplanes

Warning: Paper airplanes are highly addictive! My two boys absolutely love making paper airplanes. The best paper for airplanes is the good quality paper that stays stiff. All you have to do is teach the basics about paper airplanes.

If you don’t have the time, you can buy a book on the fine arts of paper airplane making, and then put your feet up and read a book.

Fun Indoor Kid Activities … For School-Age Kids

14. Sing Karaoke

Karaoke is a lot of fun and can turn any family affair into an event with lots of laughs. Even if your kids are not the best singers, they will have fun blasting out the lyrics. You can even hold a contest for the silliest song/voice combo… Bonus points for interpretive dance!

My kids have watched and sung the songs from the play Hamilton at least ten times. So now karaoke is a fun show for the rest of the family.

15. Draw A Masterpiece

Any child can draw a masterpiece. I’m completely serious. Anyone — even your kids — can create great artwork if we take advantage of the right tools and teach them how to use them.

Even kids with no art experience can create amazing artwork with just a few simple steps. All you need is paper, pencils, and some creativity.

16. Make Homemade Ice Cream

If your kids like ice cream, then this is a delicious indoor kid activity.

You can add two parts milk and cream and one part sugar in a coffee can, with any flavorings you want. Place the lid on, then set it in a bigger can and pour ice around the little can. Put rock salt on the ice. Place a lid on the big can, and give it to your child to roll it back and forth for about 1/2 hour or until it turns into ice cream!

(Do this one even if it’s winter…I won’t tell!)

17. Bead A Friendship Necklace

Designing homemade beaded jewelry is a fun hobby that will keep tap into your daughter’s creative side. Kids love to make things with their hands.

And this is my most favorite indoor kid activity. Children can make a wide range of jewelry. With a little creativity, your kids can make awesome bracelets with their favorite beads for her friends and family.

18. Bake A Cake

Kids love to bake or just decorate cupcakes. Children who participate in cooking and baking learn great life skills through having fun in the kitchen.

You can buy your kids an easy cake or brownie mix and let them loose in the kitchen. This will keep them distracted for at least an hour. For easy cleanup, you can tell them they can enjoy the fruits of their labors if they clean up all mess.

19. Make A Healthy Meal

For many kids, cooking is a pleasure, and they love to create something new in the kitchen. With some planning, your kids can create healthy meals as an indoor kid activity that your family will love.

If your kid likes to cook, a few healthy meals can start him or her on a lifetime of better cooking. And you will have a happy sous chef for an afternoon.

Fun Indoor Kid Activities … For Teens

20. Play With Homemade Clay

Why do toddlers get to have all the fun? With a little homemade clay, kids of all ages can have the pleasure of making pottery. You can purchase all ingredients at the dollar store and use this recipe for homemade clay.

Adults tend to be a bit more practical with pottery, but kids love to play with it and get their hands dirty. Just let their imagination go crazy with it!

21. Scrapbook A Memory Book

Scrapbooking can be fun and simple! It is an excellent way for you and your kids to create memories and history. Scrapbooking can be a project you do together, or your child can even do it on their own without any help.

Depending on the age of your kids, they can help you with your album or they can create albums of their own.

22. Cross Stitch A Pillow

Cross stitching is a fun way to pass the time and relax. Teen can create a custom pillow or throw. Whether you decide to purchase a cross stitching kit or buy the supplies separately, it is easy to get started.

Many craft stores carry both the premade kits and separate supplies. Premade kits come in handy because they provide the thread, the canvas, and the needle as well as step-by-step instructions.

23. Crochet A Scarf

Crocheting is not an activity made only for our grannies and for bitter spinsters. It can be done by everyone including teens. Now that popular clothing designers are also smitten by crocheting, it is cool for your teenager to learn. And it really is not a hard skill to learn.

To get going, all your child need is a good crochet hook, yarns, measuring tape, yarn needle, and a lot of determination to finish a crocheting project.

24. Make A Scented Candle

Candle-making is a chance for your teen to travel back in time and make a custom scent. In the old days, most people made their own candles. They give your teen complete control over the ingredients so she can create customized candles.

Votives can be scented or unscented and they are easy to make at home. Once your teen follows the simple instructions, the candle is ready within 2 hours.

25. Design A T-shirt

Teens love to design their own Tshirt and show their own individual styles.

Fashion is still very much alive, and teens want to be the ultimate trendsetters. Teens don’t want to shop at expensive boutiques or thrift shops. They just follow their favorite brands and purchase clothes only if they are trendy enough. So this is an excellent chance for teens to put fabric markers to work and design their own t-shirts.

More Tips For Fun Indoor Kid Activities

When kids go to school, they have their friends and studies to keep them busy.

But at home, you should find fun games, activities, or hobbies to entertain your kids. These are some tips to find fun indoor kid activities that your children will actually want to do.

Tell your kids to put electronics away – explain to your children that you want to spend more time together as a family, and ask them to make suggestions as to what they would like to do.
Get your kids involved in planning – Children will always be far more facilitating for family time if they feel involved in the planning and organization of any upcoming events.
Choose age-appropriate activities – Trust me, your teenager will not want to play with playdough.

These are just a few ideas to get you started on making some exciting memories with your children—as well as keeping their little imaginations active during dull and rainy days.

Many shops have kits that can help a beginner learn about a new hobby quickly and easily. With all these ideas for fun indoor kid activities, there are sure to be at least a few winners.