Engaging Kids Indoor Activities to Keep Them Active and Happy

If your child is bored at home, it’s worth taking another look around: there are plenty of options to keep your little one busy. The thing is, most of the most interesting kids indoor activities require parents to get involved in providing the necessary materials and ensuring the safety of each game. So, we won’t promise that everything will be super easy: the child plays on their own, and you can attend to the never-ending household tasks. However, among the best indoor activities for kids, you’ll definitely find some that will captivate your toddler, and at least for a few moments, you’ll be able to squeeze in some time for yourself or your chores.

Sensory Games

Sensory play refers to activities that develop tactile sensations, and stimulate hearing, smell, taste, and visual perception. In turn, sensory play positively influences the development of fine motor skills, logic, and a better understanding of various phenomena around, meaning it's also an educational activity. Sensory indoor activities for kids at home offer a wide range of options.

• Exploration and experiments at the Sensory Table. The table has two convenient removable containers that are easy to wash, making it a perfect space for any sensory experiments. Suggest kids indoor activities such as retrieving small toys from kinetic sand or sculpting with sand using molds. Toddlers also enjoy melting frozen toys from ice blocks – give them a bottle of warm water and let them pour it over the ice until it melts, and the toy is freed.

• Buy a science experiment kit and set up a mini laboratory at home: mix baking soda and lemon juice, add Mentos to a glass of cola, or make a non-Newtonian fluid from cornstarch and water that’s both liquid and solid. It will be incredibly fascinating.

  

• Invite your child to walk across the Sensory Balance Beam with their eyes closed and barefoot, and guess the surface they stepped on by feeling.

• Try kitchen play and practical activities. Decorating cookies and pastries, sprinkling toppings, and spreading frosting are all great ways to engage your child in fun and practical tasks. You can even prepare pizza together, giving your preschooler a chance to participate in each step, from kneading the dough to adding their favorite toppings.

• Create an indoor garden. Use an old egg carton to plant seeds and observe together how little the home garden grows.

Incorporating practical life activities into your child’s routine and presenting them through play is essential. It’s not only a fun activity, but it also provides valuable skills and knowledge that will benefit them for a lifetime.

Creative Play and Calm Kids Indoor Activities

Here’s where parents have a little more chance not only to entertain their child with something useful but also to get dinner ready – indoor arts and crafts activities. This is the best kind of activity that requires minimal preparation and guarantees that your child will be fully engaged in something they enjoy for 10-20 minutes or even half an hour.

1. Coloring and drawing. You can invite children to draw as if they are real artists. Let them create with chalk on a Kids' Tabletop Easel or draw with pencils, markers, or paints by attaching paper to the base. This allows little ones to explore their artistic side and express themselves creatively. 

   

2. Cutting and completing fun tasks – it is not only fun but educational too. Ready-made solutions from WoodandHearts make it even easier! Not sure how to entertain your little one? Check out our activity books. They are ready to download – print, and enjoy coloring pages, exciting tasks, and captivating stories.

3. Modeling. Give children some clay or play dough to mold into various shapes. This activity helps develop fine motor skills and creativity while providing a tactile, hands-on experience.

4. Puzzle-solving. Challenge your preschooler with puzzles that require problem-solving. This boosts cognitive abilities and logical thinking while keeping them entertained. 

   

5. Building with Foam Blocks or blocks of Childrens Play Sofa. Encourage your little one to build structures with foam blocks or Sophie Blocks. This activity enhances spatial awareness, creativity, and fine motor skills.

6. Build the best-ever cozy blanket fort together. This fun activity encourages imaginative play, teamwork, and problem-solving.

7. Read out loud. Reading together is a wonderful way to bond. Choose a book with engaging pictures or an exciting story and read it out loud to your child, sparking their imagination and love for stories.

Pretend Play

Among the indoor activities to do with kids, pretend play holds a special place, as it develops empathy, imagination, and cooperation (especially if multiple children are involved). Kids genuinely enjoy this activity because it allows them to try out different roles and scenarios, from cooking meals to attending a fake school. The possibilities for pretend play are practically endless.

• Invite them to play with the Montessori Play Kitchen, where little ones can pretend to cook. It is the perfect setup for kids to act as chefs, bake treats, or prepare meals for their family.

• Let kids engage in pretend play with dolls by using the Doll Stroller or Doll Cradle. They can care for their dolls, taking them for walks or putting them to bed.

• Knights and princesses. Transform your Large Playground Climber into a grand castle tower where children can pretend to be knights and princesses defending their realm or going on exciting adventures.

• Flip the Montessori Arch, and voilà – you have a ready-made shop counter. Toddlers can pretend to run their own store, selling goods and interacting with customers.

• School. The Toddler Indoor Playground with a blackboard can easily turn into an impromptu classroom. Little ones can play teacher, drawing on the board, explaining lessons to their dolls and stuffed animals, or practicing their own writing and drawing skills.

Physical Activities

Finally, we’ve arrived at what children enjoy the most – indoor physical activities for kids. While these activities are incredibly fun for kids, exercises and active games must be controlled and safe, as there’s less space at home to “run wild” and release energy. However, there are many indoor physical activities for kids that are both fun and safe.

Climbing Games

Toddlers can begin their introduction to climbing with a Montessori Arch or Triangle, and the Indoor Jungle Gym offers many options for play: climbing various ladders, completing missions, overcoming obstacle courses, treasure hunts, and more.

Enhance classic Montessori climbing frames with gym accessories to make play even more exciting. The classic swing helps children calm down, while the rope with spheres develops grip strength and agility. Plus, there are so many different games to create: for example, mountain adventures or jungle missions on vines.

Ball Games

Indoor physical activities for kids with a ball are also very useful. They help children better control their bodies in space, and improve coordination, attention, and strength. For home play, it’s better to choose soft kids’ balls rather than professional ones. These are less hard and less likely to cause a broken window or mirror.

We hope these ideas of indoor activities for kids at home help you come up with ways to keep your child entertained. Choose what suits their mood and enjoy a quality, fun, and fulfilling time together.