10 Fun Indoor Activities to Keep Kids Active During Winter

With winter here, it’s often too cold for kids to spend much time outdoors for exercise and playtime. Therefore, it can be a challenge to encourage your children to do some physical activity to keep them fit and healthy (and occupied). Introducing them to fun indoor activities is the answer.

This article provides parents with a variety of fun and engaging indoor activities and exercises to keep kids active and burning off energy during winter.

1. Host a game night

We all know kids love to have fun, so the more enjoyable an activity is, the more keen they’ll be to participate. Rather than playing games on a device or sitting around a table playing board games, arrange activities that are a little more physical. For example, a simple game of hopscotch (using tape on the floor) or twister gets the body moving and stretching. Even acting out charades is a lot more physical than lounging around playing a video game.

2. Have a dance party

The first step is to choose music your kids will enjoy. After all, the dance party is for them to get on their feet and move to the beat. Different people could take turns leading the dance party, where everyone has to follow the leader’s dance moves. It’s a lot of fun, fantastic exercise and a great way for children to burn off energy indoors.

3. Turn chores into a game

Kids don’t generally like doing chores, but if you make a game out of it, chores become a lot more interactive and fun. If you’re the parents of several siblings, they can work together to beat the clock. As an example, you can set a timer on a tablet or a laptop and encourage the kids to tidy a room before the timer runs out. As an added incentive, you might even offer a small reward for beating the clock.

Another idea is to get them involved in some cooking or baking in the kitchen. Have them make their favourite food, blend a delicious smoothie or create a colourful plate of fresh fruit. This keeps them on their feet and moving about, as well as providing them with nutritious food.

4. Try a balloon game

This game is simple and requires just one balloon to play. The object of the game is to hit the balloon around the room, making sure it never touches the ground or any of the furniture. To make it even more challenging, you could place some obstacles around the room. Kids can play this game alone or as a group and it’s an excellent way to develop gross motor skills and improve coordination. The adults can join in as well.

5. Create an indoor playground

Work with your children to build an indoor playground based on their interests and curiosities. A simple example is building a fort out of pillows, cushions and blankets. Have a snowball fight with rolled up socks or build a tunnel out of sheets for them to crawl through. If you want to get a little more creative, you can build a castle using small pieces of furniture, cushions, sheets and blankets.

Another idea is using toilet paper to create an obstacle course. Make webs and obstructions out of the toilet tissue and have the little ones attempt to navigate the course without breaking any of the toilet paper. There really are many ways you can create an indoor playground that’s fun and challenging.

6. Everyone loves a treasure hunt

There’s plenty of space in most homes and loads of places to hide things, so it’s not a difficult task organising an indoor treasure hunt. Treat it the same way as an Easter egg hunt, except you’ll use other items to represent the treasure. Having clues or even a simple map adds a layer of complexity to the game and also makes it more intriguing and interactive, rather than the kids randomly roaming about looking for treasure. For extra actionable steps, include things like ‘crawling to the kitchen’ or ‘hopping from one room to the next’. This adds even more physical activity to the hunt. Problem-solving skills are also enhanced.

7. Indoor games

If you search online for indoor games kids can play, you will come up with plenty of workable ideas. In this section, let’s highlight just a few to start you off. Use the hallway for a crab walk race, where the winner gets a prize. You can also use pillow cases for a three-legged sack race, either down the hall or in a circle around the living room. Doing the limbo or playing with hula hoops also keeps the little ones active indoors during winter.

8. Indoor exercise classes

Whether you use YouTube or another video platform, you’ll discover there are stacks of fun workout videos designed just for kids. Parents and older siblings can join in as well for further encouragement. Following along to exercise routines on short videos is both fun and an awesome way to keep the kids active, fit and healthy during those cold months. In fact, everyone in the family will get fit with regular indoor exercises and physical activity. Do it every night, even if just for fifteen to twenty minutes.

9. Pretend the floor is hot lava

This is actually quite a popular game for kids and one that will keep them occupied for hours. It also gets them up and constantly moving about, burning off energy and working their developing bodies. The idea of the game is to use things like stuffed animals, pillows, cushions or other items and strategically place them on the floor as safe zones. The kids then have to leap from one safe zone to the next. The bare floor is the hot lava and children need to avoid touching it. Start off with a certain number of points for each participant and every time they touch the lava, they lose a point. The hot lava game promotes coordination and balance and is loads of fun to play.

10. How about some indoor tenpin bowling?

You can purchase plastic tenpin bowling kits at just about any toy shop and they’re safe to play with indoors. If your home has a long hallway, you have the perfect setup to create an indoor bowling alley. Set the pins up at one end of the hall and let loose the bowling ball from the other end. Score like it’s a real game of tenpin bowling and see who emerges as the victor. Let the kids play by themselves or have the entire family join in the fun.