This is the best list of indoor activities for kids. A bold statement, I know. You come to this lady on the internet, and she assures you that she has the best ideas for kids. As a mom of three active boys, I give this list of indoor games a five-star review. They are tried, tested, and played with by my toddler, preschooler, and big kids.
Need a rainy day activity? Sick day activity idea for kids? This list covers when you are inside all day (or week) with bored kids.
RELATED: Spending a lot of time this season? Here are 40 winter activities for kids.
How to entertain a child at home without being the camp counselor
Yep! You can entertain a child at home with simple play prompts to get them started with independent play.
Being home with young children can sometimes be a challenge. (understatement?) We can love spending time together and crave taking a break simultaneously.
What if I told you creating a predictable routine with kids is possible? Being inside with kids all day has its ups and downs, and I can help with the in-between to hit restart. I wrote three secrets to a calmer morning to share what we do.
In our home, we begin each morning with a simple morning play prompt. We call these Breakfast Invitations. Breakfast Invitations are simple ideas to help kids create and parents drink hot coffee. Yep, I did say that correctly. Your coffee can be hot and not forgotten in the microwave. Being bored can be good for kids, and these ideas may inspire more creativity than when your child was pulling on your pant legs.
Most of the time, Breakfast Invitations carry right over into independent play. It is a little seed planted to set the intention for the day.
A BUNDLE OF OUR BEST RESOURCES
it’s like Mary Poppin’s bag – full of great ideas to inspire you and your kids with play!
You get an amazing bundle including:
- The Starter Guide to press restart on your days.
- 2 Sets of Activity Cards for activities when you need them.
- The WONDER Course: More Play, Less Stress for You and Your Child.
Types of indoor activities for kids
To help simplify the searching and scrolling, I list the activities for kids into five easy-to-navigate categories. Within each category, I keep the activity list light to help you instantly get an idea.
RELATED: Tired of scrolling? Buy our activity cards, so you have your ideas without the hunt.
- Indoor activities for toddlers
- Preschool activities and indoor games
- Indoor activities for fine motor play
- Gross motor indoor games for kids
- Indoor activities for kindergarten
Indoor activities for toddlers
To be even more organized, I put the toddler activity list in the same order as the pictures above. Want more than eight ideas? The toddler activity list has even more ways for your two and three-year-olds to play.
- Toy Color Sort
- Drive and Drop
- Kitchen Match-Up
- Wash the Socks
- Sticky Pumpkin
- Sock Matching Game
- How to Introduce Sensory Play to Toddlers
- Genius Way to Paint with Toddlers
Preschool indoor activities
This is our bread and butter. This corner of the web is loaded with preschool activities. Here is just a taste of our favorites. Find the entire list of hands-on activities for preschoolers here. Again, I put the toddler activity list in the same order as the pictures above.
- Ice Stating Bears Sensory Activity
- Sticker Maze
- Tape Roads for Toddler and Preschool Play
- Clay at Home for Kids
- Cloud Dough Construction Sensory Activity
- Letter Park; An Activity for Letter Recognition
- Sticker Match Up
- Alphabet Bingo
RELATED: Sensory activities for kids are almost always how we spend our late mornings. These 40+ sensory bins for kids will leave you with countless easy ideas to stir away from boredom.
Indoor activities for kindergarten
Big kids need hands-on learning and time to play. I added each idea in the order of the main image above. (That’s what happens when a busy mom makes a post for other busy parents that skim and scan) Find all our ideas for big kids on the Kindergarten activity list.
- Secret Messages for Kindergarteners
- DIY Coin Bank
- Building Free Play – Yes! Big kids need time to play with blocks.
- Kindergarten Word Families
- Plotting Points on a Grid for Kids
- Beginning Sounds Toy Match
- Bubble Wrap Painting
- 3D Shape Build for Kindergarten
RELATED: Playing board games with big kids is so much fun. I made this list to share our favorites.
Fine motor indoor activities for kids
Strengthen hand muscles and improve dexterity with play. These simple ideas for kids help improve pencil grip and fine motor strength. These are my favorite ways for toddlers and preschoolers to play because most supplies are already in the home.
- Sticker Ten Frames
- Sticker Pairs
- Highlighter Trace
- Squirt Paint Color Mix
- Bring the Bears Home
- Poke the Alphabet
- Tape Cut Rescue
- Alphabet Dot to Dot
RELATED: Sticker activities are some of my favorite ways to strengthen small hand muscles through play.
Gross motor indoor activities
Even indoors, kids don’t stop moving. (and now they don’t have to!) Here are FUN indoor ideas to help tame the couch-jumping. Our more extensive list of gross motor activities for kids is found here.
- Drive in the Colors
- Tracks at the Tree Farm
- Indoor Golf Tracks
- The Claw
- Pour to the Lines
- Garage Ball Toss
- Magnetic Tiles Bowling
- Treasure Map
Activities on Demand
Want great ideas without the ads? Download these 20 hands-on learning games for kids.
FAQ
We all know it is important to allow kids time to be bored. But sometimes, a few ideas can go a long way to spark independent play. This list of 101 preschool activities for kids is an excellent starting place.
I begin the day with play starting the boys with a Breakfast Invitation. This sets the intention for the day. But nothing is harder than kids reminding you all day that they are bored. When they do, I remind them that they can play or help me clean. Use these activity cards for kids to spark ideas.
Toy storage and keeping toys at eye level are important to inspiring more play at home. Use this toy storage post to see how we organize what we need for indoor play.
