Active Indoor Play Ideas
Today I am excited to invite Becca from Bare Feet on the Dashboard to guest post! She has collected some great ideas for encouraging active indoor play during bad weather days or just when you and your family may not want to venture outside. I know that where we are, it’s fairly frigid, so this is a great list we will definitely be utilizing!
With active littles it can be a challenge to keep them stimulated and encourage their gross motor skill development while stuck inside all winter. I’ve gathered ten easy ideas for active gross motor play that can be done indoors with very little preparation necessary. You might have to get a little silly with your kids, but that’s part of the fun. Bonus: If you do the activities with them it totally counts as a workout.
How to encourage Active Play on Cold and Rainy Days
Bring out the dress up clothes and turn on fun music to have a Costume Dance Party. This one is so easy and fun you could do it every day.
Practice your letters while getting active as your Dance through the Alphabet. How does the letter B dance? Any way you want.
These Animal Walks for Sensory Input from Lemon Lime Adventures are super fun and a surprisingly great work out for grown ups as well.
Help your child Learn Over, Under, and In Between with an Indoor Obstacle Course. This one has endless possibilities and is fun for kids from crawlers through preschool.
After that try these ideas for Sensory Input with Simple Obstacle Courses from My Mundane and Miraculous Life.
Start a family yoga practive – the Cosmic Kids Yoga Series on Youtube is our favorite. It pairs fast moving and interactive story telling with kid friendly yoga poses. My three year old and 20 month old both do it with me and we have a blast. If you ask the toddler to do her yoga, she automatically goes in to her down dog pose. Hilarious.
Bambini Travel takes yoga with her family to the next level with this fun Train Yoga series. I can’t wait to try it with my little train lover.
Try these ideas for Indoor Hopscotch from the Outlaw Mom. They are perfect for kids ages 2 and up.
I cannot wait to try this Ninja Box Kick Down idea from Frugal Fun for Boys. My three year old is going to LOVE it.
Blow up a balloon or two and play Balloon Bop. Run all over the room trying to keep it from touching the ground. I love this one because no matter how hard my boy hits it, the balloon won’t really hurt anything (especially his little sister).
How do you keep your kids active when stuck indoors?
More from & about Becca
Becca writes about frugal living, parenting, home preschool, travel, faith, and life in general at Bare Feet on the Dashboard. Her favorite posts are Simple Ways to Bring Jesus in to Your Child’s Daily Routine, How to Take a BIG Trip on a Little Budget, and her Top Five Tips for Saving Money with a Baby. Follow along on her adventures on Facebook, Pinterest, and Instagram.
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Thank you so much for including our animal walks! This is a great collection of indoor activities! Pinning to my toddler board!
Absolutely! Thank Becca for compiling this awesome list. Love your animal walks and the video you did recently!
Thanks for sharing our obstacle course post! This is a great resource! Sharing!
You are welcome. Becca did a wonderful job finding really awesome activities!
This is so helpful to me right now. I am really working to get more creative with indoor play in our house!
It can be hard, can’t it?! I think we get trapped and then our creative juices run out a little.