Indoor Activities for Kids: Ideas to Beat Boredom

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As the weather is turning cold, indoor activities for kids becomes more important.

Spending time indoors with children can be tough at anytime, but during this pandemic it’s harder.

The first lockdown was during summer, so we had plenty of garden play alongside our daily walks, but this time it’s cold and rainy!

Add home school to the mix and you have a boring, stressful environment!

To improve this, I’ve come up with some indoor activities for kids that might be useful for you too.

If you have any others please comment below.

Gadget & Toy Indoor Activities for Kids

Toys and gadgets are great indoor activities for kids, and we’ve been trying out some from the range at Buzz Retail.

Skates

For a bit of indoor/ garden exercise, we have the Buzz Skates which come in two colours, black and pink.

They attach to your shoes and can be used indoors and outdoors. They are the only two-wheel skates that come with shock absorbing silicone wheels.

My son has had some fun making assault courses to weave around in our hallway so far!

Light Spinner

For some fun and experimenting with light/dark, we’ve been playing with the Light Spinner, which is an easy-to-control UFO toy.

It lights up, glides through the air and is controlled by a remote control.

This spinner functions just like a small remote control helicopter, but it’s much lighter and easier to store.

It comes with a USB cable for easy charging, to ensure the Light Spinner is always ready to take off.  

Thunder Jet X

My son loves the Thunder Jet X, which is a foam plane capable of flying up vertically.

It can be used indoors and outdoors, and has a 2.4 GHz remote that provides a long control range.

There’s 3 speeds and a 6-axis gyro which gives stable control and the ability to make 360 degrees flips in the air.

I like that it’s rechargeable and the foam means its lightweight and easy to take out and about.

Online Classes

LifeShine Magic Mornings

LifeShine Magic Mornings is an online morning class for children aged 3-6 to energise their bodies and minds.

Online classes are great indoor activities for kids that can set them up for their home-schooling day ahead.

It’s a morning party with purpose that will see your kids take away some tricks to keep them resilient and emotionally well.

LifeShine classes use performing arts and wellness techniques to build confidence, emotional resilience and mindfulness for young children. 

Classes include dancing, singing, games and emotional wellbeing techniques to start lockdown days with a bit of joy.

The sessions run weekdays at 08:30am until schools re-open, and a week of sessions costs £10.

If you want to win some free sessions, I’m giving away TEN one-week passes on my Facebook page (closes 31 Jan 2021).

Baking

Three Bears Cookery Club

Children from the age of 2+ can enjoy a monthly baking subscription box with Three Bears Cookery Club.

Each monthly box contains a fun baking activity which is suitable for the whole family to do together.

Baking encourages kids to learn new skills, have fun with their families and enjoy a tasty treat!

The boxes include dry ingredients for one recipe, three recipe cards (sweet and savoury), a shopping/equipment list, fun facts and even a quiz.

There’s also access to their private Facebook group to watch pre-recorded videos to help with the baking.

Boxes can be bought as a one-off or 3 and 6 month subscriptions.

I have a range of recipes in the Cooking With Kids section on this blog which may also give you inspiration.

Online Apps

On rainy days when it’s harder to go out for daily walks or use the garden, online games can be great.

We use the Pebble Gear Kids Tablet because of the great safety controls it features. It means I can leave him to play and get on with other things without worrying what he could access.

My 8-year-old loves maths, so he tends to play a lot of maths apps for fun. His favourite at the moment is Prodigy, which is a great maths game online for primary school children.

It involves completing maths sums to cast spells against opponents and complete quests.

He also loves SumDog for maths and spellings. You can earn points to accessorise your character, pets and their home.

Both games are free online and as well as being fun are educational.

Pokemon Go and Minecraft Earth are free apps to play on daily walks or in the garden. They encourage children to use their imagination with outdoor surroundings whilst getting exercise.

We’ve found chests and built Minecraft houses in our garden using the app which was great fun!

Mini fans of CBeebies can enjoy the Get Well Soon Hospital with Dr Ranj to find out how the body works .

It’s free, features the puppets from the TV series and includes sections on the heart, bones, stomach and lungs. 

There is also a helpful list of free apps for kids on Daddilife’s website.

Reading

Reading does a lot more than most think. It is relaxing, calming, educational and is a great distraction from the current stressful crisis we’re living in. It’s great for children’s imaginations and it isn’t a screen!

Daniel’s Dreams: Monster Mountain

Daniel’s Dreams* is one of my current favourites, because it talks about mental health in a child-friendly way.

It’s written by a teacher whose seen first-hand not only how childhood mental health has reached epidemic levels, but how conversations with kids about their wellbeing rarely takes place.

This is the first volume in the Monster Mountain series, which aims to share fun, adventurous stories whilst helping children to understand mental health.

I’m giving away four copies of this book on the blog which ends 22/2/21, so take a look!

There’s a resource pack to go alongside the book which is available in print and digitally too. 

Subscriptions

Bumbleebee

Bumblebee Online offer a monthly book subscription that inspires children’s creativity.

Each month receive they receive a book, plus clever creative prompts to inspire their own drawing, writing, making or cooking. 

There are books for the under 8s and 9-12 years. The activities included don’t require any special resources, so are great for lockdown!

The packs contain ideas to inspire creative responses rather than being step by step instructions. This means you can do them over again as the child grows and their experiences change.

Many of the activities encourage thoughtful responses to the books, so the child reflects upon themselves and the world around them!

My son’s a book worm, but I can see this being great for reluctant readers too, because the activities make it an interactive experience.

Subscriptions can be 3, 6, 12 or ongoing monthly packages, and the books are from small, independent publishers making it less likely your child’s already got the book.

Some of the proceeds help run free creative writing sessions for children from disadvantaged backgrounds who struggle with literacy, how great’s that?!

Happier Every Chapter

This is a book subscription for 8-14 year olds, and was created by two young sisters, Kirsten & Aiyven, aged 13 and 11.

The girls are keen book reviewers and have each written & published novels . They also do book reviews on Facebook & YouTube to promote literacy. Their plan to make reading cool by sharing their love for reading & writing with everyone which is brilliant.

Happier Every Chapter by Mbawa Books offers a monthly box which are themed each month.

Each box comes carefully curated to include 2 books including a diverse read, short stories, activity sheets, exclusive author goodies, bookish treats, lifestyle items and access to a community for live author interviews, competitions and book chats.

Audio & Online Books

My son loves books, so I’ve bought a lot for Christmas, but we only have so much shelf space (and money) to use on them.

With the libraries currently shut, we have been using free online library apps that our local libraries use.

We have been using Libby and BorrowBox, where you can borrow e-books and audio books for free.

Audio books can be so relaxing to have in the background whilst colouring or playing a board game.

Find out which app your library uses and then all you have to do is register with your library card!

Crafting Indoor activities for kids

Crafting Boredom Bags

Boredom Bags is a newly launched children’s activity business set up by Sheffield based parents of three in response to their own experience of parenting in a pandemic.

The bags contain 35 awesome activities to help kids get creative, discover science and nature, learn new skills and above all… have fun!

There are options your child can complete independently, as well as things the whole family would enjoy doing together.

They provide a boost of fun, varied and creatively inspiring activities for children aged 2-100!

The current “Get it Now – First edition” bag includes 35 awesome activities in one big bag full of fun. This includes crafts, games, recipes, science hacks, mindfulness, discovery of nature and learning of new fun skills.

You can also pre-order the 2nd edition ready for the Easter Holiday now. 

Boredom Bags can be posted to any UK address either for your own family or as a gift to family or friends.

An added bonus is the company’s an eco-aware business inspired and fuelled by the #reducereuserecycle movement.

Scrapbooking

Making a scrapbook can be a lot of fun. I still have my Spice Girls one somewhere (showing my age there).

We’ve started making a lockdown scrapbook which can get kids to think about experiences they don’t want to forget.

Crafting

During the last lockdown we attended a virtual crafting party which had some great ideas that I shared.

My favourite was making textured chocolate from bubble wrap!

As well as these ideas, there’s always plenty to find across social media, particularly Pinterest and Instagram.

Indoor Games

Card Games

A fun, educational game we have come across recently is Super Sapiens.

It’s a family-friendly card game which pays tribute to 12 inspiring women from around the world – the world’s real superheroes.

It’s a concept that can help children develop their own superpowers through self-care and self-love.  

The game also helps children (3+) learn about real world issues such as white supremacy, gender inequity and environmental justice.

The pack includes 56 cards, illustrated cards about trend-bucking women and information about how to cultivate superpowers and be good members of the community.

There’s also a world map, plain cards to personalise and game instructions for Snap, Memory and Super Guess.

Super Sapiens donates games to schools and 75% of profits to organisations led by the Black, Indigenous and People of Colour too. 

Building

Explore the world of the magical invisible forces of magnetism with Geomag Classic Panels.

Geomag have a range of sets which allow you to create structures using magnetic bars and steel spheres.

The Green Panels 35-piece set includes magnetic rods, panels and bases made using 100% recycled plastic.

You can use the recycled plastic panels to make structures more sturdy and stable. It’s a great STEM product which can stimulate all levels of scientific insights.

Magic

Magic tricks can provide hours of fun for children.

To celebrate 40 years of the Rubik’s Cube, Marvin’s Magic have an exclusive magic set which includes 40 tricks.

The Amazing Box of Tricks is for kids aged 8+ and includes a mind reading puzzle and jumping cubes.

The Rubik-designed box has enough tricks for hours of fun, allowing budding illusionists to learn various magic skills to impress family.

Create a Veg Garden

Vegetables can be grown throughout the year, regardless of season.

Growing food in the comfort of your own home is fun, relaxing and educational.

It’s also great for mental wellbeing, for both adults and children.

I’ve written a guide on how to grow vegetables in your garden with kids, so check it out and get growing!

Other Ideas of Indoor Activities for Kids

Here’s some links to other indoor activities for kids I’ve found:

6 Mindfulness Activities for Children

60+ Play Ideas When You’re Stuck At Home

Kindness Activities for Kids

Best Educational Shows for Kids 2021

Disney Movies Emoji Quiz

Outdoor Winter Nature Activities for Kids.

If you have any activities to add to this list, comment with them below!

I was gifted some items within this post but was not obligated to post about them. No payment has been received. All opinions are honest and my own.