Staying at home during the summer break can get very boring for children, and it can be a challenge to keep them entertained. But you can make your child’s at-home time fun and enjoyable by planning a variety of indoor activities at home.
Kids become more creative when they play with their parents and explore unique ways to express themselves. Such easy fun summer activities for kids keep your baby active, stimulated and developmentally ready!
Simple indoor games to keep toddlers engaged
These simple and easy-fun summer activities for kids can make your child’s holidays fun. You can participate in these games with your children or call on their friends to make these indoor activities at home simple and memorable for years to come:1. Find the hidden object: Hide a number of objects in different places in the room and challenge your child to find them. As they find them, ask them to place the items in a basket. You can use different items for this activity, like plastic fruits, vegetables, or balls.
2. Balls in the basket: Have your kid throw softballs, cotton balls, or balls made from rolled-up socks into a laundry basket, either by standing over it or from a short distance. This fun activity will help them develop hand-eye coordination.
3. Build a fort or tent: Use old blankets, sheets, towels, and boxes to build a fort or tent. Eat a snack in there and discuss more fun activities to do in the fort or tent. This will help kids work on their imagination.
4. Plastic or paper cups: You can use plastic or paper cups to create fun games like:
Stacking the cups to build a tower.
Join two cups with a string to make a telephone.
You can also tell your child to decorate the cups using markers or paints to get them more involved in the game.
5. Plates: You can use plastic or paper plates for fun games like:
Making musical instruments using day-to-day items around the house like spoons, plastic or paper plates and straws, or craft sticks. Sing a song together as your little rock star creates different sounds!
Decorate the paper plates and make little hats or draw different faces on the plates and use them as masks.
This activity will increase your child’s imagination and creativity.
6. Hand puppets: Use a torch or a mobile flashlight and make hand puppets on the wall.
7. Pretend play: In pretend play, children can act out various situations in everyday life, such as going to the grocery store or cooking dinner. Children may use a block as a mobile phone and talk into it, or play dress up and pretend to go to work. Children enjoy playing as grown-ups in this pretend game, and you will be amazed to see how closely your child observes your daily activities.
8. Bowling: Fill plastic bottles with coloured water to make your own bowling pins. Set up a mini bowling lane for your child and arrange the pins at the end of the lane. Your child can roll a large ball and knock down as many pins as possible. You can also keep score to make things exciting and encourage their maths skills.
9. Build a zoo: Draw pictures of different animals on index cards and place them in a hat or a box. Tell your child to pick any card. Then ask him/her to move or make noises like the animal on the card (for example, hop like a rabbit or roar like a lion), and you can guess which animal it is.
10. Box ride: In an empty box, keep some soft blankets to make a comfortable space. You can also draw wheels on the outside of the box. Place your child safely in it, then pull the box around the house while making engine and horn sounds together.
11. Drawing/painting: Give your child paints, brushes, crayons, or markers and let them draw or paint on paper. When they are done, talk to them about the drawing they made and the colours used.
12. Dance and freeze: Turn the music on and dance freestyle with your child. Pause the music at random intervals and freeze in a silly position. Turn on the music again after having a good laugh.
13. Cooking: Involve your kid in preparing a dessert. This activity will help your kid learn to follow directions and practice counting.
Playing indoor activities in summer season not only keeps your child happy and active but also keeps them away from electronic gadgets like the television, tablet, and other screens that may be harmful to them in the long term.
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References
- Moyses. 10 household items you can use for play with toddlers.
- Cleveland Clinic. Five Fun Activities for Kids.
- UNICEF. Indoor play ideas to stimulate young children at home.
- CocoKids. Fitness Activity Ideas.
- UNC School of Medicine. Indoor Activities for Kids to Get Their Brains Working.
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