Are you looking for fun indoor kid activities at home for when you’re stuck indoors due to cold, wind, rain, or other weather? Here are my top 10+ fun kids activities for just such an occasion. I’ve also added a bonus activity for you to have on hand!
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Indoor Kid Activities at Home
There are times when it’s just too cold, too rainy, too hot, or too windy to go outside, and it can help to have ideas for when this happens so you’re not caught off guard! Below are some of our favorite indoor kid activities at home.
Rock Painting Kit
The all-inclusive rock painting kit includes everything you need for painting rocks, down to the actual rocks! Not many kits include everything you need but this one does.
This kit includes 10 river rocks, 2 wooden pieces, 12 non-toxic acrylic paints, 3 paint pens, 2 paint brushes, 1 art smock, transfer stickers and river stand.
Even better? It all comes in a backpack! This way, your child can work on painting their own rocks at home or on the go at a park or outdoor family gathering.
Painting rocks aids in promoting creativity, fine motor skills, problem-solving, and neural connections within the brain. All that to say, it’s a great activity for kids of all ages.
ROCK PAINTING KIT - Who knew rocks could be such a blast!? Let your imagination run wild decorating your own pet rock in vibrant colors! With Loomini's Rock Painting Kids Activities, children (or kids at heart) can decorate these smooth river rocks at home or in school; as part of a personal arts and crafts project or The Kindness Rock Project. Suggested for kids 6-12, but works for all ages 4-8, or 10-100!
Paper Snowflakes for Snowy Days
Remember these from your childhood? Just fold up some white printer paper three or more times and start cutting shapes. Once done, open it up and yay! Snowflake!!
If you want to go really fancy you can use different colors of construction paper or even try to cut hearts out! I thought this was so basic but my 2 year olds and 4 year old were so amazed by this!
Playing with shaving cream
I have to say, I only let them do this when they’re strapped in their high chairs with bibs on because otherwise the mess would freak me out. A way to make it even more fun is to add some food coloring! If you’re worried about them eating it, use something such as whipping cream, as long as they’re not allergic to dairy.
Finger paint, the clean version!
If you’re hoping for something a little cleaner, this one is for you. My oldest has some sensory difficulties including hating being dirty so finger paint has never been his thing. I came across the idea of putting a piece of paper and finger paint inside of a large zip-top bag and it’s a game-changer! He’s able to create with finger paint and there is NO mess!!
I actually have started to use regular Crayola Kids Tempura paint instead of finger paint because finger paint is so runny and annoying to deal with. The Tempura paint works just as well for us and is more versatile. Below I have links to both types of paint.
CLASSIC COLORS: Washable Kids’ Paint in six different colors: blue, violet, green, red, yellow, orange. Crayola Washable Kids' Paint does not drip readily from brushes & does not separate, making it freeze-thaw stable & assuring consistent performance.
- 🎨【Safe Finger Paints】Kids are born with a natural instinct for painting, and their fingers serve as excellent first brushes. Allowing children to engage in freehand finger painting is a very beneficial activity. It develops their perception, creativity and expression. Whether it's back-to-school, rewards, birthdays, or holidays, it's the perfect present for little ones.
- 💖【Non-Toxic & Safe】Our finger paint prioritizes safety above all else. Crafted from safe, non-toxic pigments and active glycerin, it undergoes rigorous testing and certification. Tested across various age groups, including sensitive-skinned adults, ensuring it's completely safe for your little one.
- 🏆【Generous Capacity】Our finger paint set includes 10 tubes, each with a large 2.1fl oz (60ml) capacity. With their vivid and lively colors, they stimulate your baby's sensory development. The large capacity ensures your child's creativity knows no bounds. With this durable paint, let your child immerse themselves in the joy of painting for extended periods.
- 🎨【Smooth & Cream Texture】The texture of the baby paint is so silky, like a face cream, and the vibrant colors stimulate sensory development. The art paint kit provides hours of tactile experience, coloring activities, and artistic interest, whether on paper, canvas, crafts, foot paint, or others.
- 💦【Easy to Wash】: Our toddler finger paint washes off skin surfaces with ease, ensuring hassle-free cleanup. Note: Paint may penetrate fabrics with pores and wood, making them slightly more challenging to clean.
Online Painting Classes
I started taking online painting classes in March of 2020 when COVID first hit and shut down so much around us. Being an introvert and a sober person I never attended the wine and painting classes with a group of friends so it was great to do in the comfort of my own home!!
After a while, my 4 year old wanted to take the classes with me which I wasn’t sure he’d enjoy but it has gone well! I’ve even found classes on Facebook that are free! In addition to all of the paintings I’ve created over the past several months, we’ve painted penguins and snowmen together. I’m sure we’ll paint much more together in the future.
One thing I learned is having him paint the background before the class starts helps because then it can dry and he tends to be a very slow painter who uses a lot of paint, so the background takes him quite a while.
Below is his setup for painting. The top right is his penguin painting and the bottom right is my penguin painting.
If you want to learn more about online painting classes or even painting as an adult, read my post about how I started taking painting classes online when the pandemic hit.
Baking
Kids love baking…well at least mine do. They love being part of the baking process, even if sometimes they just watch from a distance when I don’t have the patience for them to help. Ha! Generally, though they are great helpers, especially my 4-year-old. He loves to stir, pour things into the bowl, etc. They love eating what we bake as well. With my 4-year-old and my food sensitivities, we often eat something different than the twins but when we bake we all can eat it so that adds more fun! Some of our favorite things to bake are muffins, cookies, and on special occasions, cupcakes.
Here are some of our favorites:
- Vegan Chocolate Chip Muffins
- Easy Vegan Gluten Free Banana Bread Muffins (not gonna lie, we add Enjoy Life mini chocolate chips to these and tend to make them mini muffins for the kids and some regular sized muffins for adults)
Want to know what else you can do with these cooling racks?! Click the image below for another blog post!
Washing Dinosaurs (or anything else water proof)
It’s amazing how long a bin, a little bit of water, some dish detergent to make bubbles, and something like dinosaurs to “wash” can occupy children. We use bins from our toy organization to “wash” dinosaurs. We have four colors so one for each kid and one for the dinosaurs. I always put the bins on a hand towel for the inevitable messes, give the kids a washcloth to wipe the dinosaurs off with if desired, and about an inch of water in the bin after I put some dish detergent in so it makes bubbles. Depending on their mood, this has entertained them for 20 or so minutes at a time. It’s awesome. You could also use a plastic shoe-sized bin.
Set of 4 small plastic storage bins: 1 Blue, 1 Green, 1 Yellow, 1 Red. Phthalate and BPA free.
Sturdy plastic construction, bins are waterproof and can be stacked. Do not use in very hot water.
Perfectly sized as replacement bins for Humble Crew Storage Organizers. Bin Dimensions: 12"W x 9"D x 6"H
Durable, sturdy and easy to clean.
- Great on bookshelves, in the closet or under the bed
- Perfectly sized as replacement bins for Tot Tutors toy organizers
- Sturdy plastic construction
- Dimensions of each bin: W*L*H by 12 x 16 x 6 inches
- For ages 3+ year
ULTIMATE DINOSAUR PLAYSET - Immerse your children in the dinosaur world with 12 unique plastic dinosaur figures (18 cm each). Learn as you play with an educational dinosaur book detailing each dinosaur's story with images, a biography, and dinosaurs' habits to help your children's reading skills and tap into their curiosity.
EDUCATIONAL AND DEVELOPMENTAL TOYS - Let your child unplug from gadgets and let them enter an imaginative world of dinosaurs. Grow your child's social skills and reading skills when playing with the ultimate dinosaur set
Looking through Photo Albums
One day I decided to bring up the photo albums that I’ve created since my kids were born and I couldn’t believe how interested they were in them! Of course I supervised closely but they did a great job going through them and kept them busy for quite a while! More recently, I started making digital scrapbooks and having them printed and somehow ended up with an extra copy so they love having their own to look through.
If you want to learn more about my photo album journey click here to read a blog post about it.
Sink or Float
Using a container such as a plastic shoebox sized box, test different things to see if they float or sink. Fill the container part way with water and go around the house with your children finding things that they want to test, of course making sure they’re all safe for use in water. Using different foods can be fun as well to see if they sink or float.
Twister and other games
Though my kids are too young to understand the full rules of Twister, I’ve found it’s a neat way to help teach them colors, parts of the body, and their left from their right. If nothing else, it gets them up and moving.
We also have Connect Four which I pulled out a bit ago and after explaining strategy to my 4-year-old he gets it somewhat. The 2-year-olds don’t get the concept but do have fun separating the two colors and taking turns randomly putting the pieces into the grid.
We also came across the game Found It! recently and it’s good for kids as young as age 2!
- Classic Twister gameplay
- Larger mat with more spots
- The last player standing wins
- GREAT INDOOR AND OUTDOOR GAME: This Twister game includes a spinner and a plastic floor mat that’s twice the size of the original with more and bigger colored spots; It's easy to set up and put away
RULE THE GRID 4 THE WIN: With this classic Connect 4 game, featuring a sleek modern style, players go head-to-head as they try to get 4 of the same color discs in a row to win
EXCITING STRATEGY GAME: Challenge a friend to rule the grid! Strategy drives the competition in this Connect 4 board game. Line 'em up, block opponents, and be the first to get 4 in a row to win
INDOOR SCAVENGER HUNT: Found it! is an exciting game that helps children learn as they go on the most exciting ‘Search & Find’ with prompts like Can you find..."Something with a pattern? Something smaller than your palm?” etc.! Players must shout "FOUND IT!" as soon as they get their hands on the object! The first one to win 7 cards wins the game!
Sensory Bins
We have a few sensory bins that whenever I pull them out, the kids are entertained for up to an hour! It’s craziness! We have one shoebox-sized container with colored rice, another one with Kinetic sand, and a third with Pom Poms. I give the kids toy spoons, little shovels, and toy construction equipment that they use to “scoop and dump” as they’d say. Generally, they use them in their high chairs with bibs on reducing the mess.
I also have a blog post that I linked below of how I made a DIY sensory table!
3.25LBS KINETIC BEACH SAND: This Amazon exclusive sensory sand is 98% sand & 2% magic! Pull it, shape it & mold it to create incredible sand art. Kinetic Sand sticks to itself & not to kids so it can be easily cleaned up & stored!
MESS-FREE SENSORY FUN: A great addition to your child’s sensory bin. Made with larger grains of natural sand, this magic sand flows through fingers like real beach sand and leaves them completely dry.
![Caydo [400 pcs] - 300 Pieces 1 Inch Assorted Pompoms with 100pieces Wiggle Eyes Multicolor Arts and Crafts Pom Poms Balls for Kids DIY Art Creative Crafts Decorations](https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/51J4bxAVK3L._SL160_.jpg)
Size: About 1inch (2.5cm) in diameter
Color: Assorted colors Pom Poms about 300pcs/bag
Let Your Kid Be Creative: The pom poms crafts can be applied to create toy, garland, wreaths gifts, art projects, necklace, camp crafts, decoration, costumes, etc, your kids can create as much as they like
Little Passports
We have started to have Little Passports kids activity boxes on hand for when we are stuck inside or simply need something different to do that is a little more structured but yet allows for free play as well.
You can either sign up for a subscription where you’d get a box of your desired category and age per month or just buy them one at a time. We like having an extra box or two on hand so we are never left without an activity if we run out of ideas on a particular day.
Here are a few blog posts I’ve written about Little Passports kids activity boxes that explain more of what they are. As we get more boxes I’ll be sure to write blog posts about them!
Fun Printables for Kids
Looking for some great activities for indoors that you can print out from your computer or use on your device? Check out my store, full of 30+ printables you’ll love at great prices!!
What are some ideas you’d like to share with others that keep your kids occupied when stuck indoors?
As a mom of identical twins and a son two years older, I have gained invaluable experience in the realm, and chaos, of parenting. With a Master's Degree and Education Specialist Degree in School Psychology, I spent years as a school psychologist, helping children navigate through their educational and emotional challenges. Now as a stay at home mom and professional blogger, I combine my areas of expertise to help you in your parenting journey.