When the weather outside isn’t cooperating, there’s still tons of fun to be had indoors! Enjoy these tips from our "play makers" and blogger friends from around the web. Take note of the icons next to each activity — they’ll give you an idea of some of the key skills that each game and/or activity can help your child develop!
Board Games
Perfect for a couple of friends or a group. Fill a few minutes or an afternoon. With so many choices available, it’s impossible to be bored playing a board game!
Cognitive Abilities
Emotional Skills
Card Making
Keep a treasure box of fun materials, like construction paper, family photos, magazine pages, markers and crayons, stencils, stickers, feathers, glitter, even recycled greeting cards so you can make a homemade card for every special occasion (or just for fun)!
Communication Skills
Creativity & Imagination
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Emotional Skills
Charades
Without speaking, act out a word or phrase that others can guess. Whoever guesses correctly then begins his or her turn.
Make up your own rules or use these as a guide: Have every player write down on slips of paper names of TV shows, movies, songs and books. Or, you can also come up with a general theme, like animal charades. Mix the slips of paper together in a hat. When it’s your turn, select one to act out.
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Communication Skills
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Creativity & Imagination
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Emotional Skills
Social Skills
Dolls & Action Figures
Dolls and action figures can be a great source of imaginative fun! To amp up the entertainment, have the kids create an environment for the toys, like a doll house or secret headquarters, to set the scene for whatever scenarios the kids dream up.
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Communication Skills
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Creativity & Imagination
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Emotional Skills
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Social Skills
Dress-up
Gather funky old clothes, fun costumes and colorful accessories like hats, vests, shoes and purses for your kids to play dress-up with! Prepare yourself for some whacky outfits.
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Creativity & Imagination
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Emotional Skills
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Social Skills
Favorite Letter Book
Ask your child what his/her favorite letter is and together, brainstorm words that begin with that letter. Using construction paper, magazines, scissors, glue, a hole-puncher and string, make a book all about that favorite letter! You can include cutouts of the letter itself, written words that begin with that letter, or pictures of things, people and places that start with the letter.
*From SesameStreet.org
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Communication Skills
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Creativity & Imagination
Fort Building
Tell the kids what furniture and linens from around the house they can use to build forts, caves and playhouses. Making the fort is fun enough, but once it’s done, it can be the perfect space for imaginary play!
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Cognitive Abilities
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Creativity & Imagination
Physical Skills
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Social Skills
Ice Painting
By adding different color food coloring to water in ice cube trays, sticking a popsicle handle into each cube and freezing them, you can make ice brushes! Just brush the ice cubes over thick paper, and voila! A fun new spin on painting.
*From British Toy and Hobby Association
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Cognitive Abilities
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Creativity & Imagination
Paper Airplanes
Find some paper, and get folding! Critical thinking comes into play as kids design and test their planes. Who knows what imaginary worlds those planes will travel to.
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Cognitive Abilities
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Creativity & Imagination
Puppet Making
Fabric, string, socks, popsicle sticks, paper plates, spoons, badminton racquets ... nearly anything can be used to make a puppet! The fun is in both the making of and the playing with the puppets.
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Cognitive Abilities
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Creativity & Imagination
Rockin' Recyclables
Making instruments out of household recyclables is easy! Just fill a paper towel tube with uncooked rice, popcorn kernels or dry beans, and secure each end with wax paper and rubber bands or glue. Decorate, shake, and enjoy!
*From SesameStreet.org.
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Creativity & Imagination
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Emotional Skills
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Physical Skills
Self Portraits
Use paints, crayons, markers, collage ... even let your kids take self portrait photos! This activity not only brings out kids’ artistic talents, but lets them express how they view themselves. For a fun twist, ask the kids to make a portrait of their “spirit animals"!
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Creativity & Imagination
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Emotional Skills