15 Cheap & Easy Indoor Activities for Energetic Children

Cold weather lasts for a long time in the Midwest. Usually from October – April we can expect blustery, rainy, icy, snowy or just plain freezing weather. Even though we do get a ton of sunshine out here in the winter, it’s still really cold. My kids have never been outdoorsy kind of kids in the winter. They get excited when there is a big snow storm or fresh rain puddles and they bundle up and go adventuring in the backyard for a total of…10 minutes before they come hurrying back inside. They don’t like the cold and I don’t either.

That means we have at least 6 months a year where they are cooped up inside and usually staying at home with the cabin fever rising fast. So here are some of the cheap and easy indoor activities I’ve found over the last few years that have helped to ease the heat of the dreaded cabin fever. Most of these involve easy setup and cleanup, include items and toys we already have around the house, (save for a few crafts items) and they entertain my energy filled children! Note that since I have only daughters, some of these activities are probably more suited to little girls.

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Blanket Tents

Supplies needed:

• Blankets and a place to drape them
• Other blankets and pillows to cuddle with inside
• An open space with minimal in and out traffic

Indoor Picnic

Supplies needed:

• • • Picnic Blanket
    • Toy Basket and dish cloth to cover the basket

• • Snacks and sandwiches wrapped in napkins
  • Drink cups

Beauty Parlor

Supplies needed:

• • • Hair brush
    • Mirror
    • Hair ties, bobby pins, bows
    • Play earrings

• • • Mommy’s jewelry
    • Nail polish for kids

• • Willing clients

Cooking Together

Supplies needed:

• A hands-on recipe, try this monkey bread recipe for fun with dough
• Ingredients
• A step stool
• Wooden spoons for little hands to use
• Patience

Picture and Video Selfies

Supplies needed:

• Cell phone
• Sing along Spotify playlists for singing home videos
• Our current favorites are the soundtracks from the Trolls movie and the Moana movie
• Also the Snapchat filters are fun to play on with kids

Cardboard Dolls Houses

Supplies needed:

• Cardboard Boxes
• Scissors
• Dollhouse people and furniture
• Scrapbook paper and stickers to decorate the interior

Indoor Snow

Supplied needed:

• A plastic container
• Measuring Cups and spoons
• Snow from outside (if there is no snow you can do this with rice, beans, cereal or water beads.
• Plastic tablecloth

Floor Mazes

Supplies needed:

• • • Small toy pieces that can be placed end to end
    • We use Magna Tiles

• • Or memory card game pieces
  • Masking Tape
• Let your kids get creative with making mazes, roads and “train tracks” on the floor

Puff Ball Sorting

Supplies needed:

• • • Puff ball pom poms

• • Kitchen tongs
  • Muffin tin
  • Small boxes or other containers
    

    Dress Up

Supplies needed:

• • Dress up clothes
  • For Girls:

• • For Boys:

Colored Rice

Supplies needed:

• Uncooked white rice
• Food coloring to make the different colors (let it dry before using)
• Kitchen bowls, pans, measuring cups, ice cream scoop
• Plastic Tablecloth
  

  Winter Gear

   Supplies needed:

• Winter coats, mittens and boots
• Toy figurines and dolls to put in them for pretend play
• A good imagination
  

  

  Cutting With Scissors

Supplies needed:

• • Kid-friendly scissors

• Paper or Cutting Practice Printables
• Thin Ribbon
• Trash can to clean up the tiny pieces of paper on the floor
  

  

  Letter  and Color Recognition

Supplied needed:

• • • Fridge space
    • Alphabet Magnets

• • Construction paper
  • Finger paint to practice letters (favorite letters around here are “H” and “S”

Button Names

Supplied needed:

• • Construction paper
  • Modge Podge or some other craft glue
  • Paint Brushes
  • Assorted Buttons

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“Finally, brothers and sisters, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable—if anything is excellent or praiseworthy—think about such things.” Philippians 4:8