These fun activities for kids at home will surely keep your little ones occupied for hours. Every parent knows what it’s like when the kids are simply raring to get outside. But when it’s stormy out and the family needs to stay in, what’s there to do? These fun things to do with your kids are inexpensive, quick, and loads of fun. They include puzzles, games, and crafts for kids to make at home. With so many activities, they won’t even notice the time pass!
25 Fun Activities for Kids at Home During Winter
1. Pop Bottle Bowling
Make pop bottle bowling more fun and colorful by replacing the bottle content with colored water. Take turns with your kids knocking them down by rolling a ball and keep score (just like a regular bowling!). Here’s a tutorial for making your own pop bottle bowling set.
2. Mystery Sensory Box
Decorate an empty box and fill it with ‘secret’ items. Invite your kids to reach inside, feel the mystery item, and then take turns guessing what it might be. You can make it more exciting by choosing items with different textures! Simple tutorial here.
3. Cereal Box Puzzles
Puzzles are a great way for young kids to develop their fine motor skills. There’s no need to buy a set from the store–their favorite cereal boxes work just as well! It’s a fun activity for lazy weekend mornings. Learn how to make them here!
4. Glitter Slime
This list of fun activities at home for kids won’t be complete without a little glitter slime. It’s gooey, sparkly, and so easy to make. You can even add google-y eyes to make glitter slime monsters. Instructions here.
5. Funny Face Flipbook
Here’s an activity that teaches kids about facial expressions. They’ll spend hours drawing funny faces, too! You can use different materials, like pipe cleaners, google-y eyes, paint and markers. The possibilities are endless! Tutorial here.
6. Shark Cootie Catcher
Get your kids into basic origami! Apart from looking just so cute, origami improves hand-eye coordination and teaches patience. This tutorial comes with a template that you can easily print out. Click here for instructions.
7. Dream Catchers
Here’s an activity that’ll let their imagination roam wild. Add a burst of color to dreary winter days with homemade dream catchers! You can use washi tape, beads, strings, or pretty much any material your kids can get their hands on. Here’s how to make one.
8. Hedgehog Pop-Up Card
Who doesn’t love hedgehogs? Make greeting cards extra special with a pop-up surprise. It’s easier than you think. Once you’ve mastered the hedgehog, kids can experiment with other animals, too! Here’s how.
9. Spiderweb Art
Nothing will keep kids busier than art. Teach them this clever spiderweb trick, and they’ll be entertained for hours! These works of art will be treasures to keep for a lifetime. Check out the tutorial here.
10. Homemade Dolls
Your little ones will be captivated with imaginative play for hours with these homemade dolls. Let their creativity run wild by giving them an assortment of materials, such as markers, paint, fabric, and paper. Tutorial here.
11. Fizzy Colors Experiment
The curiosity of children is insatiable. Add some science into their indoor activities and let them have fun experimenting. Check out this simple but awe-inducing fizzy baking soda experiment.
12. Treasure Stones
Kids will love running around the house looking for hidden treasures. The treasure can be something silly like a small toy. The kids will have tons of fun making the baked stones as well! Here’s how to make them.
13. Fortress Building
This fort needs some planning ahead, but the end result is amazing! It uses roller shades and a table that your kids can fit under. Kids can help design the fort using markers, or whatever coloring materials catch their fancy. Check it out here!
14. Hot Chocolate Math…with Marshmallows!
Fun activities for kids at home can be educational, too! Get your kids to flex their arithmetic skills with this challenging but delicious math game. It’s the perfect game while sipping on real cups of chocolate! Click here to see how this game works.
15. Cardboard Box Race Track
Get the kids busy with their toy cars by making this ramp out of a cardboard box, duct tape, and some hot glue. This DIY ramp is sure to give your little tykes hours of fun! Here’s how to make one.
16. Alphabet Sift & Find
Got alphabet magnets at home? Turn them into an engaging literacy activity! Just use cornmeal or cornflour for the “sand.” You can add a few small toys in, too, just to add some variety. Find out more about this activity here.
17. Easy Shapes Collage
Shape collages are one of the most fun activities for kids at home. Kill time with your kids with this open-ended, no pressure art project. Get busy cutting the shapes while your kids make a collage out of it. Click here for more info.
18. Indoor Hopscotch
Who says learning about numbers can’t be fun? With just cardboard and paint, you can make an indoor hopscotch set! While this activity is best played on a carpeted floor, you can add puffy paint at the back of the cardboard sheets to make them slip-proof against wood or tile. For more tips and info on this game, check out this tutorial.
19. Cloud Dough
This activity just makes use of three ingredients–flour, oil, and chalk! Kids will have loads of fun forming their favorite shapes and patterns with the dough. Cookie cutters let them make all kinds of crazy shapes. See the recipe here.
20. Balloon Tennis
Every parent knows how restless kids can get when they’re cooped up inside. This activity is simple to learn, easy to make, and super fun! The little athletes are sure to get competitive with this one. They’re also sure to enjoy coloring their rackets. Instructions here.
21. ABC Blocks
Keep toddlers entertained with DIY colorful building blocks. You can customize them any way you like–or ask older brothers and sisters to help out! Make your own building blocks with this tutorial.
22. Shape Hopscotch
Are the kids tired of playing hopscotch? Add a little twist to the game with this colorful shape hopscotch. It also doubles as a lesson on shapes and colors for the little ones! Tutorial here.
23. Foosball Table
Foosball tables are typically huge, bulky pieces of furniture that are way too big for smaller kids. Why not make your own at home? Kids would definitely love putting it together, and they’re sure to get crazy competitive once the game begins. Tutorial here.
24. Woodland Friends
Want to teach kids about recycling? Show them how with this quick, easy craft! Toilet paper cores are used to create the body of these cute woodland friends. They look absolutely adorable lined up together on a shelf. Tutorial here.
25. Wooden Catapult
The truth of the matter is that kids love to see objects fly through the air. And when something is thrown using a cool mechanism–well, that just raises the fun even more. That’s why this DIY catapult is sure to be a hit. Check out this tutorial for a DIY catapult. Bombs away!
Want to see more ideas? Check out these colorful crafts for kids in this video:
The chilly winter season can certainly feel like a bummer for kids. When winter storms hit, it can seem like there’s nothing to do but wait around for spring. However, with a few materials and a little spark of creativity, a dull winter day can become filled with treasured experiences. These fun activities for kids at home not only add excitement to a chilly day, but also teach kids lessons on shapes, colors, and so much more. Who knows? Maybe they’ll even look forward to winter days from now on!
Do you have a favorite indoor activity for kids? Share it with us in the comments section below.
Up next: Rainy Day Activities | 32 Fun Things For You And Your Kids To Do Indoors
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Editor’s Note: This post was originally published in December 2014 and has been updated for quality and relevancy.
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