It can be challenging to find indoor activities that will get your children’s bodies moving and avoid boredom when it is rainy or chilly outside.
Whether you are trying to work from home, need to get some things done around the house or want to take part in some activities with your kiddos but are running out of ideas, here is our list of educational boredom busters that will keep your kids’ minds and bodies active.
Boredom Buster 1. Pillowcase Race
Nothing like a good old-fashioned sack race to put boredom off and get the blood flowing! Bump up the education factor by getting them to race to papers with number, letters or colours written on them.
Boredom Buster 2. Tape Track
In your largest tile or concrete floored room, put down some painters’ tape as a maze or racetrack. Get them to use their brains by making parking stalls or corners of the maze with letters, numbers or colours in them and telling them to find their way to the number 3 or park the blue car in stall A.
Boredom Buster 3. Scoop & Strut
Put a ball on a spoon, measuring cup or cup and walk, skip or crawl to the other side of the room to place it in the correct colour-coded basket or bowl. This one is great because depending on the size of the ball and vessel you use, the difficulty can be easily altered for different ages and abilities.
4. Tot Toss
Throw bean bags into bin with corresponding colours, numbers or letters. “Throw a pink bean bag into bin 2!” Add a bit of competition by bringing out the timer on your phone and seeing who can throw all of their bean bags in the bin the fastest.
5. Action Alphabet
Write letters (or numbers or colours) on some papers, place them around the room and the possibilities are endless! Dance to the letter A, hop to green, twirl to the number 4.
6. Erupt in Laughter
If you have a few pantry staples (baking soda, vinegar and food colouring), you can create an exciting erupting volcano that will have your kids asking you to do it again and again. You can find easy tutorials online that can help you explain why this chemical reaction happens.
7. Hands On
Work together to trace the parts of your child’s body on separate pieces of paper and then put them together like a giant human puzzle. Get them to label all of the pieces for a built-in biology and printing lesson.
8. Glitter Globe
Put water, food colouring and sparkles in a jar or resealable bag (tape or glue the lid/seal shut). Let your kid shake and twirl it for tons of fun! (You can also add small plastic toys that will peek out of the colour and sparkles).
9. Pillow Pile
Find every pillow and cushion in your house, line them up on the floor—that’s it! Kids love to make paths, forts, slides and pretty much anything else their imaginations can come up with out of pillows and blankets.
10. Pop Up
Bubbles don’t have to be used outdoors and if your kids aren’t used to blowing them inside, it’s even more fun! Have them catch bubbles in different sized, shaped and coloured containers for added education value.
