FUN ACTIVITIES AND GAMES FOR

CHILDREN

Make Mind Jars

Typical Mind Jars or “Calm Down Bottles” include glitter and liquid. When shaken or
overturned, the glitter swirls around—not dissimilar from crazy or uncontrollable thoughts.
When angry, anxious or upset, a child can be taught to sit and watch the glitter settle.

For this activity, you’ll need:

 Small Jars or Plastic Water Bottles

 Glitter Glue
 Food Coloring
 Hot Water
 Glitter and/or sequins (optional)

Procedure:

Mix about 1 tablespoon of glitter glue with 1 cup of warm water. Use a bit more if your jars are
larger. If you’d like, add food coloring and extra glitter to make it even more colorful and
sparkly. Fill the bottle the rest of the way with warm (or even hot water). The warmer the water,
the better the glitter will dissolve without clumps. Don’t forget to hot glue the tops on the bottles
to prevent spills.
 Paint for Relaxation
Creating artwork can be both relaxing, and therapeutic. Invite children to paint/draw
designs or pictures of things that makes them happy or calm. This can be accomplished during a
school-based therapy session, and/or you can encourage children to engage in artistic activity at
home. Children who are engrossed in an art project may be more open to sharing their innermost
feelings and struggles.By allowing conversation to flow in a low-pressure atmosphere, those in
therapy jobs can foster a non-judgmental environment where students can feel comfortable
talking as they express themselves through art.

DEN OR CAVE BUILDING

Children’s imaginations go wild with this activity. From planning the build - what will
they use to make their den? Can they gather the materials themselves? - to playing inside of it,
each step is an absolute pleasure. Hopefully they’ll be inspired to come up with exciting, fun-
filled role play, or simply enjoy a change the scene and play with their toys ‘hidden away’ in
their cave.

The easiest way to create a stable den is through using a blanket or bed sheet and cover a table or
some other furniture moved together. You can create quite a spacious den using four chairs
arranged in a square with the blanket placed over the back rests. Add few cushions added into the
cave and your kids will have a great time for sure.
 A HOUSEBOUND TREASURE HUNT
Create a map of your home and hide small items around it. Mark each piece of hidden treasure
on the map. Explain the map to your little one and offer your support for the hunting game in
case they need it.

If your kids are older you can use word cards describing a place where you have hidden an item.
For example: “I am cold and make a ‘bing bing’ noise if left open”. The answer is the fridge, of
course. Or possibly an emergency escape hatch. Kids love this combination of a quiz and hunt.
It’s hard not to get in on the fun, too.

Even once they’ve found all the treasure, why not get them to organise their own hunt? They can
draw their own map or come up with their own cryptic questions to send you on a great search.

Create a Gratitude Box

What you’ll need:

 An empty tissue box

 Paper
 Decorating items (e.g. stickers, white labels, colorful markers, patterned duct tape)

Have the children affix a label saying “Gratitude Box,” “Why I’m Grateful” or similar label.
They can decorate the label with colored markers and/or place and decorate other plain white
labels on the box. Stickers and patterned duct tape (there are even variations at craft stores with
penguins!) are a nice touch that will help each child personalize his or her box.

The idea is for the child to write on a small piece of paper something for which they are grateful.
This can be whatever is relevant or important to the child. This will help them to appreciate their
present situation, and reduce anxiety.
 LIFE SIZE DRAWINGS
Stick a load of A4 sheets of paper together (or if you have a big paper roll even better!) and place
it on the floor. Encourage the kids to lie down on it and outline their body with a pen. From this
moment on there is no way to stop the kids getting creative: colour in, add accessories to the
figures like stickers or stamps, design clothes with old material offcuts or other things you might
find in the art drawer. The kids will have lots of fun with the real-size copies and you may have
something really special to decorate the their bedroom wall afterwards.

KIDS INDOOR GYM

Transform your living room into a kid’s gym and create some fun and age-appropriate sports
stations. You can put a trail of paper sheets on the floor which the kids have to walk over without
touching anything else but the paper. Time jumping on the spot, which can be made more
difficult for older kids (maybe they have to spin around while jumping).

A planking station is great fun as well. If you have a soft carpet or mattress you can try some
somersaults with them if they are old enough (take care that they don’t hurt their neck!). Any
other kind of gymnastic exercise which is performed only with their own body weight is great.

To make it more competitive you can use the stopwatch to time the duration of each exercise.
But make sure to stick to age-appropriate durations. It’s about the fun and switching back and
forth between the stations rather than aiming for the next world record.

Even more fun is it when mummy and daddy join in the kids gym activity and afterwards you all
deserve a special treat!
 A ROADWAY CREATED ACROSS THE HOUSE
WITH INSULATION TAPE
Play mats are great fun for kids. They give them a great setting to get imaginative with their toys.
But what if you created your own one? You could grab some tape and make roads all over the
carpet. Think about how they will connect up, where they will lead to, and what sights you might
need to add along the way. You could also use the same technique with the life size art portraits
and draw your own scene on a ginormous piece of paper. Talk about what amenities the newly
created community might need, and what toys are going to live there.

Blow Bubbles

To help children learn deep breathing techniques and experience the benefits, use bubbles! Deep
breathing can be universally helpful for reducing anxiety. Author Therese J. Borchard says, “The
practice of deep breathing stimulates our parasympathetic nervous system (PNS), responsible for
activities that occur when our body is at rest. It functions in an opposite manner to the
sympathetic nervous system, which stimulates activities associated with the fight-or-flight
response.”

Demonstrate first and then have children use bubbles while focusing on how they breathe to
create a big bubble. Remember to highlight how doing so impacts their body, and how it can
train the body to feel relaxed (rather than worried or nervous.) Encourage children to practice
their deep breathing skills – even when they don’t have the bubbles on hand!

AN INDOOR FASHION SHOW

Get your favorite clothes, dress ups or even mummy's clothes out and strike a pose!
 Magical Mama (or Papa)
Be your kids’ very own Harry Houdini—without the locks, chains and water tanks, of course.
Simply place a coin under one of three cups and shuffle the cups around. Then ask your children
to guess which cup holds the coin. Sneaky parents can place the cups near the edge of a table and
secretly drop the coin. Watch your tots’ eyes light up in amazement when they learn the coin is
gone!

Puzzles
Exercise those creative, cognitive and problem-solving muscles with a good puzzle. You can use
a store-bought variety or have the kids make their own. Have your children draw a picture on a
sturdy piece of cardboard or Bristol board. Then use a pencil to outline puzzle pieces directly on
their drawing. Cut out the pieces with a good pair of scissors, mix them up and get solving.
Indoor games and craft in one fun activity!

Freeze!
Choose some of your kids’ favourite tunes and turn up the volume. Ask them to dance until the
music stops. When it does, they have to freeze in whatever position they find themselves in –
even if they have one leg up. To make the game more challenging, ask the kids to freeze in
specific poses: animals, shapes, letters or even yoga postures. Toddlers in particular love this
game.

Paper-bag skits
This indoor game is ideal for larger groups — a sleepover favourite. Divide the kids up into
groups. Give each group a bag filled with props, such as a spoon, toy jewelry, a sock, ball or
ribbon. Then give them 15 minutes to construct a skit around the props. This game is so much
fun that it doesn’t have to be competitive. If the kids want, though, they can all vote on a winning
skit.
 Indoor hopscotch
This schoolyard favourite is sure to be an indoor hit, too. Set up your hopscotch game on
any floor surface. Masking tape will do perfectly to form the nine connecting squares. Boxes 1-3
will be placed in a single line, one on top of the other. The next two boxes (4, 5) will be placed
side-by-side, followed by a single box (6), two more boxes (7, 8) and the final half-circle “home”
base (9). Next, choose a marker, such as a coin, stone or beanbag. The first player will throw the
marker into square 1 without letting it bounce or touch the lines. If successful, the player will
then hop — one foot on single squares and two feet on side-by-side squares — avoiding square
#1. The player may rest on “home” before hopping back. On the way back, he or she picks up the
marker on square #1 and, if successful (lands within the lines, hops or jumps with proper footing,
doesn’t fall), takes another turn and throws it into square #2. When the player is unsuccessful,
the next player takes a turn. Players resume their turns by throwing the marker on the last box
played. The winner is the first player to throw the marker home (#9), and smoothly complete the
whole course.

Hide and Seek

No list of indoor games would be complete without Hide and Seek, now would it? In this
classic game, one person (“It”) covers his or her eyes and counts aloud while the other players
hide. When “It” is finished counting, he or she begins looking for the hiders. The last hider to be
found is the next “It.” Warning: this game is often a source of giggle fits. Families with older
children might want to take things up a notch and play Hide and Seek in the dark. Just to be safe,
make sure there are no loose items on the floor. If you want, allow “It” to carry a flashlight or
turn the lights on once “It” finishes counting.

Indoor bowling
A great way to reuse water bottles (or you can purchase an indoor bowling set). Line six-
10 water bottles up at the end of your hall or living room. Place a line of duct tape at the starting
line. Grab a medium-sized indoor ball and start bowling! If you want, keep score and give out
trophies at the end. (Note: if you need to stabilize the water bottles or make the game more
difficult, simply fill them up with some water. Don’t forget to screw the tops on tightly!)
 Hot Potato
This game will have everyone giggling. Ask the kids to sit on the floor in a circle. Turn
on some tunes and have them pass the potato (a bean bag or soft ball) around the circle as fast as
they can. When the music stops, the player holding the potato leaves the circle. Keep going until
only one player is left and wins the game.

Picnic memory game

Former preschool director and grandmother of three, Marsha Colla, has some innovative
games up her sleeve, including this fun and simple verbal memory game, which, Colla says,
“challenges the children and makes them giggle.” To play, everyone sits in a circle. The first
player says, “In my basket for the picnic, I packed…,” and then says what item he or she packed.
The next player then says, “In my basket for the picnic, I packed…,” and then recites what the
first player packed and adds his or her own item to the basket, and so forth.

Picnic memory game

Former preschool director and grandmother of three, Marsha Colla, has some innovative
games up her sleeve, including this fun and simple verbal memory game, which, Colla says,
“challenges the children and makes them giggle.” To play, everyone sits in a circle. The first
player says, “In my basket for the picnic, I packed…,” and then says what item he or she packed.
The next player then says, “In my basket for the picnic, I packed…,” and then recites what the
first player packed and adds his or her own item to the basket, and so forth.

Touch-and-feel box
Most preschoolers flock to the classroom sensory table as soon as the teachers pull it out.
So there is little doubt they will love this entertaining challenge. Find a shoe box or any box that
has a lid on it. Cut a hole in one of the sides of the box —large enough for your child to fit her
hand in. If you want, get creative and decorate the box with glitter and question marks. When
you’re ready to play, put an item inside the box and have your children guess what it is. They can
ask questions about the item if they need to, or you can offer clues. Get as ooey-gooey as you
wish (fresh pumpkin seeds or slimy spaghetti are great choices for Halloween), or use such
simple objects as a brush, a toy, a piece of fruit. To make it competitive, you can give a point to
the first child to name the object.
 Simon Says
This traditional favourite will never get old. To start, choose one player (probably a
parent for the first round) to be Simon. The rest of the players will gather in a circle or line in
front of Simon as he calls out actions starting with the phrase “Simon says”: “Simon says…touch
your toes.” The players then have to copy Simon’s action, touching their toes. If Simon calls out
an action without uttering the phrase “Simon says,” the kids must not do the action. If a child
touches his toes when Simon didn’t say…, he or she is out of the game. There are lots of great
ways Simon can trick players into doing actions when Simon didn’t say: Simon can perform an
action without uttering a command, for example, or he can perform an action that doesn’t
correspond with the command. Fun! The last player left in the game wins and becomes the next
Simon.

Indoor basketball
You can’t be too little for this version of basketball. All you need is a bucket and a rolled
up sock (or a small, light ball). Each player takes a turn at throwing the sock-ball into the bucket.
When a player scores a bucket, he or she takes a step back and throws again until missing. The
player who shoots the ball in the bucket from the farthest distance wins.

Skipping
Number of players

Three or more

How to play

Two players hold the ends of the rope and turn it while the other players take turns
jumping over it in time to a favourite tune. Click here to find a few of our favourite classic
skipping songs.
 Freeze Tag
How to play:

1. Determine which child will be “it” (a.k.a. the kid who runs around tagging people)

2. Decide which areas are out-of-bounds. This will provide a contained space for the kids
to play in.

3. The “it” child closes her eyes and counts to 10. During this time, the other children run
and hide.

4. Once she’s finished counting, she opens her eyes and runs around trying to find and tag
other kids.

5. To tag someone, the “it” child must touch a player’s arm, shoulder or back. Children
can move around as they are being chased to avoid being tagged. Once the “it” child tags a
player, that player must stand with their feet apart as if “frozen” in place.

6. To become unfrozen, another player must crawl under the frozen child’s legs without
being tagged.

7. The game comes to an end when everyone is frozen. The last person to get tagged
becomes the next “it” child.

What Time is it, Mr. Wolf?

How to play:

1. Determine which child will be Mr. Wolf.

2. Mr. Wolf stands at one end of the yard with his back turned to the kids. The other
children stand in a line at the opposite end of the yard facing Mr. Wolf’s back.

3. Together, the kids loudly chant, “What time is it, Mr Wolf?”

4. Mr. Wolf answers with different times, for example, “It’s two o’clock!” The kids take
a step for every hour that Mr. Wolf exclaims. For two o’clock, the kids take two steps toward
Mr. Wolf’s back. For eight o’clock, the kids take eight steps. The kids can determine whether
they take small or large steps.
 5. As the kids take their steps, they repeat the chant asking again, “What time it is, Mr.
Wolf?” He shouts out another time and the kids take the appropriate number of steps.

6. Eventually, Mr. Wolf yells out, “lunchtime!” When this happens, Mr. Wolf turns
around and chases the children who have been approaching him. Any children who are tagged
must continue the game as “wolves.” Any children who run back to the starting line (without
being tagged) get to continue playing.

7. The new wolves join Mr. Wolf and also take part in the chase when “lunchtime” is
called out.

8. The last player to be tagged is the new Mr. Wolf. The game begins again.

Mess around with doodling

Doodling isn’t just for the back of notebooks. If you’ve got plenty of scrap paper lying
around the house, doodling is one of the best creative uses for it. Get your kids out of their shells
and put their ideas and thoughts down on paper with some fun afternoon doodling.

Teach them cross-stitch

Cross stitch is enjoying a new lease of life and is a great way to get kids involved in arts
and craft. You can get special kits designed for younger children, so they won’t hurt themselves
on the needles and the pattern will be easier to follow

Write a story
Use your imaginations and write a story together. It doesn’t have to be original, the kids
could write down their favourite fairy tale and just change the ending if they feel like it. Another
great idea is to write chain stories with friends. Each person writes a paragraph and then shows
the final line only to the next writer. Once the final person has written their section, read the
whole story out loud – it’s usually pretty funny! For more inspiration take a look at story starters,
which provide lots of creative writing prompts for children.
 Make a family tree
How much do your kids know about their family? Do they know anything about your parents’
parents? Not only is drawing family trees fun, but it also one of our favourite things to do with
kids to teach them a bit about history. You may unearth some really interesting stories about
your own family that you never knew.
 REFERENCES:

https://www.todaysparent.com/toddler/20-fun-indoor-games/

https://www.todaysparent.com/family/activities/fun-old-fashioned-games-and-rules/

https://www.momjunction.com/articles/fun-and-interesting-activities-for-your-
kid_00103444/

https://www.toucanbox.com/activities/fun-things-to-do-at-home-with-your-kids

https://www.todaysparent.com/family/activities/the-top-family-games/

https://www.goodtoknow.co.uk/family/things-to-do-with-kids-66855