Spring in Texas is my favorite season – the feeling of warm sunshine on my face, beautiful bluebonnets, tulips, and daffodils, and the feeling of renewal! Spring in Texas also means RAIN and plenty of it at the most unpredictable and inconvenient times. Rain or shine, our kiddos need energy-burning activities that keep them active each day, and we, as moms, are the activity gatekeepers.
So what’s a mom to do when her kiddos can’t burn off some energy outside because of rain and she’s not quite ready to venture into indoor playgrounds? Try these 10 indoor, energy-burning activities – they will get your kiddos moving and laughing. The next thing anyone knows, the sun will be shining, and your kiddos can go puddle jumping and frog hunting once again!
Try these Indoor, Energy-Burning Activities
1. Create an Indoor Obstacle Course
Grab some painter’s tape, post-it’s, and a few other household items, and go to town! Create hopscotch with the painter’s tape, followed by a Post-it memory game with fun exercises on it (squats, jumping jacks, high knees, etc.), then tape long pieces of string to opposite sides of a hallway (think laser beams), and end with shooting stuffies into a laundry basket. Don’t forget to use your furniture to your advantage so that your kiddos can crawl under or over it. Need some additional inspiration? Check out this Pinterest search!
2. Have a Scavenger Hunt
You can create a quick and easy scavenger hunt sheet that lists various colors, textures, or even objects that start with a certain letter. For big kids, create clues for a particular object they need to find such as “I’m something you can use to eat and I’m also a split in a road”. If you need additional inspiration or some ready-made clues, head over to this Pinterest search!
3. Play Indoor Volleyball
Blow up a balloon and have your kiddos take turns bumping it back and forth. When the balloon hits the floor, the last person to touch it gets a point. If you’ve got more than two kiddos, consider adding in an extra balloon for more laughs!
4. Anyone for Simon Says?
Simon says hop like a kangaroo! Simon says walk like a crab! Simon says twirl like a ballerina! Skip to the hallway. Oops! Simon didn’t say. Let’s play again! PS – This is also a great game to play when you are waiting for something with your kiddos – waiting in line, at the vet, or at the doctor.
5. Have a Dance Party
Put on your fav jams and bust a move! Not only will dancing get everyone’s heart rate up, but it’s also a bad mood buster. You could even hold a dance contest and have your kiddos demonstrate their best moves to an audience of stuffies.
6. Set-up A Relay Race
Think of this as a timed obstacle course. Start by constructing a simple obstacle course, and don’t forget to have your kiddo(s) help you! Then line them up and have them go through the obstacle course one at a time, tagging the next person when they finish. Make it even more fun and exciting by seeing how many times they can beat their time or by creating some friendly competition between siblings!
7. Hot Lava
Set up pillows, furniture, etc. so your kiddo(s) have a find a way to get from one end of the room (or house) to the other without touching the floor since it’s HOT LAVA!
{Read More: 20 Indoor Crafts and Activities for Kids}
8. Let Your Kids Play in the Garage
One of the best things we did when quarantine hit was turning our garage into a temporary play space. We backed out the cars, swept the floor, and made sure there was nothing the girls could run into or get hurt on. They scooted, they bounced basketballs, they played chase. All the things they would do outside, but couldn’t indoors.
9. Play Twister
Grab some colored construction paper and painters’ tape to set up an easy Twister board! You’ll need four separate colors and a total of six papers per color. Use your painter’s tape to tape down the six pieces of paper of one color in a vertical row. Repeat this process with the second color next to the first color, then the third color next to the second, and the fourth next to the third. Once your board is set up, call out a color and a body part to get your kids twisting and laughing! Don’t forget to play some fun music!
10. Cosmic Kids Yoga
You’re exhausted but your kiddo(s) need to get some wiggles out and have fun. Hop onto Cosmic Kids Yoga and give your kiddo(s) the gift of intentional movement to fun stories. Plus, you’ll get 10-20 minutes all to yourself #winning!
On that next rainy day, when you find your kiddo(s) singing “rain, rain, go away”, pull out one (or more!) of these energy-burning activities for your active kiddos. They will have a blast and you’ll be Queen of the Rainy Day!
