Top 10 Indoor Physical Activities for Kids to Burn Energy

When you have little kids at home, it’s always a good idea to spend as much time outside as possible. But no matter where you live, the weather isn’t always conducive to comfortably being outdoors.

Whether it’s pouring rain, blizzard-like conditions, or just too hot to bear, it’s important to have some indoor activities for kids up your sleeve. And even when the weather’s beautiful, more often than not, you’ll still be spending part of your day inside – so why not make your time inside extra enjoyable and memorable?

Indoor Activities for Toddlers and Kids

The fun indoor kids’ activities below are sure to engage your little ones while also getting them moving and burning up some energy. Whether you have toddlers or older children, you’re sure to find something your kids will love!

1. Parachute

This one is fun for the entire family! Get a bedsheet and have everyone hold a side while quickly moving their arms up and down. Add to the fun by putting some small balls or balloons on top and see how fast you can work together to knock them all off.

2. Target Practice

Set up some targets (empty water bottles work well) that your kids can try to knock over by throwing soft objects, such as small stuffed animals, softballs or evenbath squirt toys, from a starting line at a distance from the target (make the starting line an appropriate distance that’s challenging but not too difficult or easy for your child’s age). Kids will get plenty of exercise going back and forth retrieving their objects and setting the targets back up.

3. Snowball Fight

Your kids are sure to get excited about having an indoor “snowball” fight. You can easily create your own snowballs by crinkling up pieces of paper or using rolled-up socks. Make a fort for each side to take cover in between throws.

4. ABC Exercise Cards

These printable alphabet exercise cards provide a physical task for each letter of the alphabet. Download them and then pick cards randomly for your kids to do or have your kids do all the cards that make up their name or a favorite word.

This activity provides the perfect combination of fun and learning! Don’t be afraid to join in on the fun with your kids to squeeze some exercise into your day.

5. Egg ‘n’ Spoon Race

Give your child a spoon with any small round object that will fit on top of it, such as a small bouncy ball or a grape – if you dare you can even go ahead and use a real egg (this is probably best if your floors are easy to clean!).

Create a course for your child to navigate through while holding the spoon with the “egg” and see if they can do it without the object falling off the spoon. Have them start out slowly and, as they get better, they can increase their speed for more of a challenge.

6. Indoor Obstacle Course

Obstacle courses always prove to be a blast and setting up an indoor one is sure to be a hit with your kids. The key is to spread the course over a large area and include variety with activities such as jumping, balancing, crawling, rolling, hopping and more. You can have them jump through hula hoops, hop between pillows on the floor, crawl under tables…you get the idea! And, since making the course is fun in and of itself, let your kids join in on designing it!

7. Dance Party

Play some energetic music and have a dance party. If your family loves some fun competition, have a dance-off and take turns showing off your best moves to see who wins. You can even include different categories, such as coolest move, most unique move, funniest move, etc.

8. Hide-and-Seek

Hide and seek never gets old and it’s just as fun to play inside as it is outside – maybe even more fun! You can easily make this game more active by having your kids hide on a different level of your house each round or having the person who is found do some jumping jacks or push-ups.

9. Bowling

Use painter’s tape or washi tape to set up your bowling “lane” and use plastic bottles or cups for the bowling “pins”. Line the pins up in traditional bowling fashion or create a pyramid and have your kids try to knock down as many as possible by rolling a softball.

10.  “Potato Sack” Race

Potato sack races are a popular field day activity and a fun game for family gatherings. Take this classic race indoors by having each kid step into a pillowcase and hold it up around their waist. Set up a start line and a finish line and have them race by hopping to see who can get to the finish the fastest.

Your kids are sure to have a blast while doing these fun activities and burning energy. For even more great ideas to get your kids active, check out our“Fun Ways to Sneak More Exercise in With Your Kids” post.