With the cold and wet weather I’ve been on a mission to find indoor ways to keep my kids active, develop their gross motor skills and let’s face it..preserve my sanity by letting them burn off energy before bed.
Don’t get me wrong I love going for walks and getting fresh air (see my posts on my Wildlife Scrapbook and how fresh air can help when Managing Routines.. ) but there have been a few days recently when I’ve needed to find some indoor alternatives too.
And as much as I enjoy craft activities (see my kids craft ideas here) sometimes the kids need and WANT to be running around!
Here are my 7 favourite ideas:
- Stepping Stones– using books or cushions/pieces of paper (if books are too slippy) we make stepping stones from the sofa to the chair. The kids then have to go on a mission across the ‘lake’ (aka the rug) from the mainland (aka the sofa) to visit the island (aka the chair) This has genuinely occupied both my 3 and 1 year old for a good half an hour! We’ve also upped our game and had music playing and told them to get to the island before the music stops, we’ve also introduced ‘crocodiles’ into the lake (aka me!)
- Obstacle Courses– taking into account their physical capabilities (and safety) we’ve made some great obstacle courses in the lounge to help them burn off some energy. Usually using cushions they have to crawl under, cones to go round etc.
- Den Building– Most kids LOVE dens and whilst playing in a den isn’t a very active activity, making them certainly is! It also requires other skills such as problem solving and communication.
- ‘Toddler Boot Camp‘ – not quite a boot camp (no press ups or crunches- fear not!), but just a little keep fit class. My kids love this. We put music on and ask them to follow our instructions like ‘stretch up to the sky’, ‘touch your toes’ and ‘jump’.
- Dancing– perhaps the easiest one, just play music and dance. Even better if you can play action songs that they know like ‘wind the bobbin up’ and ‘wheels on the bus’. We’ve been using our Amazon Echo
for this
for this 
- Hide and Seek – There’s nothing as funny as watching young children learn hide and seek! They hide in the same places and find it unbelievably funny when they are found. Great game for practising counting and taking turns too.
- Treasure Hunts– requires a little bit more preparation than the others, but as a result can keep them entertained for longer. Hide the ‘treasure’ either in one place or even better several treasures and clues around the house.
What active indoor activities do you do with your kids to help develop gross motor skills? Write in the comments below!
#ablogginggoodtime
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Categories: gross motor, Parenting Advice, special educational needs, Uncategorized
The SEN Resources Blog 
We dance and build forts all the time. These are some lovely tips! Thanks for sharing with #TriumphantTales 🙂
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Thanks for the comment- really appreciate it. Nice to hear of others enjoying indoor active activities
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My little boy loves dancing, so we dance and make lots of noise on our musical instruments all the time and then to round it off, he pretends to cook me a meal and a pot of coffee with ice cream! #DreamTeam
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Sounds so cute! If only it was real coffee and ice cream! Thanks for the comment
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These are all brilliant activities, and I remember having so much fun as a child, making obstacle courses, building dens, etc. Though I might be more excited than Penguin about doing these, to be honest 😂 x
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Haha! Well I hope you and penguin enjoy them! We are currently dancing at the moment to ba ba black sheep 🐑
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I love all these ideas, I love building dens. We also love playing the floor is lava. Thanks for sharing with us on #ablogginggoodtime
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Thank you, often the simple indoor games are the best aren’t they! Sparks the imagination
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My girls love a little ‘boot camp’ too! We all end up in fits of giggles! Thanks so much for sharing with #Blogstravaganza xx
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Aww sounds very cute! It’s amazing how much they enjoy being told what to do when it’s exercises! Might find it hilarious too. Thank you for your comment and for the feature of my blog post last week on yours.
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Love the stepping stones idea! I’m going to try that one. Thanks for sharing with #fortheloveofBLOG
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You’re very welcome, thanks for the comment. Enjoy stepping stones, come back and tell me what they thought!
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My little one is only 8 months so we’re not quite at this stage yet, however I’m sure I remember playing stepping stones, or something similar when I was a kid #fortheloveofBLOG
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Brilliant, I’m sure it won’t be long before your little one is jumping across your living room on stepping stones too. Thanks so much for your comment
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I absolutely LOVE these ideas! Especially den building. Mine loves to be physically active and play like this always gets her imagination going. Thanks for sharing with the #DreamTeam xx
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Thanks Annette! Really appreciate your comment, active play inside is great for kids isn’t it
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These are great ideas for indoor play. My eldest once took it upon herself to create a den with a table and cushions underneath and the girls use sofa cushions to jump on. #fortheloveofBLOG
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Fantastic, kids a brilliant at making dens-it’s always a favourite at ours. Thank you very much for your lovely comment
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Love your ideas. I remember my kids enjoying a made up story accompanied with a skipping rope (no we didn’t skip in the lounge) but with one end tied to the leg of a chair and me gently waving it at ground level the story would take them on a journey around the house we would have to collect items of ‘pretend’ food and ‘pretend water’ and always end up at the river ‘the skipping rope’ which we had to jump over as it snaked along the carpet. Makes me smile just thinking about it.
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That’s brought back memories of playgroup when I was a child! All the best games are imaginative ones! So pleased it made you smile and thanks for the lovely comment
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Some great ideas. My kiddos have been sick most of the winter so we’ve been cooped up in the house (even when the weather isn’t -40). I’ll have to remember some of these!
#thursdayteam
Katelynn, hampersandhiccups.com
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Thank you! Pleased you liked them. Sorry you’re little ones have been poorly, hope this comes in use. Thanks for the lovely comment
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I love these ideas, thanks for sharing with #Satsesh. Mine definitely have lots of energy to burn off which is hard in bad weather. I’m definitely going to give the stepping stones a go, and bring back treasure hunts- they loved them last winter but I’d forgotten about them. Bootcamps are another favourite x
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Thanks so much, I think we will be doing them this afternoon- great weather for it! Let me know if they enjoy it, thanks for your comment
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These are great ideas. Den building is always a favourite and hide and seek is always fun with both the girls as only one really knows how to play.
Thank you for joining #ThursdayTeam
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Haha always brilliant when they aren’t quite sure of the rules, makes me laugh so much! Thanks for your lovely comment and share on twitter- I’ve followed you.
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#thesatsesh we love to use pillows as lilly pads (but only when Mummy says its ok), plus Im partial to an obstacle course in my thirties. Thanks for joining us, some lovely ideas – especially for UK rainy day parenting.
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Haha! Obstacle courses are the best. I’ve just done baby boot camp with mine before bed as they were wild and needed calming down/to burn off the last bit of energy. Thanks for your lovely comment
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