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Cabin fever? What do you do when you are stuck inside for days at a time because of extra cold weather, lots of rain, or a family member being sick making you homebound? This time of year can be tough. A preschooler’s emotions can run high in this scenario and make things pretty hard on a momma.
We have got your back for those “stuck inside days” with these tried and true activities you can do with stuff you already have around the house. Sometimes all it takes is a good idea to keep those little ones busy and yourself sane. *Spoiler: Your school aged kids will love these activities too!
Hot Lava!
This classic game is always a pleaser. If you have never played it, it is super simple and can provide a lot of entertainment. Lay out pillows, couch cushions, small towels, or similar items spaced out across the ground (the “lava”). The goal is to get from one side to another without falling into the lava. Variations: Be penguins and have the floor items be icebergs. Or you are crossing a river filled with crocodiles and you must jump from small island to small island.
Laundry Basket Basketball:
Make balls from a crumpled paper and try to make a basket. Put the basket close enough that your child will have some success, but be challenged. Running back and forth to get the “balls” to make another shot will help players release pent up energy.
Balloons:
There are so many things you can do with a balloon, but my favorite energy burner has to be “tennis” with kitchen utensils. Set up your “net” using anything you have around. A piano bench, kitchen chairs, or simply taping a line on the floor, all work great. Kids love this!
Animal Studies:
Pick an animal and learn about it. Spend the next hour trying to walk like that animal and do the kinds of activities that animal would do. For example if you chose a penguin, you could Youtube a video to show the kids how penguins walk, then spend the next hour with everything else you do walking like a penguin. Penguins also like to fish. You could make up an improvised game of Go Fish or pretend to go fishing.
Indoor Camping:
Do you have a small tent you could set up inside? A tent provides hours of imaginative play about camping.
If you don’t, fort building is always a winner. Pull out blankets and sheets for the coverings and use chairs or other furniture for the structures to hang them on.
Garage:
Do you have a garage to park your car in? Pull the car out and you have a dry and less cold place for the kids to run around in.
Craft:
Take a look in your recycling box and pull out some random items. See what you can build. Maybe a city? Maybe a robot?
Cooking or baking together:
Anything will do. Here is my go-to cookie recipe. My family loves it, but honestly we mostly make it because almost all the ingredients are common things we always have on hand. Little hands will have fun mixing, rolling the dough into balls and then rolling the balls into the cinnamon and sugar mixture.
Science experiments:
One that I never have to buy special things for is just playing with food dye and water. I don’t use much of it throughout the year so I always have it on hand. To play, get a large clear glass or jar and fill it with water. Drop a few drops of one color in and watch it swirl. Choose another color and make predictions on what will happen. Let your little one put the color in. Prepare for their fingers to end up a little colored and supervise carefully. They will love seeing the colors change as you add more and different colored dyes. Empty the cup and try it again and again.
Guess the animal:
Have your children take turns acting out being different animals and then guess what they have chosen to be.
Learning activities:
If you have purchased our preschool curriculum, you have a wealth of options to choose from that will keep the kids busy and having fun. Don’t feel like you have to do a whole lesson. Just randomly choose one activity from any lesson. It is a resource to be adapted to fit your needs.
Looking for something active? EVERY ABC lesson has two movement activities. That is 52 movement activity ideas! Just take your pick.
Or you could choose any of the learning activities like the print and do turtle math game from the letter T which helps teach the math concepts of more, less, or same. There are so many options.
