Did You Just Google “Indoor Activities for Kids?”
Because if you did, you’re in the right place. You just found a huge list of clever kids activities that you can do at home with regular household supplies.
Most of them are indoor activities, but some are also outdoor activities. You won’t need to search for things to do with kids anytime soon now that you’ve got this resource filled with fun activities to do at home!
“I’m Bored” is like a 4-Letter Word in Our House
I am not a “bored” person. Even as a kid, I did not get bored. There were way too many things to investigate, read, create or do.
But I’ve got a kid that drops that tiresome word every day. If he’s not on screens, he’s “bored.”
It makes me want to pull my hair out. He has no clue how lucky he is to be a kid and have so many toys and projects at his disposal. Plus, being bored can be good for kids…
I’m learning that sometimes, he just needs some ideas that intrigue him. This boredom-buster list is for kids who want to do something, but don’t know where to start.
The Big List of Boredom Buster Indoor Activities for Kids in Six Different Age Groups
These ideas don’t require a special trip to the store for supplies or for you to take a field trip anywhere. Bust that boredom with common household items.
And, don’t let our age groupings stop you from trying something new from a different category. Many of these fun activities to do at home are for all ages – read through the whole list, see what sounds fun, and jump in!
Toddler Boredom Buster Kids Activities
Oh, mama! Keeping a toddler entertained is a full-time job. It’s so adorable to hear those little voices playing make believe with their toys or watch them figure out how something works. But most of the time, we’re just cleaning up one big mess after another, aren’t we?
Toddlers are investigators extraordinaire! While the messes are tiring, their sense of wonder at basically everything is delightful. Here are some things to dazzle your toddler with and help pass the days at home.
Play
Have a teddy bear picnic
Put some tape on a doorway and throw pom poms or ping pong balls at it and see how many stick
Squirt some shaving cream onto a pan and play
Set up your own bowling alley and bowl with a ball and plastic bottles or paper towel rolls
Make a crazy tape path on the floor in different shapes and designs, and walk across it
Play with your stuffed animals in an empty, clean, dry bathtub
Use a toy hammer to hammer golf tees into styrofoam
Teach them how to do somersaults
Play hide the pajamas before bedtime.
Parents, hide your kid’s pajamas around the house (or just the bedroom) and tell them “hot” or “cold” as they search for them.
Blow bubbles for them to catch outside
Give them a mesh strainer and have them “fish” for items in a sink full of water.
(Throw in bath toys, plastic alphabet pieces.)
Give your toy cars a carwash in the sink or the tub
Create
Make a necklace with big beads and string or pasta noodles
Put some hair gel into a plastic bag and add food coloring, googly eyes, and beads
Make cardboard box trains, houses or airplanes
Put a spaghetti noodle in some Play-dough and see how many Cheerios you can stack up on it
Take some ice or a popped frozen water balloon and squeeze warm water onto it, and watch it melt
Make some cloud dough with flour and oil – and if you have it, oil-based food coloring
Play-dough. Don’t have a lot of the “tools?” Use household objects to make impressions, cut out shapes, etc.
Tape cardboard tubes to the wall and roll pom poms through them
Don’t recycle that box! Let your toddler decorate it with markers or stickers. Or put their toys in it.
You know how mesmerizing old boxes are!
Or make something from other recyclables
Make colored rice
Make edible finger paint with cornstarch, water, and food coloring. This can also be used outside on sidewalks.
Make bath paint with food coloring and shaving cream
Get out the kinetic sand
Preschool – Indoor Activities for Kids
Sometimes I think that preschoolers are the funnest. I teach Sunday School to 4 & 5 year olds and I hope church staff never asks me to try another age group. Preschoolers are curious, they are beginning to grasp bigger concepts, and they say the funniest things, all the time.
When you’re not hurriedly scribbling down the latest thing they said (today my son had me guessing why we needed a Truck House in our life, until I realized he meant a motorhome!) or convincing them of the merits of quiet time, try some of these fun activities to do at home that preschoolers will dig.
Learn
Build a foil boat and see how many pennies you can add to it before it sinks
Make a cloud in a bottle with your mom or dad
Craft a story together
Go on a walking (or stroller?) tour of your city. Don’t forget snacks.
Have a baking theme day. Choose a topic and a recipe to bake.
Follow actual baking with pretend kitchen play, and then go outside to explore and create “recipes.”
Go on an outdoor scavenger hunt
Plant a seed and watch it grow
Do the Magic Paper Towel activity
Create
Lego Masters at Home: Challenge all participants to build the same thing and compare designs. You could have everyone build a hotel, a house or a car. Can combine all houses to build a small neighborhood, or all cars pull up for a car show when finished.
Make a mask out of a cereal box
Create a marble painting
Build a house of cups – or cards or anything else you have around the house
Build a cardboard train
Make a cereal necklace
Do a puzzle
Build a city out of toys
Draw pictures in chalk on the sidewalk
Painter’s tape + chalk art = Stained Glass window sidewalk chalk art
Make a car wash for riding toys
Create a spider web with glue-coated spaghetti
Sing along and then add your own verse with Kevin Kammeraad
Make paper-bag masks and decorate them
Make Fireworks in a Jar
Learn
Make your own bubble solution and bubble blowing devices
Polish each other’s nails. Or, trace and cut out a hand on cardboard, draw on the nails, and polish those.
Make hand shadow puppets
Make a paper-bag puppet
Make a paper-bag puppet
Create bunny or dinosaur doodles
Make a bird feeder with a rice cake, peanut butter, and birdseed
Stick Magna-Tiles to your garage door and make designs
Trace shadow figures. Put one of your favorite animal figurines next to a piece of white paper, and use either the sun or a lamp as a light source to cast a shadow. Trace the shadow that your figurine casts onto your paper!
Make a homemade vending machine
Make art with pinecones
Paint ladybug rocks
Play
Dig in the dirt
Play dress-up
Make a path of pillows to use as stepping stones – or call it Hot Lava
Play I Spy with colors
Create a homemade obstacle course
Play Finger Twister
Have a Hula-hoop competition
Play Freeze Tag
Play Hide and Seek
Have a tea party. Get dressed up and pull out the fancy plates and cups (however you want to interpret that with a preschooler) to make it extra fancy.
Play Go Fish
Jump rope
Do storybook yoga with Renew Mama
Race pompoms by blowing them with a straw
Play Follow the Leader
Keep a balloon in the air as long as possible
Play Hot and Cold with a hidden object
Play Paper Plate Tennis
Grades K – 2 Boredom Buster Kids Activities
Early elementary kids can play a lot more independently, and can read and understand simple science concepts. They can miss afternoon quiet time and still keep it together (mostly). This means that you can do even more projects with this age group.
We tried to include in this K-2 list a mix of fun activities to do at home that either involve you or have them playing on their own.
Learn
Do the Naked Egg (Dissolving Egg Shell) Experiment
Watch the beluga whales at the Georgia Aquarium
Look at your city – then your state – then the world – from Google Earth view.
Learn to bike without training wheels.
Learn to play an instrument from mom or dad – or YouTube!
Practice tying shoes with laces.
Take a trip around the world – and see all of the animals – with the live cams at explore.org
Go to Mars. NASA’s Curiosity Rover recorded the surface to give you this 360 view.
Express yourself with SadMadBadGlad Poetry
Go on a Home Safari with the Cincinnati Zoo. Zookeepers hang out with and teach you about red pandas, Komodo dragons and more.
Tell “Strange Stories.” Draw 5 pictures or words from a pile (that you created) and tell a story using those images or words.
Become a pen pal with a buddy from school or a far away cousin
Go birdwatching
Stop in at the AirZoo’s YouTube channel to virtually explore planes or watch story time with an astronaut
Meet some of the animals in behind-the-scenes videos at John Ball Zoo
Create
Build an epic fort
Make Salt Art
Make a card for your Grandma, Grandpa, or other favorite adult, telling them why you love them
Make a maze on the floor with painter’s tape
Make your own popsicles
Doodle along with Mo Willems
Make rock candy
Make a sidewalk chalk obstacle course for your neighbors to do as they walk by
Save cardboard rolls (toilet paper and paper towel) to build a complex ball contraption on the wall
Join the GooGenius Draw Club.
Make slime. Instructions here
Build a Lego volcano and then put in baking soda/vinegar/soap for the eruption
Make a treasure bottle
Paint a rock pet. Or paint rocks and hide them around your home for family members to discover later.
Make your own sock puppet – and then put on a show.
Make a Time Capsule with your family
Bake and paint salt dough ornaments
Make your bed into a fort and sleep in it like that overnight
Draw eyes on an Amazon box and then PARTY
Play
Go on a virtual scavenger hunt with Goose Chase. You can have your family, extended family or friends even join, and you can all play in your own homes. Everyone from age 2 to 92 can have fun with it!
Do at home PE and other active moves
Get your moves in with Go Noodle on YouTube. (Tip: Start with Pop Se Ko.)
Do a family bootcamp workout
Make a stuffy hunt for your siblings. Hide favorite stuffies around the house and have them search for them.
Head outside and bike, scooter or rollerblade
Roast marshmallows and have s’mores with your family
Have a Just Dance party with your siblings
Have an indoor snowball fight (aka Sock Wars). Set up your living room with two barriers. Choose teams and get a stockpile of socks on each side. Whoever doesn’t get hit wins.
Learn how to Hip Hop Break Dance.
Play Burning Hot Lava outside. One person is the lava monster, and everyone else has to avoid getting tagged, but warning – the grass is hot lava! Jump from stone to stone, or porch to swings as you avoid getting burned.
Go fly a kite
Grades 3 – 4 At Home Kids Activities
Kids who are 8-10 love playing independently and learning about the world around them. They become more sure of themselves and their skills and interests and can be trusted to do creative activities on their own with relatively less mess (maybe??).
You can set them loose on YouTube to watch a tutorial while you do the dishes. You can even tell them to do the dishes if that tutorial didn’t spark their imagination and they’re still “bored.” (Pulled that on my third grader today when she dropped the B word. She quickly disappeared for a while.)
Basically, 3rd and 4th graders can take a little guidance from you and then run with their fun activities to do at home.
Learn
Do the GR Public Museum’s Science Scavenger Hunt
Skype a scientist. Fill out a form so they can match you with a scientist for a Q&A chat about your questions or topic of interest.
Dive into the Google Arts & Culture App. Take a selfie and apply it to a historical painting, take a virtual tour of famous museums & more.
Do the classic vinegar & baking soda experiment – with a twist
Learn how to throw a yo-yo, plus 11 other yo-yo tricks.
Learn how to grow new plants from your house plant cuttings (water propagate) and set out some experiment planters.
Learn how to tie knots, be a tree detective and more with Michigan DNR.
Create
Build a Lego metropolis
Have your mom or dad make up the name of a fictional character. Write a story about that character.
Find that old sock that hasn’t had a match in forever and make a sock puppet with googly eyes, yarn, or whatever you can find around the house. (Ask mom or dad for permission to use this rogue sock. Also have them help you with hot glue gun.)
Make a map of your house and neighborhood
Write and illustrate your own book from start to finish
Build a house out of cards and see what it can hold
Mail a handwritten card to your teacher
Take the one-hour cartooning challenge
Send a video puppet show to your friends or family, and challenge them to send one back. You can use re-imagined nursery rhymes or stories, or make up your own
Draw a little bit every day with Wade
Make a surprise story book with your siblings or parents
Play
Play town with your siblings. Create jobs and names for each person, as well as your own currency. Visit each other’s businesses and even invite mom and dad to visit your town.
Play Cards Against Humanity – Family Edition. It’s free for now. Beware of the potty humor, but otherwise, we think this is safe. Ages 8 and up.
Practice rollerblading backwards.
Do family karaoke, where each person can pick a song. You can find Karaoke playlists on many music streaming services, YouTube, and even through cable (like Comcast’s Music Choice Karaoke).
Set the table and serve your family a “fancy dinner.” Everyone comes to the table all dressed up.
Put on a virtual talent show with your friends using Zoom
Do pilates with toilet paper rolls
Movie Series Marathon! Get some cozy blankets and popcorn, and then binge-watch Harry Potter, Pirates of the Caribbean, or some of the Avengers series.
Have a spa day. Paint nails, do your hair, put on face masks – whatever you want! (That your parent approves of.)
Teach your dog a new trick. Here are 10 cool tricks to start with.
Dribble your soccer ball
Learn how to throw a frisbee
Grades 5 – 6 Boredom Buster Kids Activities
If you have tweens, it may be beneficial for them to stew in their boredom for a while. Often they’ll come up with their own creative ideas. Other times, they may need a bit more of a nudge to find fun activities to do at home.
If they’ve stewed for a while and are ready to do something, let them loose with this list.
Tweens, have fun with these ideas. We tried finding something to do for each personality – which things on this list look really fun to you? There are tons of cool ideas for all the other ages too, that also work for your age.
Learn
Ask your Mom what her favorite animal is. Research weird facts about that animal and see if you can stump her.
Take up the science challenge with these cool experiments from the James Dyson Foundation
Research your state bird, flower, tree, etc, and see how many of those you can find in your neighborhood.
Build your own lava lamp and make milk explode with the Michigan Science Center.
Learn to do new hair styles on YouTube
Learn a new language
Learn Morse code. Then write a letter to a cousin in Morse code.
Learn to sew a button
Create
Get your siblings to recreate a pic of you together when you were really little
Make gifts for relatives
Make a pinball machine with recycled material
Practice Origami. Here are some easy animals to start with
Bake something. From scratch. Please clean up your mess before you eat it.
Do a puzzle. Timed.
Plan a meal for the family. Bonus points if you make it and clean it up yourself!
Make invisible ink (with lemon juice) to write messages.
Make Rice Krispie nests
Write a chalk note on a neighbor’s sidewalk
Plant flowers
Create a dinner experience for your family. Pretend you are in Paris, what would dinner be like? Pretend you’re on an airplane – what would dinner be like?
Create a new language with your siblings
Learn how to draw a dog
Paint rocks and place them around the neighborhood
Build a simple kite with a parent, and then fly it
Make a tie-dye shirt
Play
Make up new rules for a board game you’ve always played
Plan a movie night for your family. Pick the movie, start time (confirm with a parent) & snacks. Make and hand out invitations to your family.
Facetime/Skype Grandma & Grandpa and ask them what games they played when they were your age.
Go for a bike or scooter ride
Facebook Messenger with a friend.
Sport it up. Play basketball, kick a soccer ball or practice T-ball
Start a new hobby – what have you wanted to learn?
Try a Minute-To-Win-It game such as cup stacking
Take a careers quiz to see what kind of profession you’d be good at
Play Exquisite Corpse
See how many times you can jump rope in a row. Now try to beat that number doing it backwards
Grades 7 – 8 At Home Boredom Buster Activities
Activities for big kids come in handy while at home. They need an outlet for all their energy. Whether it’s a step-by-step instructional project or more of a free form open-ended fun activity to do at home – it gives them a way to put those budding skills to action.
Kids this age can explore possible career or hobby interests and use their free time to really develop new skills.
Middle schoolers, we didn’t even try to have “uncool” adults make you this list. We outsourced this one to a really creative middle schooler who knows what’s up. You’re welcome!
Learn
Make your own Stop Motion Video
Find a new author and read a book
Learn how to bullet journal
Do crossword puzzles
Write a letter/draw a picture, and actually address and stamp an envelope and put it in the mailbox
Choose a recipe to memorize and practice until you can make it without looking at written instructions
Learn to crochet or knit
Write a letter to your favorite musician telling them why you love their music
Take an enneagram test to learn about your personality
Ask your parents if you can take over (or help with) the family budget for a month and learn about finances
Make a list of things that make you happy
Plan a dream vacation. Research the destination, where you would go, what you’d do, and how much it will cost.
Learn a choreographed dance from YouTube
Take a free online course from Great Courses
Read a book from 100 greatest books in literature
Plan your next party with X budget. You have an imaginary budget of $X to plan ________ (your next birthday party, a Halloween party, a party for your sibling/best friend, Mother’s day/Father’s day)
Use the internet for pricing and decide on your venue, food (ingredients or restaurant meals), entertainment, decorations and so on.
Is there a dress code? How many people will you invite? What will the invitations look like?
Create
Do a Lip Dub
Follow a Bob Ross tutorial
Doodle a positive message for your mom
Make rad paper airplanes. But not like when you were a kid. These airplanes are totally extra.
Do a 1000 piece puzzle
Paint an elaborate design on your nails
Make a video of you jumping on a trampoline or playing outside. Or make a Tik Tok video of it.
Bake cookies
Photograph/draw/paint spring flowers emerging from the ground or something else in nature.
Make donuts that taste better than Krispy Kreme
Make Macrame Friendship Bracelets
Create a Streamyard news broadcast with a friend
Try a fun make-up tutorial on YouTube
Design a slogan or image for a t-shirt
Create window art with washable paint
Have straws? Make a geodesic dome.
Play
Plan a dance party – complete with outfits and music
Host a virtual hammock party with your friends. Everyone hops in their hammock and then do a FaceTime or Zoom call together.
Make popcorn and deliver a serving to each member of the family in a unique container. If no popcorn in the house, substitute dry cereal.
Plan and present a themed dinner for your family, like this teen who’s done the hibachi experience, princess theme, and Mexican Cantina night
Rearrange your room, books, etc.
Play Toy Story 3, IRL. Sort books, toys, and games to find things you’ve outgrown. Then think of who might enjoy them.
Go for a run
Do some yard work
Go for a nature walk
Call a grandparent or older relative or close family friend who might be bored, too
Get assigned a character from Disney’s random character generator.
Now you have to talk and act like that character for the next 30 min, but don’t tell anyone in your house what you are doing.
Practice a tripod handstand
Have a virtual face masking party
Go for a walk and think up nice notes you can write to your neighbors as you walk by their homes. Then send them.
Do Zumba
More to Explore
thanks, your article so helpful for my kids