Games for kids – 150 indoor activities for kids

Parents have all been there in terms of finding fun games for kids. It’s a rainy day and the kids are tearing up the house on their trikes causing general mayhem. My toddler’s favourite habit is to rip towels out of the linen cupboard, scatter her Barbie dolls all over the living room and bring sand in from the sandpit into my newly cleaned kitchen floor.

A full day of these antics is enough to drive any parent to the pantry to chomp on some Tim Tams or head to the fridge for a glass of wine at the end of a long day. But we still want our kids to be kids. Mostly kids get up to mischief when they are bored and are lacking in exciting activities to indulge in. This is especially true for little ones who attend childcare. Their days are full of activity so when they are home they expect the same level of activity!

Rainy day fun

This list is designed for those rainy days during the school holidays or for generally keeping kids occupied at home during the day. Instead of going to a mall and spending money on the kids so you can get out of the house, action a few activities on this list. While the kids are occupied you can catch a breather too! You may even get through a chapter in a novel uninterrupted! Well, dreams are free anyway! Or perhaps you need to get those important taxes done. Well, this list will help you a little space in the day.

Miniature cities

One idea is to build a miniature city. Start collecting little cardboard food boxes and gather some art and paint. The kids will thoroughly enjoy building a miniature city and it is a project they can do ongoing. You can also get involved and add little pieces to the beautiful city. Alternatively act like animals together, bake some chocolate brownies or call people on Skype! Whatever you do, this list will cure the boredom and keep the kids occupied these school holidays or any weekend day when they are indoors.

Play these games for kids in the Savings Room

Act, bake, colour or cook

1. Act like animals
2. Bake biscuits
3. Bake chocolate brownies
4. Build a miniature city
5. Build an indoor village
6. Call people or Skype them
7. Camp inside
8. Colour experiments
9. Colour theme day E.g. Red
10. Colouring in fun
11. Computer time
12. Conduct housework training
13. Cook gingerbread
14. Cooking lessons
15. Cool fashion competition
16. Costumes and photo session

More money games for kids here

Get creative

1. Create a board game
2. Create a dream book
3. Create a housework roster
4. Create a photo collage
5. Create a sand world in a box
6. Create a scrapbook
7. Create a short play
8. Create a travel art pack
9. Create an indoor garden
10. Create an indoor restaurant
11. Create an indoor tunnel
12. Create mazes to navigate
13. Create photo books
14. Create your own puzzles
15. Dance to great music
16. Do a massive jigsaw
17. Do laundry together
18. Do the vacuuming
19. Draw the garden
20. Explore new music genres
21. Fairies theme day for girls
22. Fashion show down hallway
23. Flower experiments
24. Frame a dream
25. Frame artwork
26. Give each other cool haircuts
27. Have a French week
28. Have a pyjama day
29. Hold a different culture week
30. Indoor bath play
31. Indoor obstacle course
32. Indoor pet show
33. Indoor sandpit play

Learn something new

1. Learn about recycling
2. Learn hello in other languages
3. Learn how to measure stuff
4. Learn Origami
5. Learn YouTube magic tricks

More games for kids and ideas for the school holidays

Make stuff

1. Make a cardboard car
2. Make a delicious pizza
3. Make an Xmas wreath
4. Make a Zorro mask
5. Make an indoor cubby
6. Make and wear weird hats
7. Make boats
8. Make chocolate cake
9. Make cool fridge magnets
10. Make cupcakes
11. Make fairy wings
12. Make fruit kebabs
13. Make gift cards
14. Make ice-blocks out of juice
15. Make ice cream
16. Make instruments
17. Make jelly
18. Make jewellery
19. Make movies out of photos
20. Make muffins
21. Make pancakes
22. Make paper clip chains
23. Make paper dolls
24. Make paper Mache
25. Make paper plate masks
26. Make puppets from socks
27. Make the bathtub a beach
28. Make Xmas gifts
29. Make YouTube videos
30. Measure yourselves
31. Mop a floor
32. Movie afternoon
33. Nail and string art
34. Online treasure hunt
35. Organise a play co-op
36. Paint each other’s nails
37. Paint plaster models
38. Pirate’s theme day for boys

Play money games for kids in the Savings Room

Play, play, play…

1. Play a Rubiks cube
2. Play a will power game
3. Play blindfolded taste testing
4. Play card games
5. Play charades
6. Play computer games
7. Play dress ups
8. Play fake tennis
9. Play hallway bowling
10. Play Hide and Seek
11. Play horsey
12. Play indoor catchy
13. Play indoor soft soccer
14. Play indoor soft volleyball
15. Play Knucklebones
16. Play marbles
17. Play Monopoly
18. Play musical chairs
19. Play Op shop board games
20. Play pretend shops
21. Play put toys away game
22. Play rock, paper and scissors
23. Play Scrabble
24. Play skipping games
25. Play the slapping hands game
26. Play the staring game
27. Play Twister
28. Press flowers in books
29. Print online colouring pages
30. Puppet show
31. Rearrange a room
32. Record noises and sounds
33. Repair and fix things session
34. Revamp a room
35. Run around with streamers
36. Sailboats in the bath
37. Shoulder rides
38. Skype grandparents
39. Sleepover for friends
40. Start a collection
41. Start a diary
42. Start and bury a time capsule
43. Swap toys with friends
44. Take up a new hobby
45. Talent quest
46. Teach the kids to sew
47. Throw balls into buckets
48. Tie-dye some clothes
49. Trace and draw stuff
50. Travel on Google Earth
51. Try scrap booking

Watch it or get writing

1. Watch YouTube
2. Wizards and spells day
3. Write a book series
4. Write a creative story
5. Write a letter to a relative
6. Write a script
7. Write some songs

Want more games for kids and things to do on a boring weekend or during the school holidays?

Read more and access all these fab cheat sheets in the Savings Room.

Things to do and more games for kids here