What to do when the weather’s bad? Screen-Free Indoor Activities for Kids!

January can be a tough month for finding fun, recreational options for kids and teenagers. After the coziness of early winter months, the new year’s wintertime can feel constrictive and monotonous. This can be hard with kids of all ages. What can you do when it’s too cold to go outdoors and your kids are looking for something to do?

Trying to arrange wintertime activities for your kids may feel like a catch-22. If you stay at home, their hours may default to screentime activities like watching television or playing video games. Children typically get less physical exercise in winter months, which can lead to higher distractibility and poorer sleep quality during a time when our bodies are already struggling to regulate.  

On the other hand, getting out of the house to visit places like museums or shopping malls can increase you and your children’s exposure to seasonal sicknesses. Who wants to be stuck in close, confined contact with crowds of strangers at a time when germ transmission is generally high?

If you’re looking for screen-free suggestions of indoor activities for kids, this article was written for you. Here are four types of easily pulled together indoor activity options, with some specific suggestions for kids of various ages. 

Arts and Crafts

One of the most common indoor activities for children of all ages is arts and crafts. Arts and crafts activities offer a relaxing, focused way for children to spend several hours indoors without getting restless. Crafting can build younger children’s fine motor skills as different arts activities require diverse manipulations of supplies and tools. Arts and crafts also flex children’s creative muscles by inviting them to make creative decisions and imagine new possibilities. Making artistic decisions provides an outlet for self-expression and self-esteem that young children don’t often experience in other tasks. 

Art activities often have many steps and may require downtime as materials dry or set. So, art projects teach children and teenagers how to plan out projects and work on them until they are completed. Finishing a project can instill a sense of accomplishment in a child and leaves them with a tangible example of what they are able to achieve. 

Crafts for young or early-level children should be simple with few steps and should use crafting materials that are not hard to manipulate. At this age, children should be encouraged to express with few expectations for the end result. Young children may be challenged by simply stringing colorful beads onto strings or pasting pre-cut paper shapes onto paper to make collages. Just playing with playdough or scribbling with crayons with no set goal can be an activity in itself for children who are just figuring out shapes and colors.  

Children with more hand dexterity and attention can begin to tackle art projects that require more focus and skill. They can begin to color line pictures, a simple activity that builds hand-eye coordination and color sense. They can also complete projects with step-by-step instructions such as weaving paper baskets, shaping tissue paper flowers or snowflakes, or making custom masks with paper mache and decorative accessories. For children who love arts activities, offering them an assortment of unique arts materials can unleash their passion and confidence. 

Puzzles

Another good option for indoor activities for kids is to have a selection of puzzles that children can grab when they can’t make it outside. (This is especially fitting now since January 29 is National Puzzle Day). Puzzles help children develop fine motor skills and hand-eye coordination as they fit pieces together.  

Puzzles can also foster a child’s visual and tactile perception abilities. As they handle each piece, their brain receives and interprets information about its size, shape, and design. This can help them in future memory and maths problem solving. Lastly, working on a puzzle encourages children to focus on a task until completion, and provides a sense of accomplishment when they’re done. 

Younger children or children who struggle with physical coordination may benefit most from puzzles with large pieces, bright designs, and a moderate piece count. Larger pieces are easier for uncoordinated hands to manipulate while still providing the opportunity to build motor skills. Puzzle designs featuring bold colors and distinct images help young brains identify the image broken up into smaller pieces. Lastly, starting young children off with a moderate piece count will keep them from getting discouraged. 

More advanced children can begin to construct puzzles with more pieces, smaller parts, and more subtle images. Providing more challenging puzzles to your child as they develop can keep them from getting bored with puzzles as an indoor activity option. Some children may also get excited by simple 3D puzzle options that push them to think about construction in many directions. 

For teenagers or children with high puzzle proficiency, 3D models with many small pieces is the next level of puzzle challenge. 3D models range from relatively small patterns that can be completed in just a couple hours to complex, multi-day model projects with intricate pieces that are works of art when completed — and there are several models of intermediate difficulty as well! 

Children and teenagers of all ages may even enjoy the challenge of designing and illustrating their own puzzle. If they do, be sure to be a good test audience and give their creation a go! For all ages and interest levels, sitting down with a good puzzle is a great way to spend an afternoon inside. 

Games

Games are the perfect indoor activity for spending time with your child or for when they have friends over. Playing games instills a sense of orderliness and structure, and teaches children about taking turns and cooperating with others. 

Young children or children who are learning elementary social skills can play games with simple rules, slow pace, and low stakes. A classic game like Go Fish is a good introduction to the structure of organized game play. It can also be played with as few as two players. Something like a shape matching-and-memory game can be played collaboratively so that the focus is less on winning or losing and more on achieving together. 

As children gain more confidence in socializing with others, they can enjoy games with more rules, a faster pace, and a stricter sense of winning and losing. The board game Making Change prompts players to practice basic math in the form of currency exchange. Alternatively, cooperative games like Dog Man: Attack of the Fleas engage all players to work together to achieve a common victory. Cooperative games teach children valuable lessons about strategy and working with others without requiring a loser. 

Older children or children who are adept at navigating complex social situations can take enjoyment in more intricate competitive gameplay. A classic game like Monopoly (and all its iterations) teaches players about planning ahead and managing resources. Newer games like the Shashibo Battle Shape Game make players think fast and act faster to beat each other at completing geometric puzzles, getting hearts pumping as though the players were running wild outdoors. 

Reading

Lastly, never underestimate the value of curling up and reading with your child on days when going outside isn’t an option.  

For children who prefer to be read to, choose a book with vivid illustrations and a simple, positive message. Or, read a book with them that can prompt discussions about life lessons. If your child needs to be read to and you aren’t available, an electronic reader offers a selection of books and delivers audible storytime. 

For children who are starting to read on their own, offer them a picture book with an exciting, inspiring story to engage their imaginations. Older children or children who are used to reading to themselves may likewise enjoy books that let their imaginations soar or that inspire them to think about themselves and their world in new ways. Though we tend to think of reading as an introverted activity, many children and teens like to talk about what they’ve read, so make time in these indoor days for book club with your readers! 

The winter months can seem long and tedious, and entertaining restless children can seem like a tall order when our own days are still so short. We hope that some of these activities are good outlets for you and your children. These options will keep young minds stimulated and hands busy on days when spring seems a long way off.