75 Fun Indoor Games for Kids – Boredom Busters for All Ages - Games and toys for everyone

Rainy day blues? Weather at the extremes? Need to stick to a budget and stay in? Whether you are looking for simple games for kids or full scale activities for groups, it’s easy to save the day, bust boredom and have fun with this list of screen-free indoor games for kids of all ages! What indoor games did your family love to play growing up, and what indoor games do you play now with your kids? Did you learn some great games for kids at school? Let us know your favorite games to play when bored in the comments so we can share them!

– BALLOON GAMES –

Keep the Balloon Up

This may be the most absurdly simple of all the indoor games with friends – blow up some balloons, tell the kids to keep the balloons from touching the floor, and get the party started! This is admittedly one of those kids physical games that can get a little rambunctious indoors, so move the breakables out of the way. Buy It: 500 pack multi colored balloons.

Balloon tennis or balloon volleyball: String up a divider as a net and see how many times they can volley the balloon over the net without it touching the ground. Fly swatters, plastic spatulas or wooden spoons could work well for the tennis game, but they aren’t absolutely necessary. (This works best with only two children playing for safety reasons.)

– SENSORY & SORTING FUN GAMES –

Touch-and-Feel Boxes

This is a great indoor game to focus young kids on the sense of touch in a world so focused on the sense of sight. Train their minds to associate information other than just how the object looks. Start by putting interesting objects into containers that a child must reach into and identify by touch. Shoe boxes work well as they are usually readily available, can be easily cut with scissors, and do not let light through. Making the boxes is part of the fun – have the kids decorate them, just make sure to cut out a child-sized hand hole on the side of the box beforehand. Place an item in each box and have your kids take turns guessing what the items are. Encourage questions and offer clues as needed.

Buy It – My First Touch & Feel Picture Cards.

Sorting

This is another of the games for kindergarten readiness that you can easily pull together. When a child plays a sorting game, they are analyzing objects, describing and comparing them and engaging in critical thinking. All kinds of learning is going on. Start by creating “bins”, which can be as simple as using tape on a level surface. Buy It – Learning Resources Mini Muffin Match Up Counting Toy Set.

Colors: For younger kids, using colors is the easiest way to start a sorting activity.Try taping down pieces of colored construction paper, then gather objects to match. (LEGO Duplos work well.)

Advanced: Sort by the texture of a surface or type of object, for instance wooden vs plastic vs metal.

More variations: You can make it into a full on game by asking competing children to go find 5 objects of each type the fastest. Or you can enforce an order that they must retrieve them in – first red, then blue, then yellow, then repeat.

Bubbles

We typically think of bubbles as an outdoor activity; this version can be played indoors around a table. Simply get a plate and straw for each child and put a coin-sized drop of dish soap on the plate. Mix a little water in until suds form. Each child should then put the end of the straw straight up and down into the suds so that a layer of soap forms over the end of the straw. Blowing very slowly, a single bubble will start to grow! Who can make the biggest bubble? Who can hold the bubble there the longest? Buy It – Clifford The Big Red Dog Young Scientist Club Bubble Science Kit.

I Spy

I Spy and its variations are wonderful sensory games for young kids to get to know the world around them. For a child who has never played, you can start by picking out a secret object within plain view and saying, “I Spy something blue.” If there is only one child, then she can keep guessing until she gets it right. If there are multiple children then they can take turns looking around and guessing. The first child correct gets to spy something next. It is so versatile, you can take it anywhere. Buy It: – I SPY Eagle Eye Game

Variations: Limit the number of guesses each child gets. Or, say things like “I Spy something that is a circle.” The difficulty is easily changed by what you are actually spying (smaller or less obvious things) and how you describe what is spied (bumpy or soft things, for example).

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