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Ideas for Indoor Activities & Games for Kids

Children love playing outdoors but playing outside is not always an option. Finding activities to occupy your child during inclement weather and rainy days can be challenging but there are many activities for children that can be done indoors. You can keep your child engaged by choosing activities that cater to your child's personality, talents and hobbies.

Arts and Crafts
- Arts and crafts are a favorite pastime of children worldwide. Activities such as painting, drawing, coloring stenciling, creating scrapbooks, making collages and paper mache sculptures encourage creativity and can keep children occupied for hours. Nickelodeon Parents Connect (parentsconnect.com) provides a wide assortment of arts and craft ideas, many of which cater to specific holidays and seasons. Stock up on supplies at your local art supply store, including construction paper, glue, paint and scissors and be sure to prepare the area where your children will be working by laying newspaper on the table and floor.
Board Games
- Board games are an entertaining way to interact socially and also provide an opportunity to teach children about sportsmanship and rules. There is a variety of board games on the market, including games geared toward specific age groups and games the entire family can play together. Chutes and Ladders, Memory and Candyland cater to the preschool gamers, while games such as UNO, Bingo and Sorry can be played by family members of all ages. There are also many games suited for middle school children and teenagers, including Buzzwords, Apples to Apples Party Box, Monopoly and Stratego.
Dramatic and Performing Arts
- Children can express themselves dramatically through plays, puppet shows or acting out one of their favorite books. Dramatic arts provide a means for your child to express herself creatively. Arts and crafts can also be incorporated into this activity with making costumes, puppets and a set for the performance. Household items such as cardboard boxes, socks and old clothes can be used for costumes, puppets or to decorate the set.
Baking and Cooking
- With this activity, children can get their hands dirty, lick the spoon and enjoy the finished product. You and your child can bake cookies or cupcakes then enjoy decorating them. If your child does not eat sweets, you can have your child help with lunch or dinner by making fun-shaped sandwiches with cookie cutters. BettyCrocker.com offers an assortment of recipes specifically for children.

Kids Games