Simple and Fun Screen-Free Activities for Little Kids When You're Stuck Inside

EASY AT-HOME ACTIVITIES FOR LITTLE KIDS

When I envisioned being a stay-at-home mom, I dreamed of cozy days baking cookies, snuggled up reading books, and chasing each other at the playground.

What I didn’t account for was the moments of frustration when all I wanted was 5 minutes of peace to finish my lukewarm coffee or an hour of nap or quiet time to get my work done.

You know, those moments when your kids are chasing each other inside the house after you asked them 30 times to walk and use indoor voices. Or when they ask you for a snack for the 107th time and it’s only 9 a.m. Or when you think they’re occupied so you open your laptop to finish a quick task, but their 6th sense tells them it’s time to come climb all over Mommy and bang on her laptop keyboard which is now missing 2 keys.

Whether you’re a stay-at-home mom, a work-from-home mom, or a mom that normally works at home but is quarantined at home with her little ones for the time being, you may be on the hunt for ways to occupy your kids for a bit so you can work, take care of yourself, or, heaven forbid, eat a snack without them asking if they can have some, too.

Don’t get me wrong - being home with my kids is one of my greatest joys and blessings. Not a day goes by that I don’t acknowledge how grateful I am to do this job of raising my kids while blogging for a living. But we can ALL get overwhelmed, especially when there’s no opportunity to get the kids out of the house.

So I’m drawing on my own childhood memories, along with my favorite activities that I’ve used as a mom of 4 to be somewhat productive and sane amidst the chaos.

These are screen-free activities, not because I have ANYTHING against screen time. I just wanted to provide some alternatives for when your kids need a break from Disney+. I will be writing another blog post with my favorite at-home activities involving technology or a screen, so stay tuned for that!

Most of these activities are free or fairly cheap. They don’t require much (if any) prep work on your part. And hopefully, you can get the kids started, then sneak away to do something for yourself. Feel free to add more suggestions in the comments!

Disclosure: This post contains affiliate links. That means if you click on a link and make a purchase, I may receive a small commission at no extra cost to you.

CREATE & LEARN

1. Make sculptures and shapes out of toothpicks and marshmallows

You can give kids guidance or suggestions for what to create if you want a little more structure. This is a great way to introduce shapes or 3D shapes. I even got my 2-year-old saying “tetrahedron”!

Conversely, you can just let kids use their imaginations to create whatever they want! This will buy you a little bit of time to work, and you’d be surprised at what kids come up with. My kids were making people and houses out of the materials given, and even colored on the marshmallows with markers!

2. Use dry erase markers on windows

Get out your colorful dry erase markers and let your kids write or draw on windows or glass doors. We have huge sliding glass doors in the kitchen and it makes for a fun activity while Mom gets stuff done. I’ve used it to practice writing letters and recognizing sight words with my preschoolers, shapes with my toddlers, or just having fun and drawing whatever comes to mind.

Bonus: You can teach them how to clean the glass when they’re done so you’ve got an extra chore to add to their chore chart!

3. Color and decorate cardboard boxes

Get those Amazon Prime boxes out of the recycling bin and let the kids color and decorate them to their heart’s content. Use crayons, markers, stickers, stamps, or whatever else you have on hand. The best is when the box is big enough for kids to sit inside while decorating!

4. Use magnets on baking sheets

Round up all the magnets in your house and pull out your metal baking sheets. Let kids have their own personal work stations where they can practice spelling words with letter magnets, or create magnificent scenes with fun animal or character magnets.

5. Create leaf rubbings

Collect as many different types of leaves as you can from around your house. Place the leaves under a plain white piece of paper, then show kids how to peel the wrapper off a crayon and use the side of the crayon to rub over the top of the paper. My kids thought it was magic the way the leaves appeared on the paper! You can use different colors for each leaf for a beautiful collage.

6. Write letters

Write letters or thank you notes to friends and family. For little kids, you can do fill-in-the-blank style, where you start a sentence, then let them finish it. For older kids who are learning to write, show them how to format a letter and help them spell words. Let kids draw pictures to go along with their letters.

For grade school-age kids, show them how to address an envelope and place the stamp in the corner. This is fun because kids love sending and receiving mail, and meanwhile they are learning about writing and grammar.

7. Learn another language

Listen to a podcast or a language-learning cd from the library to introduce a new language. Read basic children’s books in another language. You can search for easy lesson plans and activities online, too!

8. Set up a reading nook

Choose a spot in your house to set up a cozy reading nook where kids will LOVE to curl up with a book! We put our teepee in the corner of the living room, laid down a fuzzy blanket, set up some giant pillows, and put a basket of library books at the edge. It’s the perfect spot for our kids to peruse the books they’ve picked out from the library in their own space.

9. Fancy art time

This is really just free time for kids to draw or color, but you can make it feel a little more special by playing classical music and serving “fancy” snacks. Set them up with everything they will need to make their own creations - crayons, colored pencils, markers, paper, sketchbooks, coloring pages, coloring books, stencils, stickers, and whatever else you have that they love to use!

10. Make a vision board

Create a kid’s version of a vision board. Get a piece of cardboard, card stock, or just a regular white piece of paper and a stack of magazines. Show them how to find pictures of things they love, cut them out, and create a collage using tape or glue sticks. If you don’t happen to have old magazines lying around, print out some pictures ahead of time that you think kids will enjoy, or have them tell you what kinds of pictures they’re looking for.

If you want this to be a more involved or educational activity, you can set a theme for the vision boards or collages. Let’s say you have an upcoming trip to another city or country. You can research that destination using the computer, library books, or guide books, then find pictures and words that represent that place.

11. Hand tracing art project

This is the simplest art project of all time, but you can make it intricate and time-consuming for your child to buy yourself a little more time.

Help your child trace their hand multiple times facing multiple directions (overlapping each other) on a piece of paper. It will create a fun-looking image with all the crisscrossing lines. Show them how to color each space a different color for a many-hued picture.

12. Make an art binder

I don’t know about your kids, but mine would go through an entire ream of paper each day if I let them. They love drawing and coloring, and they love displaying their creations all over the house. They tape their pictures above their beds, hang them on the fridge, and leave them on my bedside table as gifts.

When my eyes reach the point that they can no longer take all the visual clutter, I help my kids put their precious creations in their art binder. It’s just a plain white binder with page protectors inside. They get to choose which pictures go in the binder and which get thrown away.

13. Monster drawings

This is actually an activity I used to do with my Spanish classes to practice adjectives and body part vocabulary when I was a high school Spanish teacher. Bring up a picture of a monster on your computer screen or phone screen that only you can see. Describe the monster part by part to your kids and let them draw it.

(“This monster has a giant round head. He has one triangle horn on the top of his head. The monster has 2 small ears on the sides of his head.” …and so on).

When you finish describing the monster, compare their drawings to the original picture. You’ll either get a really good laugh out of it, or you’ll be seriously impressed by your kids’ listening skills.

14. Make birthday or Christmas gift lists

Help kids put together a wish list for their birthday or Christmas. If you have any toy catalogs laying around from the holidays, or just circulars from Target, Walmart, or any store that carries toys, have them page through and circle the toys, games, and clothes they love.

You can take it a step further and give them list templates with categories (toys, clothes, games, books, etc). or have them draw out their list.

15. Make creations with toilet paper or paper towel rolls

Save your paper towel and toilet paper rolls for a week or two, then let kids make telescopes, binoculars, or whatever else they can dream up with art supplies.

16. Make Forky from Toy Story 4

Use plastic spoons, sporks, or forks, modeling clay, and popsicle sticks to assemble your very own Forky from Toy Story 4!

FOOD & DRINK

17. Have a tea party

Make a special snack (baked goods always do the trick for us), then pour your beverage of choice into fancy teacups or mugs. You can really go all out and have everyone in the family get dressed up for the occasion, lay out a table cloth, and set the table.

18. Bake a delicious treat together

Whether you pick a family favorite recipe or try something completely new, having something sweet to eat at the end of your task is its own reward. Plus baking teaches kids math when they have to measure out ingredients, and it shows them how to follow instructions!

19. Learn to cook a new meal together

We love this kids’ cookbook for simple and fun recipes that kids will actually eat. Let your child (or children) pick out what looks good to them, make sure you have all the ingredients on hand, then spend time making the meal together. They will be much more likely to eat something they chose and cooked. (And hey, maybe eventually this will lead to you being off the hook for making dinner every night!)

20. Have a coffee chat

This is one of my favorite ways to get some good one-on-one time with my kids. When my 2nd child was 3 and his big sister was at school and little brother was napping, we used to sit down at the table and share a cup of coffee. Well, I had coffee. He had a dash of coffee creamer mixed with his milk.

Anyway, I would use that time to ask him questions or just let him tell me stories or talk about whatever was on his mind. You could also use some conversation starters for kids!

21. Hold a cookie or cupcake decorating competition

Make some sugar cookies or cupcakes, then lay out a disposable tablecloth, bowls of colored frosting, sprinkles, and whatever other toppings you can think of (M&Ms, marshmallows, chocolate chips, etc). Have a contest to see who can decorate the best cookie or cupcake!

OR if you’re trying to get some work done, give the kids A TON of cookies or cupcakes to decorate and let them go to town.

22. Snack tray picnic

We love the snack tray in a muffin tin idea from Merrick’s Art! To make it even more exciting for the kids, we turn it into a picnic in the living room with a picnic blanket or take it outside if the weather is nice.

GAMES

23. Play board games

My kids love playing Trouble, Candy Land, and Hungry Hungry Hippos. Usually, if I play one or two games with them then excuse myself to go work, they will carry on playing together for a while.

24. Play Tic Tac Toe (on paper or life-sized)

Teach kids how to play Tic Tac Toe on paper or on a dry erase board. If you want to get really creative and make it more exciting for kids, try doing life-sized Tic Tac Toe. Lay out tape on the floor to make the game board, then use pieces of paper with Xs and Os drawn on them, or different color bean bags for the Xs and Os.

25. Simon Says

A good old fashioned game of Simon Says will help kids learn to follow instructions, and help reinforce body parts for toddlers (touch your nose, touch your knees, etc). Play along with your kids for a good laugh, or get them started while you work nearby.

26. Play games with rolled-up socks

Use pairs of rolled-up socks for a snowball fight, for playing catch inside, or for any other game that involved a ball. The socks won’t break things like a ball might if you’re stuck inside.

27. Sorting games

Get kids set up with sorting activities of all kinds! Set out colored construction paper and have them sort their toys by color. Dump out a laundry basket and have them sort the clothes by child. Have them sort toy cars or animals by size. You could even have them sort beads, buttons, crayons, blocks or anything you have lying around.

28. Teach them the Picnic Game

“I’m going on a picnic and I’m bringing ________” Remember that game from your childhood? The first person brings something that starts with the letter A. The second person has to repeat the item that began with A, then add something that begins with B. You have to remember every item, so it’s pretty difficult by the time you get to the end of the alphabet!

If you’re working with toddlers or preschoolers who can’t remember everything, simplify the game by just having them come up with something that starts with each letter. They get pretty creative!

29. Hide and Seek

Hide and seek is a classic indoor game to bust that boredom! I would suggest hiding in a really good spot with your laptop so you can get some work done.

30. Charades

My mom just brought this charades game (here’s the Amazon version) when she came to visit us recently, and it’s been so fun! Even kids who can’t read yet can look at the pictures and act out what’s on the card. Fun for the whole family!

31. Bean Bag Toss

Create shapes on the ground with tape and have kids stand from a distance trying to get the bean bags in the shapes.

32. Easter Egg Hunt

Who says Easter egg hunts have to take place ONLY on Easter Sunday? Try hiding candy or coins in them and let kids hunt around the house collecting them. Or maybe do a craft with them like turning them into maracas (do so at your own peril - this could get really annoying).

33. Go bowling

There are plenty of affordable kids indoor bowling sets that will keep them busy for quite a while. If you don’t have one or don’t want to buy one, you can set up partially-filled water bottles and use any small ball you have at home.

34. Balloon Games

For some reason, nothing is more exciting for my kids than having a balloon in the house. Blow up a balloon and play a variety of games with it. Don’t let the balloon touch the ground (this can get extremely competitive and will get your heart rate up). Play volleyball with the balloon. Throw the balloon in the air and try to catch it in/on a cup. Try to walk across the living room keeping the balloon between your legs.

35. Card Games

There are actually many fun card games that even young children can understand. Lately, we’ve been playing Go Fish, Crazy 8s. Uno, and Old Maid. Our 1st grader has been loving Spoons, too!

36. Play Spot It!

Spot It is the perfect game for kids 4 and up. (Even some 3-year-olds might enjoy this). Divide the cards evenly among the players, and the first person to find the picture that appears on both cards gets to keep the set. Whoever has the most pairs when you run out of cards wins!

37. Set up a scavenger hunt

Come up with your own clues (find something red, find something soft, find something with the letter A, etc), or find a printable indoor scavenger hunt online! For toddlers or kids who can’t read yet, include Clipart pictures to help guide them. For older kids, you can be a little more creative with riddles for clues!

ACTIVE PLAY

38. Animal walk

Remember those summer camp relay races where you had to do a crab or bear walk across the gym when you were little? Get your little ones moving in fun and silly ways by assigning them animal walks to do around the house. Make it just for fun, or make it a race if you’re brave! Try: crab walk, bear walk, frog walks, and alligator crawls. Head to YouTube and search “animal walks” for more ideas!

39. Pillow walk

When my oldest was a toddler and we lived in Minnesota, I used to pull out all the pillows in the house to play Pillow Walk during those long winters. Basically you lay out pillows like stepping stones and tell the kids the floor is lava. They have to get from one point to another by only walking on pillows. You can also have them practice jumping over pillows, or jumping from pillow to pillow with one or two feet.

40. Make a tent or fort

A classic rainy day activity! Drape blankets or bedsheets across furniture or kitchen chairs. Use clothespins or big binder clips to hold the blankets in place. Gather fluffy pillows, a soft blanket for the floor, stuffed animals, and books and flashlights for the inside of your fort. Kids will find all kinds of fun ways to use their new cozy space!

41. Dance Party!

Put together an epic kids’ playlist and let the good times roll! You can also teach them Freeze Dance to keep their attention.

42. Play with a bubble machine

One of my favorite places to take my kids is library storytime. Our local library usually ends the class with a bubble machine, and the little ones go CRAZY for it! When I was racking my brain for gift ideas for my 2-year-old, I realized a bubble machine would be the perfect gift.

Since then, we’ve turned on the bubble machine whenever we need a fun break. Just put down some towels if you’re doing this indoors so you don’t get bubble soap all over the floor!

43. Exercise boot camp

Teach kids basic exercises like jumping jacks, squats, tuck jumps, hopping on one foot, running in place, stretches, and push-ups. Write or draw out a basic workout for them. There are lots of kids’ workouts on YouTube, but if you’re trying to go screen-free, you can easily teach them!

TOYS & IMAGINATIVE PLAY

44. Free play with open-ended toys

I find if I take out open-ended toys like Magnatiles, blocks, train tracks, or LEGOs and start setting them up, kids will follow suit and get really into. I like to stay and play for a few minutes before sneaking away.

45. Fill a box to donate or sell

Put kids to work if they’re bored and stuck inside! Grab a cardboard box or trash bag and challenge them to fill it up with things they want to donate or sell. You might want to loosely supervise this activity to make sure they don’t get rid of something that you deem sentimental or important.

If they’re having trouble letting go of their possessions, let them pick a special younger friend to gift their items to, or talk about kids who could use their things more than they can.

46. Play restaurant

If you have toy food and/or a toy kitchen, let kids set up a restaurant. Show them how to write and draw out menus. When you attend their restaurant, you can order food, pretend to eat, and pay for your food at the end.

47. Make Play-Doh creations

I find kids get pretty creative with Play-Doh, especially if they have fun tools to go along with it. If it’s not holding their attention as long as you would like, try challenging them to form letters, numbers, or shapes with the Play-Doh.

48. Get out Kinetic Sand

Have you tried Kinetic Sand yet? It’s amazing! It doesn’t dry out and it molds into whatever you want to make! I put measuring spoons, scoops, and sand toys in our Kinetic Sand bucket. It keeps the kids busy for quite a long time! (And honestly, sometimes I want to play, too!)

49. Look through old photo albums and photo books

When we’re all feeling crabby and cooped up, one of my favorite things to do is pull out old photo books I’ve created from Shutterfly. Kids love seeing themselves as babies and asking questions about what they were like, or what life was like before they were born!

50. Throw a pretend birthday party

My daughter loves to choose birthdates for her stuffed animals or dolls and throw them birthday parties. She’ll write out invitations, birthday cards, and put out decorations. If you have old party favors or decorations like hats, plates, streamers, balloons, etc, let the kids use them to set up a party.

51. Play dress up

Do you have old costumes lying around the house? Set them out for kids and let them use their imaginations to create characters and engage in imaginary play!

52. Set up a water station

Do this activity at your own risk! If you have an area of your house where you’re ok with a little bit of water spilling, set out beach towels, and get out buckets, measuring cups, plastic cups, spoons, ice cubes, and whatever else you can think of and let kids play with water!

53. Have a fashion show

Let kids pick their FAVORITE outfits and set up a runway where they can strut their stuff! Play music, take photos or videos and show them how to pose. They’ll have a blast getting to wear whatever they want and feeling like a star!

54. Go indoor camping

Maybe you can’t go anywhere but you and the kids are itching for a vacation. Try indoor camping to feel like you’re exploring without ever leaving your home!

Set up a tent or use a teepee if you already have one, and spread out sleeping bags, blankets, and pillows. Make s’more in the microwave, or make indoor s’mores bars like my mom used to: Golden Grahams cereal, chocolate chips, marshmallows, and a few other ingredients.

Use flashlights and glow sticks to have fun after dark, and if your kids are feeling brave they can even sleep in their tent!

55. Play with flashlights

Along those same lines, get out flashlights anytime to distract kids. Just let them play, or do guided activities with the flashlights. Try “tracing” letters with the light, playing flashlight tag, or make silhouettes or shadow shapes.

56. Set up a city or a zoo

We love setting up blocks and/or Magnatiles as a zoo or city, then use our Little People animals and people to populate whatever imaginary setting we’ve come up with!

57. Puzzle mix-up

This works best with younger kids puzzles. Dump out all the puzzle pieces in one big pile, then challenge kids to put all the puzzles back together. This is an activity even my 2-year-old loves!

58. Wash toys in the sink

After a hurricane one year, we were without power and stuck at home with bored kids. We ended up filling the sink with soap and water, then had our kids hand wash the plastic food and kitchen toys. One washed and one dried. We got a chore done, but it was fun for them because they felt like they were playing with water.

59. Line up tape on the ground for cars or toys

If you have colorful duct tape or masking tape (even Washi tape would work for this), make a long line on the ground or create shapes with tape. Show kids how they can line up their toys on the tape. We have a TON of toy cars (over 100), so I had my 2-year-old line up as many as he could. When the older kids came home from school, they wanted to play, too! I had them separate the cars by color and line them up in rainbow order, then count them!

60. Build something with magnetic tiles

By now you’ve probably heard about how awesome Magnatiles or Picasso tiles are! If you have some at home and want to get more use out of them, try using this Picasso Tile Idea Book to give kids ideas for what to build. It tells them how many of each shape they need and step-by-step instructions for making new creations.

I hope you’ve found these suggestions helpful if you’re cooped up inside with young kids. Feel free to share your own ideas below so we can all survive those long days indoors with our little ones!