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Games & Activities for Stir-Crazy Kids
by Penny Warner
We parents don't need a groundhog to tell us there will likely be more days indoors with the kids until spring breaks through the winter weather. To keep everyone from going stir-crazy, here is some entertaining, end-of-the-season fun
for the whole family. It all starts with a box.
Make a Boredom Buster Box
Begin the fun with a Boredom Buster Box! Brainstorm ideas for indoor fun (continue reading for some helpful ideas), and write them down on scraps of paper. Fold them up and place them in a box. When the weather is bad or the
kids are bored, have them reach into the box for a suggestion and carry it out! Better yet: Each day put something in the box that offers a fun activity, such as a lump of Play-Doh®, a board game, a snack recipe or a bag of balloons to enjoy.
Build an Indoor Fort
Inside the box.place a sheet. Tell the kids to use the sheet and their imaginations to create an indoor fort. They can drape the sheet over furniture, then crawl inside with flashlights and pretend they're in a mountain cave, a far outpost or a secret room. Offer props to enhance the play, such as pillows, stuffed animals or little cars.
Grow a Flower Garden
Inside the box.place a packet of seeds. Buy small flowerpots and some soil, and let the kids plant their own spring flowers. Have them paint the pot first, fill it with the soil, and insert the seeds according to the package directions. Have them keep a record of how often they water the seeds, when the first buds break through, and how much the flowers grow each day.
Have a Balloon Blast
Inside the box.place a package of balloons. Let the kids think up ways to play with them, such as:
- Inflate a balloon, then let it go and watch it fly.
- Inflate a balloon, then stretch the opening flat to make the balloon squeal as the air seeps out.
- Inflate a balloon, then run it against your clothes or hair and see how many you can stick to the walls.
- Inflate a balloon, then try to keep it in the air as long as possible just by batting it.
- Inflate a balloon and bat it back and forth with a partner.
- Inflate a balloon, then draw a funny face on it with permanent marker, or use colorful stickers to decorate it.
- Inflate a balloon, then tie it to your foot with a piece of string or ribbon. Have everyone run around and try to pop other player's balloons, while keeping your own balloon from being popped.
- Inflate a bunch of balloons, distribute them around the house, and have the kids race to retrieve as many as they can.
Learn a Secret Code
Inside the box.place paper and pencils. Ask the kids to create coded messages for each other, then try to decipher them.
For example:
- Write the alphabet in a line, then write it backwards underneath the first line, so that each letter below correlates with a letter above. - Write a message using the bottom line, and decipher with the top line.
- Write a message using a white crayon on white paper. Decipher it by rubbing a colored crayon over the message to reveal the writing.
- Make your own symbols for each letter, write a message, and have the others decode it using the key.
- Write a message without vowels and let the others decipher it, such as CN Y DCPHR THS MSSG.
Create a "Green" Town
Inside the box.place an empty orange juice can, a toilet paper roll, a bottle cap, a band-aid tin, an animal crackers box, a spool and other recyclables. Have the kids create a super city, a space station, a country farm or an amusement park using the toss-away materials and a roll of tape. Add a few small cars, farm animals or tiny people to complete the fantasy fun.
Put on a Puppet Show
Inside the box.place hand or finger puppets, or small dolls. Get a big appliance box, then have the kids cut out an opening for the stage. Staple on a piece of cloth or towel for the curtain, paint the box to make it festive, tie on a few helium balloons, and have the kids present a puppet show from inside the box.
Bake and Decorate Cookies
Inside the box.put a recipe for your favorite cookies, along with some of the ingredients. Under your supervision, have the kids make the cookies, then decorate them with tubes of frosting and candy sprinkles.
Mix Your Own Baker's Clay
Inside the box.put a plastic bag filled with 4 cups of flour, a bag filled with 1 cup of salt, a measuring cup, and some food coloring. Have the kids mix the flour and salt in a large bowl, along with 1® cups water, and knead it until
smooth. Divide the dough into quarters, add food coloring to each quarter to make four different colors of dough ; red, blue, yellow and green. Let the kids make whatever they want ; decorative pins, small picture frames, tiny animal
figurines ; then bake the dough at 200 degrees for about an hour (until firm).
Penny Warner has more than 25 years of experience as an author and party planner. She has published more than 50 books, including 16 specific to parties.
Additionally, Warner wrote a weekly newspaper column on family life for 11 years, penned a column for Sesame Street Parents magazine and has appeared on
several regional and national TV morning programs.
Balloon Time is the leading brand of consumer helium balloon kits in North America. Balloon Time kits feature a helium-filled tank, latex or foil balloons and ribbon, and are available at Zellers, Wal-Mart, Costco, and Toys 'R Us locations.
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