Energy Busting Indoor Winter Activities For Kids | Screen Free [Episode 295]

I have spent a lot of time inside with young kids who have loads of energy (even though we get out as much as we can). We’ve been in tiny grad student apartments and smaller houses without clear places to physically move their bodies for all 10.5 years of motherhood.

As we get into winter, I start to feel a sense of panic about what we will do for months with shorter daylight hours, colder temperatures, and lots of need to move our bodies.

In this week’s episode, I’m sharing how we’ve set up our home (even when we lived in tiny apartments) so the kids have places to play hard inside, as well as activities I have to direct the energy when needed. 

Setting Up Inside So Kids Can Play In The Winter:

1. Create a few intentional places for big movement. Even in our small apartment, we had a picker triangle and a small trampoline. We’ve added a pull-up bar in a doorway. 

2. Have self-directed activities like yoga or calisthenics cards and teach your kids how to use them.

3. Have a list of activities you can refer to when things are going crazy (usually afternoons in our house).

Here are a few of our favorite activities from my list: 

• Tape pennies on shoes for tap shoes

• Skate on the floor with socks - bonus with wash clothes and Force of Nature for a mopping party.

• Have an indoor snowball fight with rolled-up socks or indoor snowballs.

• Wheelbarrow walk - hold your child’s legs and have them walk around on their hands.

Get my personal likes of 25 activities HERE.

I don’t want to entertain my kids - I want to set up an environment where there are a lot of options for movement. Having these things in place allows us to stay active in the winter months and keep my kids happy and busy.

I’d love to hear your best inside activities with kids!