How To Inspire Active Play Indoors

When you’re stuck inside because of rain, snow...or maybe a global pandemic, it can be tough to keep the kids active and having fun. The ongoing uncertainty of whether or not we will be back in school and at work in the coming months, along with colder weather quickly approaching, may have you thinking “What on earth am I going to do to entertain the kids this winter?” A lack of outdoor play does not have to mean no play at all!

So how do you beat the boredom and shake out those wiggles? While many of us have fond memories of rainy days consisting of building forts, playing hide and seek, or snuggling up for a movie marathon, there is just one thing missing in that line up: ACTIVE play! Swings, slides, and tunnels at the park are sure to do the trick, right? Not when there is winter weather in the forecast, or when you need to fold the laundry and cook dinner! The limitation on what we can do and where we can go calls for creativity when it comes to wanting to keep the family active, healthy, and happy. 

There are so many other ways to spend an active day indoors:

1. Obstacle course – Get creative as you can and use anything around the house to encourage balance, focus, agility and building strength: stack cushions or pillows to climb over, stack books to jump over, line chairs to crawl under, place stickers on the wall they have to jump up and touch
   
   
2. Treasure Hunt – to find each clue they have to do some sort of exercise like jumping jacks, push ups or a yoga position.
   
   
3. Indoor safari – create a theme for multiple rooms in the house so that they’re moving all around to see elephants, giraffes, cheetahs and even lions!
   
   
4. Help clean the house – Ok, so this one isn’t as much fun, but we all know that cleaning can certainly burn calories and keep us moving and that’s all we want to make sure our kids are doing, right?

No matter how you choose to spend time with your kids, be sure to somehow incorporate active play. Encouraging active play for our kids at such a young age will keep them on track to growing stronger, meeting those developmental milestones and therefore building confidence for a healthier future.

Be sure to check out the rest of our Playzone-fit collection for more ideas and tools to inspire active play every day!