Educative & Engaging Indoor Games for Kids
Summer sunshine is a gift that never stays no matter how much we would mutter our wishes. There will be times when rain or snow keeps the family cooped up at home. The sun stops shining and whisks itself away to lounge behind the cover of heavy rainclouds. A gloomy cold settles around the front yard and none but a few brave souls can be spotted outside in the overcast day. For your energetic and fun-loving kid, all that pent-up energy would soon lead to a mini-implosion of broken vases, dirty walls, and messy floors! Fortunately, we’re here to save you from that headache with some indoor games that both parents and their children are sure to enjoy!
Board and Pencil Games: Turn back the clock and experience the sweet nostalgia of ransacking the attic and recovering those old-school board games that you used to play back in your childhood. Games like Monopoly, Scrabble, Risk, and Game of Life are some retro favorites that will capture the imagination of your children. No board games? No problem! Pencil and paper with a smattering of memory and imagination can turn the tide of battle with ease. Just grab a pen and paper to start the game! Hangman, M.A.S.H., and Tic-Tac-Toe are the first that come to mind when it comes to easy-to-play games, but winging it and making up your own game with specials rules and rewards can be twice as fun! This won’t just help build a tyke’s imagination, but also get your own creative mind thinking.
Team-building Activities: The reason why you’re reading this article in the first place is to find out ways to make your experience genuine bonds of camaraderie and love. With this in mind, team-building games are a surefire way to make unforgettable memories that will warm your heart and brighten your days. It doesn’t even need to have rules or purpose. Just a spirit of clean of fun and willingness to get down and dirty is more than enough for most. The sight of your son sumo wrestling while wearing your shirt stuffed with fluffy pillows is something that you wouldn’t soon forget. The image of your daughter’s nose scrunched up in concentration as she tries to match your paper collage will be the highlight of any rainy afternoon. Dad and Mom may soon be finding themselves outdoing one another in a high-stakes game of Jenga with the kids acting as mini-cheerleaders.
Skill-building Games: Whoever said learning can’t be fun has clearly been living under a rock for the past years. Even hopscotch and indoor hide-and-seek have been proven to improve cognitive skills alongside motor coordination. If you’re more a fan of the thrill of the chase and wouldn’t mind spending some money on sugary bribes, scatter some chocolate packages around the house to put incentive to a regular treasure hunt. Is your college pigskin or high school basketball just collecting dust in the corner of the garage? Play a quick set of Hot Potato with the winner getting to choose what snacks everybody gets later at night. If the family is especially competitive, put a twist into the usual game of Freeze by giving out trophies for categories like ‘Best Robot Impression’ and ‘Mr. Poker Face’. Before you know it, you’ll be running and jumping your way around screaming kids; the good kind of screaming.
All the fun and games has to stop at one point, though. Eventually, either the kids’ boundless energy will inexplicably run out or the parents would feel tired and call it quits. A happy and exhausted family (due to so much fun) inside a house pelted by rain or snow is typically a happy family. At the end of the day, when the kids are tuckered out and knuckling their eyes to fight back the song of Mr. Sandman, get them dressed in their favorite pajamas and hit the hay inside a pillow fort large enough that the entire family can fit in. Never mind the fact that Junior snores like a grown man and your little girl takes kung fu classes while asleep. Besides, one of the best ways to fall asleep is with your loved ones cuddling up to your side and raindrops pitter-pattering on the windows outside.