9 Indoor Educational Activities for Kids

Ok yall, we are in Texas and we are forecast to have a hard freeze in the next few days. We are not used to that here in south Texas and honestly Im not quite sure what qualifies as a hard freeze but that’s what the meteorologist said so I believe him. I will also be staying home and not attempting to drive in this weather. So I came up with some activities for the kids to do while we are hunkering down.

As a homeschooler I’m looking to add in educational experiences whenever I can but I also don’t like alot of prep. Whenever I look up activities I need to either buy something or they require alot of setup from me. I mean not to sound lazy or anything but when I frantically google “Indoor Activities for Kids” I need something like now. With that, here they are.

Play card games

Everyone has a deck of cards. We like to stick with the classics. Its nostalgic for us the parent and alot of the classics can be used as math practice. Here are the ones we like: War, speed, go fish ( you can alter this to make 10 or whatever your child is working on), 21 (without the gambling part yall!)

Bake

Let them go free. I help my kids get all the ingredients together and measuring things together and give them a simple recipe and I walk away and take a mommy break. Yes the cleanup is big but they have a great time, while practicing their fractions, precision, and following directions and you get a break. Of course they can help with cleanup too.

Play store

All you need is some coins (real or fake will do), post its, and a pen. Tell them to create a store and price a bunch of their toys and other things around the house, which will take awhile. Then play store and give them a chance to practice giving change! If your ambitious you can help them make and cut out pretend money. (Im not ambitious)

Water play in the sink

Hear me out here. I know it sounds messy but water play is such good sensory play even for older kids! Even my 8 year old will do this. Throw a towel on the floor and put anything they are interested in into the sink or tub. My 5 year likes to put barbies in or cleans rocks she even does “chemical mixing” which is basically anything she finds that isn’t dangerous. My 8 year old likes to clean rocks too or float her homemade boats out of water bottles in there. Even just putting bubbles in might do!

Read aloud chapter book

So this is about the easiest most educational activity i can think of. Pick a good book, let the kids pick something to keep their hands busy like Legos, playdoh, blocks and get reading. You could even do an audio book!!!

Watch a Documentary

So this one includes a screen which isn’t my favorite but there are so many good documentaries I couldn’t leave it out! The ones we most recently have watched are “On the Way to School” and “My Octopus Teacher”. There are tons out there!

Puzzles

Pull out those puzzles from the back of your closet and give them a go!

Make puppets

You know all those old socks at the bottom of the basket that you don’t have a chance of ever finding the pair? They now have a purpose. I help my older child sew parts onto her puppets. Sewing is such a good skill to learn. Even just a basic stitch. But you could also just give those kiddos some markers , extra parent points if you have googly eyes, and let them make sock puppets on their own.

Build a fort

This one seems messy but its such easy clean up. I like to save books I have recently bought for occasions like these so its more exciting. I give them a flashlight which seems extra special to kids for some reason and ta-da “Reading Tent”!

Thanks for coming by guys! Dont forget to check out what we are doing daily over on instagram at lilysandleis_littlefarmhouse !