Use your imagination and get active indoors!
Indoor play that combines imagination and movement offers many benefits for children. The activity suggestions below encourage creative thinking and physical activity that helps kids grow mentally, emotionally, and physically.
What You Will Need:
- Safe, open play area
- 2 or more players
- Your imagination!
Activity Suggestions:
- Boeing 747 - Pretend you are a Boeing 747 about to take off. Travel down the runway, gathering speed. Now you're flying high in the sky, moving in a straight pathway. Zoom with your arms out, swoop, turn, and glide. Come in for a landing in a spiral pathway, slowing down and landing softly on your belly. Repeat, flying a different flight path.
- Hockey Player - Skate like your favorite hockey player! Make quick starts and stops, changes of direction, pathways, and speed. Turn around on one skate and change body angles as you glide about.
- Helicopter - Move your arms like helicopter blades as you glide about the room. Twist and stretch as you spin around and around. Sit on the floor as you come in for a landing.
- Be a Rag Doll. Be a Jack-in-the-Box. Be a Robot programmed to vacuum a rug. Be a pair of Scissors cutting paper.
- Be a Boxer - how will your arms and legs move? Demonstrate your best Karate Kicks. Be a Sword Fighter making jabs and slashes through the air.
- Be a Speed Boat travelling through rough water. Be a Rocketship and blast off to the moon! Land on the moon with a crash.
- Invent Your Own - Think of all the different machines we use daily. Become one of these machines as you move around the room. Can others guess which machine you are?
- Add Simple Props - Add simple props to enhance your movement. Things such as a Play Silk waving around while you move makes this activity more fun! Need more inspiration? Check out the book "My Daddy Is a Pretzel"!
The next time you're looking for fun, indoor activities - think beyond screens and structured toys - let your kids imaginations and energy lead the way!
