It’s that time of year. The sunlight is gone before you know it, it’s freezing outside…and the children still have the energy level of a hamster in a wheel. 😳 I needed a few new ideas to help them get their winter wiggles out, so I polled my buddies on Instagram to help me get creative with indoor play during these colder months. Here are our family’s ideas plus many from YOU!

1 – Barbie baths

It only makes sense to give the Barbies a bath as they are more often than not already naked (curse those tiny Barbie sleeves!!), and the girls will stand here for an hour swimming their dolls around in little sink baths filled with bubbles. Everyone is sopping wet when it’s over, but hey. It was a quiet hour plus their hands are already clean. Boom. Double win. 😉

2 – The STREAKS app: you can play this exercise app on your TV or phone, and then use your own music in the background for a fun, kid-themed “workout” indoors!

3 – Dance-along videos on Go Noodle: you can either get the app or just find the videos on YouTube! Lots of fun dance videos that encourage them to get up and move.

4 – Talent show or play: the girls love to create their own musicals or put on a talent show for their adoring audience (me😉), but the best part is that it usually takes an hour just to decide on a plan and get it put together, ha!

5 – Kinetic sand or water beads: we have these long and shallow plastic tubs that are perfect for messier indoor fun. Lay down a blanket and be prepared to vacuum afterward, but they sure love these! We get inexpensive water beads from Amazon [HERE] or Hobby Lobby in the floral section.

6 – Indoor trampoline park or pool: if you need to get outta the house for a bit, my buddies on IG suggested these destinations for wiggling, and I think we’re going to add them to our list this winter!

7 – Scavenger hunt around the house: a couple of people suggested having the kids create the hunts for each other, and I love that!

8 – Obstacle course: in the same vein, you could have the kids create obstacle courses for each other to get out some energy.

9 – Cosmic Kids yoga on Amazon or YouTube: lots of people suggested this one, and I’m excited to check it out.

10 – Bath paint soaps: stick them in a tub and let ’em paint the walls to their heart’s content.

11 – Build forts with sheets and blankets: one mom suggested a Nerf gun fight once the forts are ready…love it!

12 – Sensory boxes: fill with rice, beans, sand, shaving cream or whatever you have around (and that’s safe for you kids’ ages), and then give them spoons, small cups, toy cars or anything that they can scoop with or use to build and play.

13 – Play dough: or make your own if your kids have Celiac like two of ours. Who knew play dough contained wheat?

14 – Blow up a bunch of balloons and let them go nuts! Loved this suggestion.

15 – Make race tracks with tape on the floor and let them race little toy cars.

16 – If there’s room in the budget (and in the room!), lots of people suggested a mini-bounce house or mini trampoline for getting out extra wiggles!

17 – Beauty shop: loved this suggestion for our kiddos! Let them do each other’s hair, makeup and nails.

Hopefully this list will inspire some new and creative ideas for helping get the winter wiggles wiggled out of your kiddos! Excited to try a few new ones in our house, too! Any others you could suggest? Leave them in the comments below to help us all out!
ERIN

SOURCES:

*some affiliate links are used in this post