10 Easy Indoor Play Ideas: Screen Free Fun at Home

Some days, for lots of reasons - weather and life and sleeping babies and friends visiting - it's good to have a handy bucket list of things to do inside just in case we get stuck indoors. We parents stick together, so we're sharing this list with you (after all, we all need a list like this for rainy, cold or too-hot days when going outside isn't plausible.) We're keeping to simple ideas that require no electricity!

This post contains Amazon affiliate links at no cost to you.

Staying home isn't what you want to do? No problem. If you want indoor activities that involve somewhere other than home try these lists:

• In Greenville, SC: See this list of things to do indoors near Greenville, SC.
• In the Midlands: See this list of things to do indoors near Columbia, SC.

10 Ideas for Indoor Play at Home

1. Playing with Rice

Rice play is a go-to activity in our house (especially when we have a toddler visiting that we need to entertain). Dump a bunch of uncooked rice into a tray and let your kids play with it with spoons, colanders, bowls and anything else that you can think of.

You can color the rice ahead of time using food coloring & a tiny bit of rubbing alcohol or vinegar to set the dye, but that isn't necessary.

Yes, it makes a mess, but nothing that a vacuum cleaner can't clean up in a jiffy!

2. Painting in the Bathtub

Strip your kids down to the bare necessities and stick them in a dry tub with plenty of washable finger paint or you can just make a little bit of your own by mixing tear-free soap with food coloring. Let the kids paint themselves, the tub, whatever they want. When they are finished spray the kids and the tub off, fill up the tub with clean water and let them have a bath.

In my experience even just paint can make the bathtub a little slick, so you will want to supervise your kids during this activity. Supervision also cuts down on throwing the paint across the bathroom. I'm sure that's the sort of thing that only my kids do, right?

P.S. I have never had trouble with these Crayola washable paints staining my tub, but of course, you would want to test the paint first to be sure that it won't stain!

3. Play Dough

Try a skin-therapy homemade playdough made of things like oatmeal, oil, and flour. Snag this homemade play dough recipe from the National Eczema Association. It's a great recipe because it only takes under 5 minutes to make, requires no cooking, smells nice, and cleans up easily. Plus, it won't dry out your kids' hands.

Photo byKidding Around Greenville

4. Marshmallow Construction

Use toothpicks and marshmallows to construct buildings, geometric figures and more. Building with marshmallows also doubles as a great engineering lesson!

5. Constructing with Paperclips & Straws

Same idea as above, just instead use straws with paperclips stuck in each end of the straw. Attach the straws by interlocking paper clips!

6. Indoor Water Play

Lay out a towel and a long container or several small containers with a little bit of water in them. Let the kids play with small animal figures, pebbles, or anything else you can rummage up that's waterproof. (Aluminum foil makes awesome boats.)

Take it to the next level by washing your dolls' or ponies' hair. A little conditioner plus water and a comb can usually get snarly fake hair back to almost new condition. Or try giving your miniature cars a car wash!

7. Indoor Snowball Fight

Crumple up old newspaper or discarded papers and throw them at each other in the hallway or anywhere else that you dare.

8. Macaroni Jewelry

Pull out any pasta with a hole in the middle (macaroni, tube, ziti) and string it on pipe-cleaners or string to make bracelets and necklaces. You can also paint or dye the pasta if you want to make it more colorful.

Photo byKidding Around Greenville

9. Draw on a Big Sheet

We keep a big roll of paper on hand and sometimes I'll roll out a big sheet, tape it to the floor, and have the kids draw a city using crayons and colored pencils for their miniature cars. I've had luck occupying multiple children for over an hour with this trick. If you don't have a big sheet of paper, try taping several small sheets on the floor next to each other.

10. Make Paper Bag Puppets

Take out lunch bags and let the kids draw or glue funny faces on them. After making your puppets, hold a puppet show.