Whether it’s too cold to be outside or you just want something creative to do indoors, here are 12 indoor games to keep you occupied.
Cold and rainy days can be very difficult for parents if you don’t know how to keep your kids occupied.
If you’re a mom or dad trying to make a fun family day out of the bad weather, it can be challenging to think of indoor games to play.
You’re tired of playing the same old board games and want some new options. You need indoor games to keep you and your kids entertained inside.
Luckily, we’re here to help you out. In this blog, we’ll talk about the best indoor games for your family that will make your kids feel excited for the next rainy day.
Best Indoor Games for Your Family
Kids forced to stay inside due to weather, instead of attending summer camp or playing outside with friends, can get bored fast.
You’ve played way too much Monopoly, Life, and Sorry and you need some new, fun games to play with your family.
Keeping kids excited and interested in games can be difficult, so it’s best to have a few different options to play when you’re stuck inside.
Here’s a list of 12 of the best indoor games to play on a cold or rainy day.
1. Sock Wars
This game is just what it sounds like. Get a ton of rolled up pairs of socks and divide them into to two groups. Each team gets their own arsenal of socks.
To start the game, each person hides somewhere in the house. When you say go, try to hit the other team with as many socks as possible.
If you hit someone, it counts as a point. Once time is up (can be any amount of time, 5-10 minutes is best), you see which team has the most points.
2. Arts and Crafts
Being creative is a great way to keep your kids occupied and quiet for days spent indoors. You can paint together, draw, build a house out of Popsicle sticks, make bracelets, or any other creative task you can think of.
Be sure to lay out newspaper so your kid (or you) don’t get paint, crayon, or glue everywhere. Otherwise, you’ll spend the rest of your day cleaning instead of having fun.
3. Build a Fort
There’s nothing more exciting than building a fort out of blankets as a kid. For whatever reason, sitting in a fort was so much more fun than not sitting in a fort.
So spend some time putting up a fort using chairs, furniture, and all the blankets you can find. The bigger the fort, the better.
Then, once you’ve finished the fort, your kid will be happy just to sit in their creation. Keep in mind, the fort might be a parent-free zone.
4. Go Fish
Depending on how old your kid is, you can teach them some new card games to play.
There are a ton of card games you can choose from, but no matter your child’s age, you can’t go wrong with Go Fish.
To play, each player gets 5 cards. You want to get four of a kind for as many card values you can.
When it’s your turn, you’ll ask an opponent if they have a specific card that you need. If they do, they hand it over to you. If they don’t, they’ll say “go fish” and you have to draw a card.
The game ends when there are no more cards to draw from. Whoever has the most four of a kind matches wins the game.
5. Hangman
Hangman is another classic game that every kid should know how to play. It can be fun for both the adult and child, and can also help your kid practice spelling and writing skills.
To play, choose a word, write out the spaces for each letter, and have your kid guess a letter at a time. If they guess a letter correctly, you fill in the blank. If they guess incorrectly, you draw another piece of the “hangman”.
If you draw the hangman before your kid guesses the word, then they lose. You can help your kid out by adding some extra body parts or clothing, such as a hat or mustache.
6. Charades
This is one of the best indoor games to play because it requires teamwork and communication. It’s hilarious watching each person try to act things out, and struggle to guess what it is.
To play, your family will split into pairs. One person from the pair acts out the charade for whatever title they receive and the other has to guess it before time runs out (usually one minute).
Whichever pair gets the most right, will win the game. You can either have each pair have their own individual turn, or have everyone act out each topic together (this leads to more competition).
This is a fun way to inspire some competition in your family, although may lead to some arguing along the way as many competitive games will do.
7. Pictionary
Pictionary is similar to charades in that it requires teamwork and competitiveness.
You’ll split into pairs, and one person will be drawing while the other guesses. The “artist” receives the word to draw.
The person drawing will start on a piece of paper, while their teammate tries to guess what it is. Whichever pair guesses first, wins that round. The winner will be whoever has the most correct guesses by the end of the game.
The game is playable using the Pictionary board game, or you can search online for Pictionary words to use.
8. Paper Airplane Race
This is a fun, creative activity that’s great for kids who are a little older. Give each person a piece of paper, and have them make the best airplane they can.
Then, find a place in your home that has a stretch of open space. Each person will take turns throwing their plane from the same spot. Mark where each plane lands once it’s thrown.
Whoever has the plane that makes it farthest, wins the game.
9. Guess the Food
If you don’t have materials for a lot of these indoor games, you may have to improvise and use whatever you have in your home.
One of the best improvisational indoor games is “guess the food”. All you have to do is grab random food from the pantry or fridge. They could be anything from mustard to olives to marinara sauce.
Blindfold one kid and feed them one of the foods. They have to try and guess what food they’re eating. Whoever guesses the most foods correctly wins the game.
10. Old Maid
This classic kids card game is one of the most fun indoor games for your child. You can either play with a standard deck of cards (add a joker to be the old maid) or you can use an old maid deck.
To play this game, deal out a deck of cards to all the players. The goal is to make the most pairs of cards and not have the “old maid” card at the end of the game.
Each turn, you’ll grab a card from the player to your right. If you grab the old maid, you need to hope that the next player grabs it from you. Whoever has the old maid at the end of the game, loses.
11. Hide-and-Go-Seek
This is one the most popular indoor games for kids to play because you can play it no matter where you are.
One person is “it” (usually the adult at first), and they will count out loud to 30 while the other players go hide. Then, the person that’s “it” will go looking for all the players one by one.
Whoever the last person hiding is, wins that round.
The next person that’s “it” is usually the first person found in the previous round.
12. Scavenger Hunt
This is one of the most fun indoor games because it requires your kid to investigate and go on an adventure. Also, it can take up a lot of time allowing you to take a little breather.
To do a scavenger hunt, write or type lists of items you’ve hidden around the house. Give a list to each of your kids. If you’ve made the items really difficult to find, you can write clues for each one.
Whenever a kid finds an item, they announce it and it’s crossed off the list. Whichever kid finds the most hidden items wins the game.
For More Ideas
Entertaining kids all day can be challenging and exhausting if you don’t know what kinds of games to play.
The best way to keep your kids occupied is to have several indoor games lined up to play all day, so once they start getting bored, you can switch to a different activity.
If you need any more ideas for some fun indoor games to play on rainy or cold days, read more here.
Contact us today with any questions or comments about playing family games indoors.