Indoor Activities for Preschoolers

As you find yourself spending more time at home, your kids need a few activities to keep busy while you attend a video conference or try to get a few minutes of work done.  Here are 6 indoor activities that kids can complete on their own.

1. Send letters—stay in touch with friends and grandparents by coloring pictures or creating artwork to send through the mail.
2. Color wheel scavenger hunt—create a simple color wheel and send your children on a color wheel scavenger hunt. Tell them to find items that match the colors in their color wheel and instruct them to categorize their objects by color into their own color wheel.
3. Get creative with the trash box—don’t throw away that paper towel roll! Build a trash box for your child with clean items you might be tempted to throw away.  Let your child use these items for free play or to build a structure from tissue boxes and plastic bottles.  This is a great way to repurpose your recycling!  Reduce, reuse, recycle!
4. Kraft paper people—if you have a roll of craft paper, take a few minutes to trace the outline of your child onto the paper. Give them a box of crayons and let them decorate their person!  Give them crazy outfits or make their twin!
5. Video conference with their friends—your child will feel extra important when they have their own video conference appointment. Schedule time with their friends to catch up and play.  The giggles alone will be entertaining.
6. Clean up—start by having each child take turns picking up one item. Then take turns picking up two items until they work their way up to 10 items each—then start back at one!  This will help eliminate the bickering between siblings while they work together.

Take a few minutes to organize these activities ahead of time so you will (hopefully) have more than a few quiet minutes to accomplish your own tasks for the day.  Build them into your daily schedule and review with your child so they know what to expect during their day!