The holidays are an exciting time for kids which means they have a LOT of energy. With the cooler weather it can be hard for them to go outside and get all of that energy out.

For this blog post we want to give you some ideas for activities that your kids can do inside; from Toddlers - Elementary Age kids we have an activity for everyone!

Activities for Toddlers:

Sensory Bin: Every toddler loves a good sensory bin. Some ideas can seem overwhelming to set up, but, for simple sensory play you can use dry rice, dried beans, cereal, dried pasta, or even oats for fun and safe play! Include some kitchen utensils like serving spoons, spatulas, measuring cups, or put in some cars/trucks to make it a pretend road. Anything can be more fun if you add it into the sensory bin; like empty cups or even toilet paper rolls. Let your toddlers explore, experience, and maybe make a little bit of a mess too!

Stickers: Such a simple and yet such a good activity for toddlers! All you need is a sheet of paper and some stickers. You may have to be more involved in this one by helping them get the stickers off of the page, or, it may turn into a great fine motor skill activity where they work on getting the stickers off by themselves. Make sure to have plenty of stickers on hand and remember that stickers may end up on themselves and the objects around; so maybe don't have them doing this on the mahogany dining room table 😬. If you want something that is more reusable, consider using a reusable sticker pad! Melissa & Doug have some great options; check them out here.

Balloons: Need I say more? So fun and such an easy activity! Balloons are great for all ages. Giving your toddler one, two, or even five balloons is just way too much fun! You can play with them, batting it around to keep it off the ground or helping them practice their throwing and catching. Encourage some independent play by having them throw it up and catch it themselves, create some silly static with their hair or just play/imagine on their own.

Activities for Toddler - Elementary School Age:

When you have both a toddler and school aged child it can be really hard to find inside and active things to do that are fun for both ages. Here are a few that we found:

Make A Fort: Sheets, blanket, pillows, or couch cushions; anything can be made into a fun and fantastic fort! Your elementary aged child might be able to build this one on your own or could use a bit of help. Foster their imaginative play with having a pretend (or real) picnic inside the fort, bringing in blankets and having a “sleepover”, or bring some other toys in like books or games for all your kids to enjoy inside their new fort. Toddlers may need to practice being gentle with the fort so as not to knock it down or maybe that can be part of the fun too 😜.

Exercise/yoga: This activity can be one that is hands on or hands off! If you want to get some exercise in as well, try to get your kiddos to follow your yoga/exercise poses. Jumping jacks, push ups, and sit ups are great ones that kids can try, even toddlers. And for the Yoga poses it is fun to see what the kids come up with, they may even create their own silly “new” yoga poses! Anything to get them moving! Another great idea is to turn on an exercise/yoga video to have them watch/follow along with.

Dance Party/Karaoke: Need I say more? Get some music going and watch your kiddos start busting some moves! Turn on music via spotify or jam along to some youtube videos on the TV. Do a dance-off and have your kids show off their best dance routine. You can also include some dress up elements to pretend it's a dance party: sunglasses, hats and anything to get that party started! If you have a pretend microphone use this to give each kid a turn singing a song of their choice. If you don’t have a pretend microphone, have the kids make their own out of paper towel rolls and color/decorate them with some markers, crayons, and stickers.

Activities for Elementary School age:

Paper Airplanes: Paper airplanes are a great STEM activity. Your child can decorate paper with markers, crayons, or stickers and then create their paper airplane using their own imagination or from a tutorial (by you or youtube). To make the paper airplanes more interesting you can even have them use tape or paper clips and see what happens. A hallway, open basement, or room with taller ceilings is great for testing out the paper airplanes. Put a line of tape on the floor to see who’s airplane gets the farthest, or see who’s airplane can stay in the air the longest. Have the kids do some problem solving to see if they can modify their airplanes to fly farther, and higher!

Make a Movie: Give your kids a video camera and see what happens. Just kidding, there's more to it than that, but that’s one way to do this activity! Using an old phone, digital camera or even a video camera have your kids make up a story and act it out while you film, or even have them film each other. This can be an awesome creative outlet by having them create props and dress up or just by getting in front of the camera and being silly!

String Laser Maze: This activity takes a bit more prep and planning from you, but you can also have the kids help as well. Choose a hallway or a smaller room in the house to create the obstacle course. Use yarn, string, streamers, or even toilet paper to stretch across the hallway/room at different angles. Depending on your child’s age and ability you can make this obstacle course as easy or as hard as you want. Once the obstacle course is complete you can have the kids take turns by timing them to see who can get through it the fastest, putting something on the other side of the obstacle course for them to retrieve, or maybe even trying it yourself!

A few more fun Elementary Aged Activities: Snow Ice Cream, Recycled Bottle Bowling, and Balloon Tennis

We hope these activities help your kiddos get some of that extra energy out in this Holiday season.

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