QiDZ at Home: 20 Indoor Activities to Help Calm Kids

Contributed by Sensation Station.

With the given the current global circumstances, our children do not have the opportunity to be physically challenged enough. Many kids are struggling with their new routine of online schooling and not being able to leave their home. With being stuck indoors for this prolonged period, both parents and kids are bouncing off walls with so much gathered energy and no way to burn it off!

The variety of indoor kids activities suggested below can enhance physical, cognitive and emotional development. It is also an ideal way for kids to release their energy and can enrich interaction between family members making these great quality time activities.

How can you fit these activities within your day?

You can incorporate these activities within your everyday routine, for example; spend 20-30 minutes after breakfast to start off your day with one of these games. It can also be very beneficial to perform some activities 10-15 minutes before starting academic tasks and/or for 5 minutes between academic tasks to encourage improving attention and focus on the tasks at hand. Calming activities (such as 1, 4, 7, 13, 16, 17, and 19) could be done in a calm manner in a dimmed environment for 20-30 minutes to encourage winding down before bed-time.

20 Indoor Kids Activities:

1. Simon Says; ideal to make kids move, participate and laugh all through the game.
2. Obstacle course; incorporating gross motor skills like balance and coordination – great way to encourage teamwork, for ideas click here.
3. Sequencing motor tasks; 5 jumping jacks, 4 hops, 3 frog jumps and then stand on one foot for 5 seconds
4. Animal walks; bear walk, crab walk, frog jumps, snake crawls or inchworm walk. Check them out here.
5. Freeze tag; awesome self-regulating exercise as the kids have to wait perfectly still for someone to ‘unfreeze’ them
6. Painting; working on shoulder strength and stability, fine motor skills and visual perception and creativity. Stick a paper on the wall and allow your child to paint while standing/kneeling OR stick the paper on the floor and allow your child to lay on their tummy and on their elbows
7. Hide and seek; kids love to wait in their hiding spot while someone has to find them
8. Freeze Dance; for regulating movement and behavior. Click here to check it out.
9. Parachute play; watch here.
10. Counting down activity; count down from 3-2-1 so child learns to wait before a jump
11. Dancing; kids love practicing their favorite song. Great way to regulate by working with different speeds – fast and slow dance moves
12. Lemon and spoon race; child holds spoon with their lips and balance the lemon on it while walking/running a distance without dropping the lemon
13. Blowing bubbles; make it fun!
14. Balloon volley; kids have to learn to slow their movements to control the balloon and not let it fly or drop!
15. Spot it; printable worksheets perfect for visual processing and attention, which you can find here.
16. Breathing techniques; great strategies for regulation. Breathing using number ‘8’ movement, see more here!
17. Yoga for kids; watch here.
18. Zones of regulation; child identifies and manages their emotions – printables available here.
19. Squish them; get your child to lay on the floor and squish them by rolling an exercise ball over them, or use a pillow, or roll them in a blanket and un-roll them
20. Straw footy; use straws to blow pom poms/cotton balls across the table

Contributed by Sensation Station

Sensation Station are an innovative, multi-disciplinary private intervention and therapy center providing services for families and their children with a variety of therapy needs, developmental delays and/or learning challenges in a fun and motivating environment.

Also check out: 10 Kids Activities for Easter