5 Indoor Activities (besides TV!) for Kids

“Can I watch a movie?” Don’t we all hear that every day from our children, nieces, grandchildren or little ones in our life? I don’t have a problem with TV or movies. But I believe that they are FAR too often used as the default choice of leisure time for children or used as a babysitter when you are a busy parent. They can easily suck away imagination, energy, and the innocence of our kids, and a few hours of distraction just isn’t worth that, in my opinion.

So what’s a parent to do? Here are some ideas…simple, but hey, effective!

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Crafts to Light Up Your Child’s Day During a Power Outage

No matter the weather, a summer thunderstorm can approach at any moment and knock out the power and plans of the day. While the storm may be depressing, there are still lots of things that can get accomplished and keep kids having fun even when they’re not in the sun. There are many things to do when the lights go out, with just a flashlight and some fresh batteries.

Here are a few ideas and activities that can help calm, occupy and entertain kids during a power outage:

Storytelling: Everyone loves a good story. So parents might want to recount the adventures of Little Red Riding Hood, or tell the love story of Cinderella and her Prince Charming.

Crafts: Before the stories, make puppets using scissors, colored paper, markers, glue and either Popsicle sticks or paper bags. Then the puppets can help tell the story. Crafts, no matter how simple, like coloring books and crayons, can always brighten a dark day.

Games: Hunker down for an evening of Monopoly or play the game of Life. With a flashlight, any board game can turn into hours of family fun. A power outage can provide for an evening of games and challenges. Also have a couple of decks of cards on hand to play Go Fish or War or to make up your own card game.

To take full advantage of the dark, you could also play flashlight tag, where, like in hide-and-seek, one person searches for the others. When they find a person, they can shine the flashlight on them and that person then becomes “it.” Shadow puppets are another great use of the flashlight.

With these activities – your fear or whining and tantrums should clear and know that it can be a fun day!

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Gloop Goop for Kids! Sticky and Fun Activity on the Cheap!

Aside from baking in the kitchen, why not make a little mess and have fun with the kids? Here is a cheap and quick activity to whip up that can be perfect for play dates with your toddler, a rainy day activity, or a ‘stay inside’ because it is too blisteringly hot outside for the kids to play – making goop!

How to make it educational?
Making goop is a great scientific experiment. Kids are fascinated to see three ingredients that when mixed together behave completely different than either one of them did by itself.

Mix up a bowl of Gloop Goop, a mysterious matter that kids can shape into balls or let ooze from their fingers.

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Simple Recipe of Gloop Goop – Here’s how:
* Pour one cup water into a large mixing bowl.
* Add a few drops of food coloring (any color).
* Slowly stir in two cups of cornstarch (use a spoon at first, but you may eventually find it’s easier with your hands).

Goop Recipe
This goop recipe is a little more involved than the first one and since it uses borax, you should caution the kids to be careful when handling it.

INGREDIENTS:

• 1 tablespoon of white craft glue
• 
1 ½ teaspoons of borax
• 2 paper cups 
water
• Food coloring (optional)

DIRECTIONS:

1. Pour the glue in one of the paper cups. Add a tablespoon of water and stir until the two are mixed well.
2. For different colors of goop, add a few drops of food coloring to the glue and water mixture before moving to the next step.
3. Mix the borax with four tablespoons of water in the second paper cup. Add one tablespoon of this mixture to the glue and water mixture in the first paper cup. If the glue mixture doesn’t turn into a gel, add another tablespoon of the borax mixture to it.
4. Take the gel out of the paper cup and roll it with your hands until it firms up a little. The goop is ready to play with.
5. Make sure the kids wash their hands when they are done playing with the goop.

Note: The borax goop experiment is also a good exercise in following directions. The goop won’t turn out right, if they do not follow the recipe exactly.

Give this a try! It may get a little messy, but that’s what makes it fun and interesting for your kids. What kid doesn’t like something icky, sticky and goopy that they can squish between their fingers?

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