Rainy day?
Try these 50 fun indoor games for kids!
It’s great when children can go outside and play, but sometimes, it just doesn’t work out that way.
Whatever the reason may be that the kids are stuck inside, they need something to do that will be fun and engaging.
So you don’t have to spend time figuring out what it is you’re going to do with the kiddos, we’ve gone ahead and found some great indoor games ideas for you!
Check out some of these fun indoor games that you and your little ones are going to love!
This article contains affiliate links to things that you might like.
50+ Games for Inside: The best Games for Indoors
1 – Alphabet Exercise
Go through the alphabet and have children complete an exercise for 30 seconds.
For example, A – arm circles, B – butterfly legs, C – crab walk, and so on!
2 – Animal Charades
Kids will be rolling with laughter as they act out their favorite animals.
Remember, no talking, just acting.
Whoever guesses the correct animal gets to be the next performer!
3 – Balloon Boxing
Using really long string or streamers and some painter’s tape, hang a few balloons from the ceiling.
Kids can have a go at boxing by hitting, punching, and bopping the balloons.
4 – Balloon Tennis
Tape a plastic spoon to a paper plate to create a ‘tennis racket’.
Children can have an awesome game of tennis using their makeshift rackets and a balloon.
5 – Blanket Fort
Break out the blankets, the sheets, the pillows, the sleeping bags, and anything else you can think of that will make the best fort ever!
6 – Bottle Bowling
Save all those empty bottles for an awesome indoor game of bowling.
Two-liter bottles with a bit of water or sand for weight will make the best bowling pins.
Children can paint or decorate them as they like, and then with a small ball, go bowling and knock down the pins!
7 – Box Cars
Cardboard boxes make the perfect cars.
Get out the markers and have little ones design their own racecar.
8 – Cardboard Castle
Put those empty boxes to good use and have the children build a cardboard castle that’s fit for a king or queen!
9 – Card Games
Everyone loves a good card game.
Play go fish, war, memory, rummy, crazy eights, and more.
Uno and old maid are fun card games, as well, but they require their own specific deck.
10 – Cotton Ball Crawl
Using a spoon, move a pile of cotton balls from one side of the room to the other.
11 – Color Hunt
Pick a color.
The kids will have to go around the house and come back with an object of that color.
Up the ante by making it multiple objects of one color or set a time limit!
12 – Dance Party
Break out the disco ball and host a dance party to get those little bodies moving!
Show the kids your awesome dance moves and learn some new ones from them.
13 – Dominoes
Play dominoes the traditional way, or create a domino chain reaction!
Children can set up the dominoes in different patterns and watch as they knock each other down. A domino race could be fun too.
Each child (or adult) can set up a domino pattern and see whose design gets knocked down first.
14 – Fashion Show
Dress up in your favorite outfits and walk the runway in your very own fashion show!
15 – Float or Sink
Take different objects and see if they float or sink in water.
This is a great science experiment for little learners.
16 – Follow the Leader
Do what the leader does in this timeless game!
Kids will be jumping, clapping, spinning, stomping, hopping, and more.
17 – Freeze Dance
Pump up the jams and get moving!
When the music is playing, show off your best dance moves!
When the music stops, everyone has to freeze!
18 – Garage Band
Gather items from around the house that can be used as instruments and make some music!
Try pots, pans, spoons, buckets, and whatever else that makes a sound.
19 – Hide and Seek
This classic game never gets old.
Someone hides while another counts to ten, and then seeks them out around the house.
20 – Hopscotch
Make a hopscotch board on the floor using painter’s tape and hop away!
21 – I Spy
“I spy with my little eye something… (adjective).” Pick something you can see and complete the phrase without saying exactly what it is. For example, “I spy with my little eye something blue”. The answer is then an object in the room that is the color blue.
Other players will have to guess what you are talking about and then the person who guesses correctly gets to spy something with their little eye.
22 – Jacks
All you need is a set of jacks, a bouncy ball, and a hard surface.
Toss the ball up, grab a jack with the same hand, and catch the ball after it bounces once.
The ball can only bounce once and the same hand is used to toss the ball, pick up the jack, and catch the ball.
Repeat until all the jacks are picked up.
Begin again by picking up two jacks in one toss and bounce, and then three jacks, and so on.
23 – Hot Potato
Everyone sits in a circle and passes the potato while music plays.
Once the music stops, whoever is holding the potato is out of the circle.
The last person remaining is the winner.
24 – Marble Run
Taking a pool noodle, create a long marble run by cutting it in half.
Kids can roll their marbles down the ramp.
Marble runs can also be made from paper towel rolls, Legos, cereal boxes, and paper plates.
25 – Marbles
Gather your marbles and draw a circle around them.
Taking turns, see who can knock the most marbles out of the ring by bumping them with a larger marble.
26 – Memory Match
Use or make cards with different pictures, numbers, words, or letters on one side.
Placing them face down, children pick two cards and see if they match.
If they are the same, those cards get taken out of play.
If not, they get flipped back over to try again next time.
Try these fun (and free!) printable dinosaur and unicorn memory match games!
27 – Milk Jug Toss
Take a gallon milk jug and cut off the bottom.
Keeping the top half, tape the edges for safety.
Using a long piece of string or yarn, tie a pompom to the lid of the jug.
Kids will have a blast trying to get the pompom into the jug!
28 – Mini Golf
Create an indoor mini-golf course using items you already have in the house.
Putt a ping-pong ball into a cardboard box while dodging obstacles made of wooden blocks, Legos, toy animals, or whatever else you can find.
It’s one of our favorite indoor games!
29 – Minute to Win It
These fun Minute to Win It games are perfect for home or school during indoor recess.
Each person has one minute to try and complete the task.
The winners move on to the next round.
The last one standing wins!
30 – Musical Chairs
Gather one less chair than the number of players. Everyone keeps walking and moving while music is playing.
Once the music stops, find a chair and sit down.
No chair?
You’re out!
Take a chair away and continue playing until only one player remains.
31 – Obstacle Course
Using items around the house, create an obstacle course for any age kid.
Crawl under tables, jump through a hula-hoop, roll over pillows, and more!
The options are endless, really.
32 – Paper Puppet Play
Make hand puppets out of paper lunch bags.
Kids can decorate them and then put on a play for their family and friends.
33 – Paper Laser Maze
With crepe paper and painter’s tape, create an elaborate maze for kids to navigate their bodies through.
Think mission impossible.
They will be crawling under, stepping over, and wriggling through an amazing crepe paper maze for a really good time!
34 – Pencil and Paper
Going old school here with a simple piece of paper and pencil can engage children for hours.
Games to be played include tic-tac-toe, squares, hangman, and more!
35 – Picnic Party
Have a little indoor picnic with the kids.
Load up the picnic basket, lay out a blanket, bring some outdoor games inside, and enjoy a delicious picnic party.
36 – Pillow Case Race
Sitting on a pillowcase, children can race across the floor by using their arms and legs to scoot from the starting point all the way across to the finish line.
This game is best played on hardwood or tile floors.
37 – Puzzles
From jigsaw puzzles and brainteasers to word search puzzles and crosswords, there are a variety of puzzles to keep kids of all ages occupied when stuck inside.
38 – Read a Book
A perfect indoor activity for all ages.
Younger children can be read to, while older kids can read to you or to themselves.
Make it comfy and cozy by creating a reading nook with pillows and comforters for everyone to relax on while they read.
39 – Rock, Paper, Scissors
You only need two people for this game!
Both players, at the same time, make the hand sign that’s a rock (make a fist), paper (make hand flat), or scissors (make a V with pointer finger and middle finger).
Rock beats scissors, scissors beat paper, and paper beats rock.
40 – Scavenger Hunt
Hide 10 objects around the house and have little ones find them and bring them to you.
You might also like this free, printable Indoor Scavenger Hunt!
41 – Sensory Guessing Box
Using a shoebox or small cardboard box, place different items inside.
Without looking, children touch and identify what is in the box.
Try using items like slime, sand, bubble wrap, and other unique objects for kids to feel and guess.
42 – Sheet Skate
Take advantage of those hardwood floors and ‘skate’ around using dryer sheets.
Little ones can put on their mittens and scarves and spend an afternoon sheet skating.
43 – Sock Toss
Get out those socks and laundry baskets (or anything that can be made into a ‘basket’).
Toss sock balls into the basket.
See who can get the most sock balls into the basket, or go for distance, and see who can make the basket from the farthest away.
44 – Simon Says
There’s one leader and the rest of the players are followers.
The leader calls out movements.
Everyone must follow the leader and complete the movement, but only when ‘Simon says’. The followers are out if they move without Simon saying so.
45 – Spider Web
Make a tape web in the doorway using painter’s tape.
Scrunch up balls of newspaper to be thrown at the web.
See who can get the most newspaper balls to stick to the web!
46 – Storytelling
Encourage children to use their imagination and tell you a story.
Inspire younger kids by starting a story and have them continue partway through.
Older kids can be prompted with a theme for storytelling.
47 – Tape Jump
Tape about 5 -10 separate lines of tape about a foot apart on the floor.
The first line will be the starting line.
Kids can do various jumping activities for fun or have a friendly competition.
Tape games can include ideas such as the long jump (both forwards and backward), run and jump, and one-legged jump.
48 – Tea Party
Dust off the tea set and have an old-fashioned tea party.
Dress up in your afternoon finest for a delightful imaginary tea party.
Invite the whole family, pets, and even the stuffed animals too!
49 – Treasure Hunt
Leave clues around the house for little ones to make their way to the perfect treasure!
50 – Virtual Escape Room
Follow the clues to escape the puzzle using free virtual escape rooms!
They’re a great brain-break activity for rainy or snowy days and can be done on just about any computer or tablet with an internet connection. These are great indoor games for the classroom – virtual or in-person!
51 – Whisper Down the Lane
Whisper a phrase to the person closest to you.
Then they tell the next person, and so on and so forth.
The last person says the phrase out loud to see if it’s the same as the original statement.
Usually, it turns out to be something completely different and hilarious!
52 – Write a Letter
Take some time and write a letter or even a note on a postcard.
Kids can send their handwritten pieces to a faraway family member or friend.
They can even send a letter to a new pen pal, perhaps an elderly person in a nursing home, or a child that may spend a lot of their time in the hospital who may need a friend.
Indoor Games Kids Will Love
This incredible list of 50 games for inside the house will have children occupied for days.
There is something for every type of kid with every type of personality.
These activities and indoor games are fun, entertaining, and will be enjoyed tremendously by both you and your little ones.
What indoor games do your children love?
Feel free to share!
