The 10 best indoor activities for kids
For rainy days, sick days and "I'm bored" days.
For rainy days, sick days and "I'm bored" days.
We started Zazti so our kids could get moving on rainy stay-at-home days. It's one idea on this list.
The other nine are the classics. They need a blanket, a flashlight, some paper or nothing at all, and kids have loved them since long before screens.
Spread pillows and cushions around, shout "the floor is lava!", and cross the room without touching the floor.
You need: pillows, cushions and a clear floor. Kids: 1 or more.
Cushions slide on a smooth floor. Put them on a rug.
Bat a balloon around the room without letting it touch the floor, and add a second one when it gets easy.
You need: a balloon or two. Kids: 1 or more.
Make it harder: heads only, elbows only, or one hand behind your back.
One kid counts to 30 with eyes shut while everyone hides, and the last one found counts next.
You need: nothing. Kids: 2 or more.
Agree on the no-go spots first, like the dryer and the car.
Open zazti.com on a laptop, tablet or phone, step back so the camera can see you, and pop bubbles or ski a slalom with your whole body, one kid on their own or two side by side.
You need: the device and about a meter of floor. Kids: 1 or 2.
It's free, there's nothing to install, and no video is ever uploaded.
Write clues that lead from the fridge to the bathtub to under a pillow, with a small prize at the end.
You need: paper, a pen and a small prize. Kids: 1 or more.
Number the clues, so a lost one doesn't end the hunt.
Build a fort from chairs and blankets, bring in snacks and a flashlight, and tell stories inside with the lights off.
You need: chairs, blankets, clothes pegs, a flashlight and snacks. Kids: 1 or more.
Clothes pegs hold a blanket to a chair better than anything else in the house.
Build a blanket fort, shine a flashlight on a doll from outside, and the kids inside guess what the shadow on the wall is.
You need: the blanket fort, a flashlight, and a doll or toy animals. Kids: 2 or more.
Hold the toy close to the flashlight for a giant shadow, far away for a small one.
Tape toilet-paper tubes and cut-up cereal boxes to a wall and race marbles down it.
You need: toilet-paper tubes, cereal boxes, masking tape and marbles. Kids: 1 or more.
Use masking tape on painted walls, and keep the marbles away from toddlers.
Stick a name on everyone's forehead with a sticky note and ask yes-or-no questions until you work out who you are.
You need: sticky notes and a pen. Kids: 3 or more.
Pick names everyone knows: cartoon characters, animals, the family dog.
Think of anything at all, and everyone else gets 20 yes-or-no questions to guess it.
You need: nothing, so it works in the car too. Kids: 2 or more.
Start with "Is it alive?" It cuts the world in half.
Burn the energy first, then slow down. Start with the floor is lava or hide and seek, then build a blanket fort and finish with shadow guessing inside it.
The floor is lava, balloon keep-up, hide and seek and Zazti, where kids jump, duck and reach in front of the camera.
Hide and seek and twenty questions need nothing. Who Am I? takes sticky notes, and a treasure hunt some paper.
A blanket fort with shadow guessing, or a game of twenty questions with the lights off.
Yes. In Zazti kids play with their whole body: the webcam sees them move, and a round lasts about a minute. More on active screen time.
Here are the 10 best outdoor activities for the dry days, from a water balloon toss to a bike slow race. And if it's moving games you're after, these are our active indoor games, picked by how much room you have.