Kids can have endless amounts of energy, regardless of what the season is or what the weather looks like outside. My girls regularly ask to go on a walk even if it’s snowing. We currently have about 18 inches of snow outside — npinot exactly family walk weather. My kids regularly need to burn off their energy and thankfully we have a basement where they can enjoy some active play, often chasing each other around our huge sectional or coming up with any number of imaginative games. I’m excited to share some tips for keeping kids entertained inside when your family is feeling especially contained or restless.
Homemade Sparkle Playdough
Playdough is like the easiest thing ever to make. We gave our homemade play dough some pizzazz by adding scented soap fragrance and glitter! So fun! I just wish it didn’t dry our hands out so much because of all the salt. I actually used 1/3 of the recommended salt and I might add some Shea butter next time just so it’s fun and moisturizing. Storing our homemade play dough in an air tight container gives it a decent shelf life and this fun squishable dough is very inexpensive to make. Even the bottom of our pan looked pretty awesome!
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Inflatable Trampoline & Pool
This inflatable bouncer pool from The Shrunks is so fun! It’s a decent sized inflatable trampoline that can fit up to 3 kids, and once flipped over you can fill it with water as a swimming pool! The external ring is easily inflated with the foot pump and the inner area stays empty as the trampoline space (or as the pool area when flipped over). It’s easy to attach the foot pump to the valve and inflate the Bouncer Pool and ours has stayed inflated for several days before we have to top it off. The instructions recommend against using a electric pump because the Bouncer Pool is designed to hold large volumes of air at low pressure. It only takes a few minutes to manually inflate this fun kids’ trampoline with the foot pump, perfect for any space where your kids have room to run around.
Once we got the Bouncer Pool inflated, my kids enjoy bouncing on it for hours! We set it up in our basement as the perfect toy for long winter afternoons. My kids play on it, run around it, slide on and off of it, and have so much fun rolling around. I was surprised at how durable this inflatable bouncy toy is; the material is thick and the seams are well made so that it isn’t easily broken from regular use. The first bouncer pool we received had a tiny puncture hole in it from shipping, but the company offered to send a replacement right away! Amazing customer service! The Shrunks products are even backed by a 2 year warranty against product defects. If you do happen to get a puncture (things happen with kids) in this inflatable trampoline, it also comes with two high performance patches to extend the life of your Bouncer Pool. Overall we love this product.
The Shrunks Bouncer Pool is easy to inflate within a few minutes using the handy foot pump. Because the air pressure is affected by temperature changes, we top off the bouncer pool every few days, also depending on how hard the kids have been playing with it. The Bouncer Pool has stayed inflated even through regular rigorous play and it’s easy to top off with extra air as needed. My kids ages 4, 2, and 1 regularly use this inflatable trampoline and it’s the perfect size and level of bounce for them. Shop for this Bouncer Pool on Amazon »
I always love finding indoor kids activities like the Bouncer Pool that are fun, encourage kids to exercise, and are easy to store when we want to put it away.
DIY Kids’ Crafts & Activities
Cut out paper shapes and glue them into whatever you want! You can make a spaceship, snowman, or beautiful flower garden using just paper, glue, scissors, and your imagination! These fun paper creations are fun for kids to color and decorate with stickers and glitter. Plus you can use your kids’ paper art as beautiful seasonal decor for your home; your kids will be so proud!
Interactive Kids Toys
Long afternoons are made more fun with interactive kids’ toys. Twinkle the Magical Unicorn from VTech is a super fun and musical pal for kids and babies. Even my baby boy is enamored with Twinkle’s colorful lights and musical sounds. Fairy Prisma is a fun character who interacts with Twinkle and rides on his back as this cute toy unicorn trots along.
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Disney Little Kingdom play sets are a super fun activity for cold dreary days. These darling dolls have outfits that can be accessorized with snap-in accents such as flowers and snowflakes. My daughters love setting up the characters and dressing them with mix-and-match outfits, and I love how much fun my girls have playing together.
How do you fill up your kids’ afternoons? Our family enjoys a mixture of structured routines and independent play. And getting exercise and enjoying sensory or imaginative activities is always a plus!
Hi, I’m Katie! I live with my husband and 3 kids in Coeur d’Alene, Idaho. I love Jesus, coffee, creative projects, taking photos and traveling. I’ve previously worked as a web designer, journalist and barista. I hope you enjoy our creative projects and family adventures!
Any kid would love these great ideas
I love reading your articles. Keep up the great work!