Interactive Activities for Stir-Crazy Kiddos

Do you sometimes struggle to come up with creative activities for the kiddos? My kids often have extra energy on days they can’t go outside. This means we get to do creative projects, make a DIY sensory bin, or practice learning new skills through play. Did you know kids learn something new from practically everything they do? Think about it. When kids ride a bike they practice balancing. When kids color they are practicing motor skills. When kids eat lunch they are discovering favorite foods or possibly trying new foods. Every day is like a maze of exploration for kids, which I think is fun! Here are some imagination-inspiring activities for kids to do on a rainy day.

Sculpt Unique Creations with Morph

When my kids are getting stir-crazy I get out our Morph. Morph shape shifting fluff is a pretty fun kids activity. It’s made from tons of tiny specks of foam-like material, so it “flows” apart, sticks together, breaks in half, and crumbles. You can make all kinds of sculptures and molded creations using Morph by Orb Toys. It also comes in a variety of colors and it doesn’t dry out!

Morph comes in a packet all crumbly and dry looking. Before you open the package you’re supposed to squish it together to form a dough-like substance. This allows you to use Morph for sculpting, and compacting the compound in the bag helps prevent a mess while you are squishing it together.

Once you have Morph in a decent sized ball, it takes on an entirely new form. Morph is hard upon contact and soft if you gently pull it apart. It has a taffy-like consistency when you pull slowly and breaks in half if you pull hard. It’s a unique compound that “flows” even though it’s not wet.

Since Morph is dry already it doesn’t dry out. I tried to encourage my kids to keep the colors separate so they will enjoy playing with it for longer. Once they start mixing colors it could quickly get muddled, and we all know that all the colors together create brown. Since Morph is made with millions of mini-spheres that are filled with air and magically stick together, it would be interesting to see what color mixing looks like, but we haven’t tried that yet. The more you Morph it the fluffier it gets!

The only thing I didn’t prefer about Morph is that it felt somewhat irritating on my hand’s dry skin. Also the packaging has cool example creations on the boxes which my daughters wanted me to replicate, with no success! I’d say as long as you moisturize your hands after playing with Morph and you don’t feel compelled to create the designs on the box, then Morph is a super fun kids activity that inspires creative design and interactive play.

Burn off Energy with an Indoor / Outdoor Play Set

On colder days my kids also like to play on our indoor/outdoor jungle gym from Lil’ Monkey. This play set is easy to fold up and take out in the yard, or enjoy in the basement or play room. My kids love climbing and going down the slide, and I like that this design is enjoyable by my 18-month-old and my 5-year-old. See our full Lil’ Monkey play set review here.

Create a DIY Sensory Bin

Kids and preschoolers also like to find treasures and explore textures in a DIY sensory bin. You can make a sensory box age appropriate too; with larger items for babies, and gems and water beads for older kids. Just collect an assortment of “themed” items and small toys from around your house, add a sensory medium such as sand, beans, or even Morph by Orb Toys, and let your kids scoop and explore away!

Easily make a DIY sensory bin for a baby using chunky toys and interesting textures.

A kids sensory bin requires 4 elements

Play Space + Sensory Medium + Tiny Toys + Scooping Tools

Play Space: Find a shallow box or bin with a lid if you want to save your DIY sensory bin for later. Use a tray for a one-time sensory play space that you plan to clean up afterwards.

Sensory Medium: Use dry beans, lentils, play sand, moldable sand, Morph shape shifting fluff, water beads, or even dirt as the sensory medium for your kids to play with in their DIY sensory bin. Any kind of moldable compound is fun to hide and bury treasures in a DIY sensory box for kids. Water beads provide a unique texture and sensory medium for preschoolers and kids.

Tiny Toys: Collect an assortment of dinosaurs, small cars, princess figurines, pet shop characters, or anything else that is small and can be gathered into a “set” for your themed sensory bin. You can also include optional decorative accents such as small beads, rhinestones, silk flowers, rocks, pebbles, marbles, or twigs.

Scooping Tools: Every sensory bin needs tools for scooping and digging! Borrow some toys from your child’s sandbox or play kitchen or use spoons and measuring cups so your kids can explore their sensory box. My kids have lots of fun burying and excavating treasures in their DIY sensory bin.

Staying indoors creates lots of opportunities for creative activities and imaginative play. Kids can come up with some pretty creative activities on their own too!

What does your family enjoy doing during cozy days at home?