Fun Exercise Ideas for Kids at Home & Indoors

Kids can have a lot of fun and get adequate exercise without even going outside, which is especially advantageous on rainy or snowy days. With common household items and a little imagination, your children can play a round of bowling, hold a mini-Olympics game, go on a treasure hunt, and run through an obstacle course.

  1. Play a Round of Bowling

    • Why drive to the bowling alley when you can play a round of bowling in your own home? To play, you need ten pins (water bottles filled halfway with rice) and a ball. Make a scoreboard on a dry erase board or on a piece of paper. Set up the pins at the end of a hallway or in an open room away from any furniture or fragile items. Allow your children to pick their team name, then begin the game. Each child can roll the ball twice, then they must re-set the pins for the next player. For more fun and to test your kids' coordination abilities, have your kids roll the ball a different and more challenging way each time, such as blindfolded, backwards, laying down or using their elbows only.

    Olympic Exercises

    • Hold a mini-Olympics challenge for your children to exercise various muscle groups. Set up a play area where your children and their friends will compete with each other for fun in different events. Each event will have its own area in the room. Ask the children to rotate around the room every two minutes or so to be able to partake in each event. Include stations such as ball toss, jump rope, push-up and hula hoop stations. Play upbeat music to keep the children excited and focused.

    Treasure Hunt

    • A treasure hunt will keep your kids active and busy as they use their detective skills to follow clues that lead them to a hidden treasure. Hide the clues in places that require lifting, moving or climbing objects. Give them a starting clue, and have each additional clue be a hint to where the next clue is located. Direct your kids to find the clues in different rooms of your home, and be sure to provide your children with a step stool so they can safely reach clues that are high up. Wrap the treasure up tight with layers of tape and cling wrap so that your kids have to work hard to open it.

    Obstacle Course

    • Set up a simple obstacle course in a room in your home with a lot of space, such as an empty garage or large play room. Pieces to include in your obstacle course are chairs for kids to crawl under, hula hoops to step through and a piece of 2x4 wood that the kids must try to walk across and balance on. Use a timer to see which child can finish the course with the quickest time.

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