This post contains affiliate links.
Are you stuck at home with energetic kids during quarantine? Use these ideas for fun indoor or outdoor kids activities to give your kids the physical outlet they need while supporting their mental, emotional and physical health and development!
New Here? I’m here to help you make sense of all the health and fitness info out there and create a simple, healthy lifestyle you love, even if you don’t know what that looks like yet!
- 5 Day Movement Habit Challenge (FREE!)
- 1 Week (FREE!) Getting Started with Cardio Program
- The Monthly Meal Planner eBook (FREE!)
- Join the Making Sense of a Healthy Life Community (FREE!)
- Creating Crucial Habits 4 Week Program
- Book a 15 minute Coaching Consultation here to learn how I can help you rebuild your health and fitness and create a healthy lifestyle that works for you.
Have you ever marveled at how much energy your kids have?
Believe it or not, they are not trying to wear you out or drive you insane with their antics. They’re just doing what they were made to do. And all that movement and activity has a purpose. Several really important purposes in fact.
Kids have to move to grow and become physically strong and healthy. But that movement is also critical for their mental and emotional development too. Active kids do better in school and have better social skills and emotional regulation. And they get to experience better physical health and fitness too.
Use these activities as an outlet for your kids’ energy AND to support their mental and emotional health and development. Plus, when your kids have an outlet to wear themselves out and regulate better, you’ll feel a lot better too!
I wish I could say we do an awesome Kids’ Activity like these every day. But of course, life happens and we get busy or have other things we want or need to do. I can definitely say that my kids have much better behavior, listen better, and have fewer meltdowns on the days that we make a little time for these kids’ activities.
Different motions to work during kids’ activities
Our bodies are capable of a lot of cool things. Kids thrive physically and mentally when they get to explore as many different movements and activities as possible. Moving through different planes like forward/backward, up/down, sideways, and everything else you can imagine actually helps their brains build more connections with their bodies which boosts both physical and mental health.
Here are a few movements to have your kids try:
- Balancing
- Bending
- Carrying
- Catching
- Climbing
- Crawling
- Dancing
- Jumping
- Pulling
- Pushing
- Running
- Sliding
- Spinning
- Swinging
Equipment for Kids’ Activities
You can keep it as simple as you want and just use whatever you’ve got – like a 2’x4′, couch cushions, laundry baskets and cans. Or go all out an invest in some awesome equipment designed for kids. We’ve done a little of both and it’s really worked well for us. I’m sharing links for the equipment we’ve invested in that we love.
Foamnasium Tunnel (Ours has held up wonderfully for nearly 2 years)
Foamnasium Step
Constructive Playthings 5 Piece Block Set
Melissa & Doug Tunnel
Special Supplies Stepping Stones (We don’t have these, but I know several families that LOVE them!)
Pro Disc Cones
Tips for doing Kids’ Activities
Make it fun!
You’re trying to support your kids’ physical, mental and emotional development while helping them build a healthy relationship with their bodies and exercise. The last thing you want to do is make this a chore.
Don’t get caught up in how much they’re “supposed” to do, or even how they’re “supposed” to do a certain exercise. Your kids are exploring their bodies’ capabilities and they need space to explore in their own way. If you push them too hard, or correct them too much, they won’t find it fun and they won’t want to do the activities.
So give them some direction and demonstrate what you’d like them to do, then let them interpret the activities however they need to. All you need to do is stay positive and encourage them along the way.
Don’t try to push your kids to do more than they can.
You want your kids to feel good while they’re doing the activities as well as after. If they’re getting tired and are ready to stop, then let them stop. Even if you’ve only been going for 5 minutes. Their strength and endurance will improve when you make time for this each day. You can even come back later and do another 5 minutes if they’re into it! Just let them be in touch with their bodies and let them decide when they’ve had enough.
Consistency is key
As with anything, your kids will get the most health and fitness benefits from doing this regularly. Try to plan just a few minutes a day to give your kids this outlet for physical activity. You’ll be surprised how quickly you see them benefit!
7 Kids’ Activities Ideas
Obstacle courses
On days when we can’t get outside, I’ll turn my living room into a playset for the kids. I try to incorporate a variety of options that require different actions like pushing/pulling, crawling, climbing, jumping, rolling, and balancing. Some days I’ll lead the kids through the play area like an obstacle course, but most days I just let them move however they feel like they need to. Then I’ll wrap up by directing them to try a few of the exercises that they haven’t spent as much time on to make sure they get a well-rounded “workout.”
- Blocks next to couch to climb up and over couch
- Couch cushions on the floor for jumping/rolling on
- Tunnel to crawl through
- Basket filled with stuffed animals, books, or a sibling to push and pull
- 2’x4′ wood beam to balance on
Stuffy Rescue Obstacle Course
Set up a basket full of your kids’ stuffed animals in one corner of the living room. Tell your kids they are going on a rescue mission to save the stuffies! My kids loved pretending they were going through a jungle to rescue the stuffies from a volcano.
Then set up obstacles that simulate their adventure! These are the ones my kids loved:
- 2’x4′ balance beam (pretend it’s a narrow, rickety bridge)
- Huge pile of couch cushions (it’s a mountain to climb)
- Line of throw pillows or these Stepping Stones (stepping stones across a river filled with hungry crocodiles!)
- Tunnel (it’s a hollow log they have to crawl through)
Relay Race 1
- Set up a line of cones about 1 foot apart (cans work well too!)
- Place a pile of stuffed animals at one end of the cones and a basket at the other end
- Starting by the basket, have your child crawl over cones to grab a stuffed animal
- Then they’ll stand up and run back to start, weaving in and out of cones
- Drop stuffed animal in basket and repeat
- Time your child to see how fast they can clear their pile!
- Or, if you have more than one kid, or you want to play too, have a race to see who can finish their pile first!
Relay Race 2
- Have your kiddo lay on the ground on their back
- Put a basket above their head that they can reach
- Put a pile of stuffed animals at their feet
- Have your kiddo grab stuffed animals with their feet
- They’ll lift the stuffed animal to their hands then drop it into the basket behind their head
- Time your child to see how fast they can clear their pile!
- Or, if you have more than one kid, or you want to play too, have a race to see who can finish their pile first!
Balancing Kids Activities
We have a long 2’x4′ piece of wood that works great as a balance beam. You could also put a long piece of tape on the floor too.
I try to get my kids on our beam every day to help their balance, coordination and overall body awareness. They’re growing so fast that they struggle to know where their bodies are in space and balance and proprioception work like this really helps with their clumsiness.
- Walk across beam heel to toe
- Hop forward onto beam, then backward off the beam
- Walk sideways across beam both directions
- Hop sideways onto beam both directions
- Walk across holding a squat
- Hop over beam forward and back or side to side
- Walk across, touching your foot with the opposite hand with each step
Forward Backward Kids’ Activity
This is a great kids’ activity that challenges kids to move forwards and backwards in a variety of motions. They will develop physical strength and endurance while challenging their brains, building teamwork skills, and working on emotional regulation. This is my kids’ favorite right now!
- Ball Roll w/ Squat (Holding a squat, push a ball along the ground with your hands. Repeat, walking backwards and pulling the ball along.)
- Bear Crawl
- Bunny Hops
- Partner Sit Up Ball Pass (One kid lays on the ground, grabs a ball, sits up and passes the ball to the next kid, or you)
- Log Roll (Lay on the ground and roll!)
Kids’ Activity Circuit
I love using our living room for circuits for the kids. Treat the living room like a giant square with corners A, B, C, and D. Have your kids do one exercise while moving along each side of the square. Then when they get back to the starting point, they can do the circuit again! Or, you can let your kids take turns choosing the exercises. That was originally the plan when I created this circuit, but my kids liked my exercise choices so much we just repeated this circuit until they were done!
- Walk across balance beam (A to B)
- Bear crawl from B to C
- Wheelbarrow from C to D (Have your child start on hands and knees, then you’ll lift their legs up and they walk as far as they can on their hands!)
- Crabwalk from D to A (Hold a squat and walk sideways. When you repeat the circuit, make sure you crabwalk the other direction so you work both sides of the body)
- Repeat!
Bonus: Kids’ Animal Workout
This is what we used when we flew across the country with our kids!
Kids need to move their bodies in as many ways as possible to support their physical, mental and emotional development. Making a little time each day for your kids to enjoy these Kids’ Activities will give them an outlet that supports their health and your sanity.