108 Indoor Group Games and Activities for Kids

Is the weather outside unpleasant? Don’t worry! Enjoy these indoor group games and activities for kids on that rainy day. These ideas are sure to bring hours of entertainment and engagement.

1. Aerobics/exercise.

2. All you can eat popcorn and movie time. (Visit Popcorn theme and Recipes)

3. Bean mosaic.

Sketch design on cardboard. Cover a small portion of the design area with thick glue and arrange beans on top following the drawn shape. Fill in the shape and continue until complete. Dry before placing upright.

4. Bingo

The old favorite game pretty much anyone knows and love. If you want to know the rules, here they are

5. Brainstorm program, classroom,  or family activity ideas for the month/year.

6. Build a house from cards

Start by balancing 2 against each other and watch the video below for more advanced ideas:

7. Build a Lego block or toy animal

Another great ideas is to build a toy animal, or maybe even a castle, the options are endless basically.

8. Play Charades.

If you need a few ideas for Charades, we published a few articles about it here:

9. Nail Polish

Have a supply of nail and hand products for days like this! (First, get parents’ permission)

10. Compile a list of things you like

Either to do at your program, home, school, and out-and-about! Put it in booklet form. Can you get to 100 or more? Complete the list with dreams and goals of what you’d like to do in the future! Illustrate if you like. (This can be an on-going project).

11. Cooking Ideas

Pizza, smoothies, desserts, something ethnic, candy, tomorrow’s snack, no-bake, anything!

12. Create from recycled material bins/tubs.

Don’t have a recycled art/project box? Start one. Kids both at school and home love them! (Ideas here)

13. Creative story telling.

If you have a group, form a circle and have one person start a story. Use an object such as a small ball; when the first person is done with his/her two or three lines, the object is passed along, until the story is complete.

Telling the story works best when the sentences are stopped at mid-point. The last person completes the entire sentence.

14. Creative story on long roll paper.

The procedure is the same as above; however, it is written on paper. Have each child use a different color marker and stop in mid-sentence, until the last sentence completes the story. This can be on-going.

15. Design and build with Popsicle sticks/tongue depressor sticks.

16. Dramatic play day!

Do you have equipment/supplies to play: House, Acting/Movie Star, Bank, Court, Doctor/Nurse/Hospital, Animal Hospital, Office, Restaurant, School, Travel, T.V. News/Weather?

17. Face painting.

18. Favorite gym games. (Small group games )

19. Group draw.

Have groups draw together on one large piece of paper self-portraits are an idea.

20. Graffiti Wall.

Put up a large sheet of roll paper in an area where there are no black/whiteboards. Write the title ‘Graffiti Wall’ on it. Put any subtitle you like.

It can be Draw on Me, Write on Me or change it every week with sub-headings of. Things That Make Me Happy! Favorite Things to Do, Pet Peeves, etc. (Good for sharing feelings).

21. Group puzzle.

22. Guess how much it will rain!

Put a cup outside and measure it when it’s finished raining. You can also leave a cup out overnight. Make a chart for estimates; the closest estimate gets a prize.

23. Have kids look at gym game books and choose some new games to play!

(All kinds of ‘Game ideas’ here)

24. Help a teacher.

25. Ice-cream sundae bar.

26. Invention bags.

Fill bags with identical items for kids to create something original – 1 bag for 1 to 3 children.

27. Jewelry making: yarn, cord, beads.

28. Jewelry making:

Cord or ‘licorice string’ and lifesaver candy and/or Froot-Loop/Cheerio cereal.

29. Jokes and riddles, 

tongue twisters and  games, mad libs knock-knock, trick questions and more.

30. Jump rope marathon

(contest with self-beating your own highest score).

31. Karaoke.

32. Lanyard lace or Lanyard and pony beads.

33. Learn new card games; play favorite card games.

34. Learn/practice juggling.

35. Learn/practice magic tricks-then have a magic show!

36. Learn/practice playing with a yo-yo.

37. Learn yoga.

38. Line dancing:

LimboConga line
Hokey PokeyYMCA
MacarenaChicken Dance
Hustle

39. Lip Sync.

This doesn’t really need any explanation

40. Magazine Scavenger Hunt:

Divide the children into groups or individually. Give kids a list of things that would be found in magazines. Children search, cut, and glue items to a sheet of paper.

41. Make a god’s eye with yarn and Popsicle sticks.

42. Make friendship bracelets from embroidery yarn.

43. Make some original word-search puzzles.

44. Make a Theme wall mural.

45. Make your own video. Pick a topic, write, practice, direct, shoot!

46. Make play dough….goop/gak/flubber from favorite recipes.

47. Make puppets:

bag, paper plates and sticks, socks, mittens, lunch bags, foam and felt.

48. Michelangelo Painting:

Tape large pieces of paper to the underside of tables or desks. Put out a variety of art supplies. Kids paint/color/draw lying on their backs – just as Michelangelo did! Discuss how he spent four years doing this to complete the Sistine Chapel frescoes.

49. Music /dancing of own choice.

50. Musical chairs.

51. Teach/Talk Pig Latin: 

To all words beginning a vowel (a-e-i-o-u, add the syllable ‘way’ to the end of the word. ‘Eat’ becomes eatway and ‘over’ becomes ‘overway’. For words that begin with a consonant, move the first letter of the word and add it to the end–add ‘ay’ after the consonant.
Example:

Man = Anmay
Cat = Atcay
Ice Cream= Iceway reamcay

52. Name that Tune!

53. Obstacle course.

54. Origami.

55. Paint to music and how it makes you feel.

56. Paper airplanes-Make them and then fly them in the gym.

57. Plan a family event.

58. Plan a morning breakfast.

59. Play ‘Follow the Leader’.

60. Play, Skit, or Puppet show:

Write, Produce, Practice, Perform.

61. Play or skit from a favorite short book, poem, or chapter book.

62. Pasta/rice/bean collage

63. Play some lively background music

(or soothing depending on the emotional climate of the room); it often cheers up a rainy day!

64. Pound nails in boards.

65. Pound nails in a tree trunk part –

at different levels for a unique art object. This can be on-going.

66. Pull out easel and paints. 

Paint Recipes here…tons of Fun Art ideas here.

67. Rain Art.

Kids put on rain gear and take heavy-duty paper plates outside. Sprinkle a few drops of food coloring onto plates and watch as designs appear. For a batik effect, first, draw on the plate with white crayon and then add the food coloring.

68. Random Acts of Kindness: Decide on a RAK activity.

69. Relay Races.

Play inside instead of outside!

70. Relay Races wearing mittens where objects are on a spoon.

71. Reverse writing.

Take a sentence or paragraph and try to write it backward.

72. Rhyme Time:

Think of words.  Children take turns seeing how many “real” rhyming words they can think of. When one word is worn out, choose another word. Remind them ‘nice’ words only!   Spring, ring, bring, thing, fling, ding, king, ping, sting, and zing!

73. Run laps around the gym.

74. Shaving cream –

put some on a flat surface and paint in it using fingertips.

75. ‘Simon Says’.

Play ‘Simon Says’ based on the season or theme: ‘Bunny Says’, ‘Elf Says’, ‘Santa Says’, ‘Pumpkin Says’, etc.

76. Sing some favorite songs; sing in rounds.

77. Spaghetti painting:

Cook pasta with some cooking oil added. Allow a handful of pasta for each child, Drain rinse, cool. Shape pasta-cutting lengths as needed-and place on card-stock sheets. Cover with wax paper and a heavy book to dry flat. Pasta will adhere when dry. (Add food coloring to the water for colored pasta) Other directions and ideas in Pasta Theme.

78. Spontaneous/Spur of the moment party.

79. Special craft/craft kits.

80. Start a Community Service project.

81. Start an Idea Box. Have each person put activity ideas they would like to do, in the new box; keep idea box going.  Already have one? Pull out some ideas to do or refresh with new ideas! Think about making this part of your program. Each week, Bi-weekly or monthly, pull out one of the ideas and do it! (Previously, screen ideas)

82. Start a Paper Maché project.

83. Start a photo journal/Take photographs.

84. Start learning a foreign language.

85. Start learning sign-language.

86. Start or add to ‘Who’s Who Book’

(pages about each child in the program); look at previous yearbooks and journals.)

87. Static Electricity –

Rub a balloon vigorously against hair or a sweater. Chart how long it will stick to different items and laugh at what it does to hair.

88. Stickers:

Use ‘office labels’ and kids decorate them with markers or paint.

89. Take apart a broken appliance.

put the appliance back together or re-invent it.

90. Tape record voices.

Ahead of time, tape-record different voices. Play the tape at group time. Try to guess ‘who is who’.

91. Teach a craft

(knitting, sewing, patchwork, leatherwork, woodworking, etc.).

92. Tell stories/to add on stories.

93. Trace your body:

fill with things about yourself-either drawn or cut out from magazines.

94. A version of #93:

Make a collage of yourself with things cut out from magazines, and glued on card-stock

95. Trivia or Jeopardy – played tic-tac-toe style.

96. Try to learn ‘ABC’s’ backward.

97. Umbrella Painting.

Rainy days on the way? Have interested children bring a solid color umbrella. Cover floor, open umbrella, decorate each section with fabric paint or pens. Let dry for a day before closing or using.

98. Use an overhead to project large pictures for kids to color/draw/cut for murals.

99. Treasure Hunt

remember to have ‘outside nature and buried treasure hunts’ on sunny days!

100. Watermelon eating (save seeds to spit outside for a sunny day contest).

101. Wild Hairdo Contest

(one or two children do another’s hair). Have a ‘Hair-Fasion’ show.

102. Write an original (positive) rap song about your program or school.

103. Make Yarn Dolls.

104. Make some bookmarks.

105. Have you met ‘Flat Stanley’?

Check out the Flat Stanley to get you going.

106. Read some books

107. Have a ‘Cleaning/organizing party’

kids sign up for what they want to do when complete all participants celebrate. (I’ve done this in child-care programs as well as at home. At home we all cleaned what we chose for 20 minutes and the house was spotless kids’ bedrooms don’t go on list LOL! The rest of the day was devoted to FUN)

108.  Use your ‘Raiy-Day’ Grab Bag!

Scoop leftover sequins, pieces of felt and pipe cleaners into zip-top bags and containers. When it’s full, challenge kids to use the contents of your “grab bag” to make something new, such as a collage or free-form sculpture. Larger pieces of unwanted artwork can be cut into strips or squares and used to make collage cards or decorate a back-to-school book holder or pencil pot.

109. Whew! Your turn!

There you have it, 108 indoor group games and activities for kids. No need to worry about being bored on a rainy day. These activities are great a great way to stay entertained and have fun. Have some laughs along the way.

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