Screen Free Activities for When Kids Are Bored

Article

  • Screen-free indoor activities for kids can turn rainy or cold days into opportunities for fun, learning, and creativity.

  • Ideas like fort-building, obstacle courses, puppet-making, and pretend play support motor, sensory, and communication development.

  • Add these rainy day activities to your “boredom” jar so you can prepare for the next time your kid says, “I’m bored”!

Smiling father holds toddler while lying on his back, surrounded by kids’ toys.

When nasty weather keeps the kids cooped up indoors, boredom can sneak in fast—and so can the temptation to reach for the remote or tablet. If you’re looking for screen-free activities for kids, there are plenty of options that will keep them entertained (and keep you from getting more gray hairs).

These rainy day activities are fun, great for kids’ development, and perfect for the whole family to join in—no batteries required!

Create a Boredom Jar

One creative parent told us she made a “boredom” jar—a go-to container full of paper slips with screen-free crafts and activities like “build paper boats”, “make friendship bracelets”, or “play a ball toss game”. Whenever the dreaded “I’m bored!” surfaces, instead of turning on the TV, she lets her kids pick a few slips and choose an activity to try. It’s a fun way to collect and store rainy day activities!

Any of the indoor activities below would make great additions to your jar—and they work for kids of all ages!

Infographic showing a jar filled with indoor kids’ activities like “Build a Fort” or “Write a Letter” on colored slips of paper. Some activities have lines sticking out with blurbs saying which developmental skills they help with.

Design an Indoor Obstacle Course

Climb, hop, crawl! If you have the extra space, let your kids turn your living room into an action-packed obstacle course. You can use pillows to jump over, chairs to crawl under, and tape lines to balance on. For kiddos with a competitive streak, time them with a stopwatch for a fun challenge! Not only is this a blast, it’s a great way to build gross motor skills and get those wiggles out on long indoor days. Remember to be safe and make sure sharp corners and breakable objects are put away or kept in a safe place.

Write a Letter (or Draw One!)

Break out the colorful stationary or plain paper and let your children write and decorate cards to send out! It’s a sweet way to connect with distant family or friends while helping your child build fine motor skills ****and early communication skills. For younger kids who can’t write yet, scribbles and stickers count too!

This is a good opportunity to teach your kids how to address a letter and explain how postage and stamps work.

Two little kids playing inside a cardboard fort they built for a fun screen-free activity.

Build a Blanket Fort

Who doesn’t love a cozy fort on a stormy day? Grab blankets, pillows, boxes, and chairs, and let your child construct their own kid-sized hideout. Add some flashlights and stuffed animals to make it a party! This is the perfect kids’ activity during a scary storm or power outage, and it helps kids exercise their motor skills, too!

Craft Sock Puppets

Here’s an easy crafting activity that will last a while! Do you have any lonely, single socks lying around that just can’t seem to find a partner? Turn them into sock puppets! Add googly eyes, stick on yarn for hair, and make up silly names and voices for each one, and voilà—you’ve got a full cast of characters. Let your child direct a puppet show to put on for the whole family after!

Little boy and woman playing dress up with bunny ears while sitting in a living room scattered with toys.

Play Dress-Up

Dated clothes collecting dust in the attic, old Halloween costumes, and goofy thrift store finds are costume bin gold! Add them to a bin and turn an ordinary afternoon into a wacky costume party! Dress-up play lets kids explore pretend roles and flex their storytelling skills—both of which are great for social-emotional and language development.

Invent Imaginary Creatures

Let your child invent an imaginary pet. It can be a real animal they wish they had or a mythical, made-up one! Does it have the body of an eagle and the tusks of an elephant? Does it have superpowers? Can it swim, but only on rainy days? Encourage your child to draw their creature, name it, and come up with its backstory (like where it lives, what it eats, and what abilities it has). It’s art and storytelling, rolled into one!

Host a Tea Party

Let your child don their best dress-up clothes and gather all their stuffed animal buddies—it’s tea time! This imaginative play setup is perfect for building social skills through play. You can even play the butler or waiter while your child leads the conversation. Don’t forget to speak in your best fancy voice and put your pinkies up!

Mom and two school-aged kids play a family-friendly game at the kitchen table.

Plan a Family Game Night

Need an activity the whole crew can participate in? Family game night is always a hit! From board games to card games to movement-based games, there’s something for every age. Check out our list of family-friendly games that get everyone moving, laughing, and learning.

Do the “Close Your Eyes and Guess” Game

This sensory game is simple and surprisingly fun: Close your eyes, feel an object, and try to guess what it is. Feathers, fruit, action figures—anything goes! Encourage your child to use descriptive words for how it feels or sounds as you brush it against their hands. Without vision, they’ll be challenged to use their sensory integration skills to identify the mystery item. Let them pick out objects to test your own guessing abilities for endless entertainment!

Set Up a Scavenger Hunt

Send your little detective on a mission to find items around the house: a red toy car, a fuzzy sock, a book with a dog on the cover… At each location, add a clue to find the next object to make it feel like a real adventure. Once they find everything on the hunt, there can be a fun game or prize at the end—possibly some ice cream (a fan favorite), or a fun craft to make! If the weather clears up, you can take it outdoors for some fresh air and development-boosting nature play.

Need even more ideas? Explore our list of 130+ kids activities for both indoor and outdoor activities that support kids’ development while keeping things fun. Whether it’s rainy day activities, winter boredom busters, or screen-free ways to play, we’ve got you covered the next time your kid says, “I’m boooored”!

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