Summer weather can often be so hot and humid that no one wants to be very active. These no-sweat active indoor games for kids do not require high-energy output, but are exciting and fun. Living in the south, these activities kept my kids engaged in easy competitive and skill games in the comfort of the cool air-conditioned house. “No Sweat Olympics” can be set up as a team competition or you can give each child a list of activities to do depending on the child’s age and stage of development. You can even add some family spirit to this activity by making team pennants and award ribbons.
Play Some Body Games
Encourage the children to sit on the floor and try to roll a ball around their own bodies using one hand and then the other. Challenge them to try the same activity from a kneeling position. Here’s a skill to see how far you can bend. Give each player a crayon and stand with legs apart on a large sheet of paper. Bending at the waist and stretching, challenge the kids to draw the largest circle possible without falling over. Sounds easy until you try it!
How strong are your toes? Can your kids pick up unsharpened pencils with their toes? It’s a tough skill to master, but it can be done. How about playing turtle and see if you can crawl beneath a mat on your back. Can you go from one place in the room to another without losing your shell? This game is sure to bring on the giggles!
Aim and Toss Games
Sock basketball can be loads of fun and safe indoors. Roll up balls of socks and aim shots into a plastic laundry basket. Adjust the distance according to age and skill level. Another variation would be to toss a tennis ball into a trashcan. The last game is one that gives tasty rewards at the end. Let the children toss a large marshmallow in the air and catch it with a cup. Sounds easy – maybe not, but the kids will try their hardest to reap the rewards in eating the marshmallow as the prize.
Here’s an indoor game that needs skill. Empty a bag of dried lima beans on a table or the floor. Place one bean on the back of the child’s hand and see how many other beans they can pick up with the same hand without the original bean falling off. Keep count of each child’s endeavor.
Just for Fun Games
With the use of a magnet and paper clips your kids can have a fun competition with this game. Help the children make paper worms with paper clip mouths. Draw a maze on a sheet of paper. Place this on a glass table and encourage the kids to set the worm at the beginning of the maze and use the magnet below the paper and glass to manipulate the worm from the beginning of the maze to the end. Use a stopwatch and time each player to see who can do this quickest.