Big energy outlets for when you can't leave the house

[klpmommy]

I know there are a lot of us right now that are stuck inside due to extreme cold weather. And in the summer there are a lot of other families that are stuck inside due to extreme heat. So I thought it would be a good idea (spinning off) to share our "get the big energy out while staying inside the house" ideas.

We do Simon Says (where we actually do "mommy says" and they do everything instead of making it a listening game) with big motor activities: jump 10 times, spin in circles while I sing the abc song, touch your toes 5 times, run one big circle around the couch.

Baths are good, too.

Vacuum tag. My big kids like this, but it took a while before E liked it. Chase them around the living room while I vacuum. If they are on the couch they are "safe". They like to run from couch to love seat. You have to know if your kids like to be caught or not. Mine don't. So I never catch them, although I get *this* close a lot. ;) If I catch them they get really upset which blows the point of the game.

Hide & seek inside. Rules include in our house you can only stay on the main level or you can only be on the main level & upstairs, but not in a closet, etc.

Indoor obstacle course. Use pillows, couch cushions, laundry baskets, etc, etc, etc to make an obstacle course.

bouncing-- either a mini trampoline, rebounder, bounce house or a place they can bounce (in our house they can bounce on their cheap straight on the floor mattresses).

[mellymommy]

I'm thinking about getting a chin-up bar to mount in one of the door ways and then hang a swing or rope ladder or rope swing from it.

We have a "Dance Cam" that videos them dancing to music and projects it onto the tv in real-time. This can keep them occupied forever.

I like dancing/karate/movement videos for them.

I'll back the car out of the garage and let them ride their bikes or scooters in there.

[ArmsOfLove]

the Wii :rockon

jumping on the bed

an indoor climber (we haven't done this but I know lots of moms who swear by it)

baths

Mother May I

Simon Says

Red Light, Green Light

Twister ;)

Family Cleaning :tu

[Eowyn]

My boys' gracious grandmother provided them with a small trampoline. They practiced using it today, and I am in love with it. :melting Yay for energy release!

[mamaKristin]

I love obstacle courses.

Throw some masking tape on the floor and make it your balance beam, tightrope, whatever!

Play animals - let each child be a wild animal and act like that animal.

Dance contests! Especially if you dress up in costumes first. My girls are currently loving ABBA. :giggle

My kids are in gymnastics, so we will practice some of their moves from class - motorcycle landing, head stands and stuff that isn't too treacherous in the house.

[celestial princess]

just :popcorn I've been wanting to ask this for a while

[ShiriChayim]

:popcorn

[DoulaClara]

Something I used to do with preschoolers on days where we couldn't go out onto the playground was body bowling- lining up empty plastic 3 liter bottles like bowling balls, and having them roll their bodies to the "pins" to knock them over.

With my kindergarten class, they were way too rough for body bowling, but we used to do "Freeze Dance" when we couldn't get outside, but needed to move our bodies. They all had to find a spot where they couldn't touch another person's body, and I manned the cd player- when I hit play, they danced their little hearts out, and when I hit pause, they had to freeze.

[sweetpeasmommy]

:popcorn

[LoveIsGentle]

What a great thread! I think most of my ideas have been mentioned already, but I can't wait to see other ideas. :popcorn

[ncsweetpea]

:popcorn

We "practice" everything we did at dance class the previous week.

Parades--marching, shaking instruments.

Kick splashing in the hot tub or bathtub.

[jblairosu]

:popcorn

[raquel]

What about a "punching" bag? Fill up an old pillowcase (or not old :)) with scrunched newspaper. Tie the end together and hang it from a doorway or something like that. Then let them bag at it with their hands and wooden spoons. Obviously it needs to be supervised carefully and perhaps just a one person at a time game.

Indoor obstacle courses? When they get good at it having timed races to see who can complete it the fastest.

[ReedleBeetle]

An indoor sliding board and a collapsible tunnel....sometimes we put the tunnel at the bottom of the slide so he slides down, bump, crawl, run to the ladder....over and over.

playdough punching

[jewelmcjem]

Just :popcorn for now

[azlayla]

Family cleaning is perfect for my family! My children love to take turns with the vacuum, clean the windows, sweep, take a wet cloth and go everywhere, etc. Not much really gets "clean" but they have fun and it keeps them busy!

[annettemarie]

I love the vacuum tag idea!

We like the Wii as well. :)

We have a homeschool physical fitness book that has some fun indoor ideas.

We rigged a basketball net (or chute, really) out of one of those mesh pop-up hampers. I just cut the bottom out of it. We hang it from a door. That's always fun.

We also have a few yoga books, and they like doing the poses.

Our house has a circular layout, so sometimes the run laps.

[MamaPepper]

:cup

[saturnfire16]

:popcorn

[teamommy]

Those are all great!

I got a Kids Tae Bo DVD for the kids for Christmas, for days when we are desperate. :giggle

We don't have tons of room but I don't mind if they run through the house if we can't be outside. We will go out if it is raining, just put on the boots and raincoats, as long as there is no lightning.

[light of mine]

:popcorn

[Soliloquy]

My kids take turns on the rebounder (mini-trampoline).

We also turn on an interactive children's CD, like Greg & Steve.

I'm thinking of buying Twister.


Our house has a circular layout, so sometimes the run laps.


Our kids do this, too.

We may buy Wii next year. :think

[Codi]

Our house has a circular layout, so sometimes the run laps.


OURS TOO!! :rockon Ds totally loves to run laps!!

THANK YOU for this thread!!!!!!!!! My son has a very high need to get out big energy and I have been needing ideas!!!

:cup

[TraceMama]

Another circular layout here, so we run laps, play chase, racecars, whatever. :yes

Trampoline and climbing tower.

There's nothing breakable in the family room, so we play dodge ball / keep away with some soft balls. :giggle

Pillow fights

Jumping on the "bad" couch and on the futon mattress.

Sliding down the wall next to the stairs --- yes, they can do this safely. ;)

Hullabaloo, dancing, hide and seek, somersaulting, etc.

Great Thread! :rockon

[doubleblessings]

I lay out alphabet cards (they are 8x10 size) around the lr and call out a letter (or a sound, or an animal - each one has an animal with that letter) for each child to find. They run around in circles for a little while until they find it (or just run around for a while :giggle)

We have a long hallway from my bedroom to the LR and then a circle around the kitchen back to the hall. They give me five while I fold clothes (or just sit) on my bed then they run down the hall and around the circle and back for another five.

HYPERDASH! (http://www.amazon.com/Wild-Planet-46001-Hyper-Dash/dp/B000TTPEXU)

[ElectricEarth]

:popcorn This is good stuff! Thanks, all.

[FaroeIslandBabes]

What a great thread! We're inside most of the time due to the extreme weather here in the faroes...and its not only in the winter :doh
after the first year here, I decided that home would be an indoor playground, as much as it could be....

we have a small slide in our livingroom & the kids are using it everyday...its great
we have a very spacious hallway between the LR & BR's with a swing and bikes...they're only indoor scooter type bikes, they dont go outside so we let the kids ride them all over the house
we love just putting on music and dancing...then the camera usually comes out and the kids (at least dd) start "acting" :giggle
our bed is a queen and a twin mattress on the floor (no frame), so the kids love to be tossed on the mattress...like swinging them "1, 2, 3!" and then toss the kid :lol
they also just like to somersault and jump on our bed
they have a bowling set, and bean bags that are fun and active to play with
and....Im seriously considering some kind of climbing thing for the hallway (where the swing is) :think
trampoline sounds fun too! :cool
Ive been thinking about making some kind of oversize hopscotch squares somewhere...maybe using colored tape in the hall or something :think

[MomtoJGJ]

We play chase... our house not only has a circular layout, but a figure 8!! :rockon

We play airplane and tackle daddy where dh sits in the floor in the LR and calls their name and they tackle him and tell him whether or not they want to do airplane (which always seems to hit turbulence and crash) or to be thrown onto the couch (or mommy)

We dance, play twister, simon says, mother may I. They got a mini trampoline and a balance beam that's about 6" off the floor, so they do obstacle courses with that. We play balloon ball....

Oh, and until pictures start falling off the wall we play dodge ball at the stairs... the kids are at the top and me and DH are at the bottom... we throw the balls back and forth with them trying to get them downstairs as quickly as possible and us trying to get it in the bathroom at the top of the stairs.

They also slide down the stairs racing each other and jump from the bed to the floor (we don't allow jumping on the beds anymore since the 2yo has learned what they are doing... she knocks the others off)

[Living My Dream]

I am LOVING this! Sticky it!!!

[Rea T]

Love this thread.

Hullabaloo by Cranium is a good alternative to Twister; it involves a lot more movement like hopping, twirling, skipping, etc.

Another option I just found...call around to dealers of backyard play equipment. (Backyard Adventures is the one we went to.) If they have an indoor showroom they may have open play times. Ours is $5 per kid but you can go and hang out all day and bring your lunch even. Pricey if you have more than one kid, but if you are really desperate for all out play, run them til they drop energy burners it can't be beat.

[monkeylicious]

if we can get out - we go to chick-fil-a (sorry to those who don't have it) their play area seems cleaner than others. but when we cant - evie is still young enough to enjoy climbing the stairs and coming back down. we have a trike inside as well as a small slide and we also run the course with either a baby doll stroller or grocery cart.

[MamaPepper]

I love all of these ideas!!! We have a small apartment with not a lot of room to run, and due to Noah's current illness I'm not going to be taking them to the museum for a few weeks so I think that when we're out today I'm going to stop by Walmart and get a trampoline FOR THE BOYS (caps lock just got pushed :-)

I think that something to climb on would be great for the boys, but what is a cheap alternative for a small space? (so that I can keep them off the table :shifty)

[arelyn]

DH, a music teacher, does "freeze dance" with his classes. He plays a CD and they dance like crazy fools. When he hits pause, they have to stop moving, regardless of their position and the kids find it hilarious.

[monkeylicious]

I love all of these ideas!!! We have a small apartment with not a lot of room to run, and due to Noah's current illness I'm not going to be taking them to the museum for a few weeks so I think that when we're out today I'm going to stop by Walmart and get a trampoline FOR THE BOYS (caps lock just got pushed :-)

I think that something to climb on would be great for the boys, but what is a cheap alternative for a small space? (so that I can keep them off the table :shifty)

i would love to get a small trampoline :yes

could you pile up couch cushions in a safe area? or do you have a step stool for supervised climbing? my kids love it when i get the step stool out :yes :think what about a low box to use as a step? (you could do an aerobics step class ;) mine like to climb on the coffee table and put on shows (it is very sturdy - half drawers and half trunk - so solid)

[Aisling]

We do couch cushion pits on a regular basis. :yes

They like to crawl around the floor inside on upside down laundry baskets, having "turtle races". :lol

Sleigh rides...consisting of them taking turned pulling each other around on the hardwoods on blankets. :P~

[sprout]

we have a mini trampoline in the kitchen and it is well loved.

we also have a tricycle that can be used in big circles around the kitchen table.

jumping on the bed is a favorite as well..even with the trampoline.

I am thinking about some indoor skates for the kitchen? maybe crazy?

and, maybe one of those blowup jump things with a slide...maybe for Christmas next year.

so, why is the Wii such a hit? I don't know much about it.

[sprout]

an indoor tent is fun too.

[klpmommy]

right now P&E are "skating" around the kitchen using new packages of wipes as their skates. :lol They have also used tupperware as skates (which is why I wash all plasticware before using it for food ;) ). Their creativity amazes me sometimes.

[MamaPepper]

We now have a mini trampoline and they LOVE it!!! :rockon

[Aisling]

Mine are skating around on felt pizza crusts! :lol

[monkeylicious]

We now have a mini trampoline and they LOVE it!!! :rockon

where did you get it and how much was it?

[light of mine]

We now have a mini trampoline and they LOVE it!!! :rockon

where did you get it and how much was it?


Somebody posted a great deal on a trampoline the other day in the children with special needs forum here http://www.gentlechristianmothers.com/mb/index.php?topic=211939.0 I paid less than $35 with shipping. We haven't put it together yet because we are still waiting on DDs B-day.

[ShangriLewis]

Pool noodles make fun swords to whomp each other with.
Treasure hunts (not sure if I saw that yet).
Indoor camping.

[Codi]

Ds got Hullabaloo for Christmas......we need batteries!!! We haven't played it yet!

[MamaPepper]

We now have a mini trampoline and they LOVE it!!! :rockon

where did you get it and how much was it?


I got it at Walmart for $35

[sweetpeasmommy]

Sleigh rides...consisting of them taking turned pulling each other around on the hardwoods on blankets. :P~


We like that too and DH and I will wrap him in the blanket and swing him too.

Right now he is getting "sled rides" in a sturdy box with a dog leash attached.

[Niphredil]

:popcorn

Any ideas for really small ones with reeeeally tired mommies?

[klpmommy]

:popcorn

Any ideas for really small ones with reeeeally tired mommies?


:sigh nothing great b/c mine doesn't "listen" yet. ;) She likes to be tickled & to be thrown in the air. And toys she can push or ride on. :shrug

[SPKarenO]

i didn't read all the replies, :bag
AND this is probably reprehensible to some of you, :bag
but...
jumping on mommy and daddies bed.

[klpmommy]

the only reason we don't let them jump on our bed is that it is a 17 inch mattress on top of a box spring on top of a bedframe. Too high if they fall. We do "throw" them on our bed sometimes. ;) They love that.