Category: Kids Crafts & Activities

Are you looking for ways for the kids to use up their energy now that they are indoors this season? Consider adding fun indoor racing games to their routines. As long as the games are safe and well monitored, these games can offer plenty of engaging fun for hours!

These racing games below should burn up some excess energy. There are a few preparations required for each of these games. Keep on reading to see how you can incorporate these fun activities into your day.

Indoor Racing Games for Kids

Fumble Mitts

Gather together:

a small gift

plenty of newspaper

sticky tape

a pair of oven mitts

two dice

How to Play:

Before the game wrap a gift, a small toy or some confectionary, in about a dozen layers of newspaper securing each with sticky tape. More layers can be added if players want a longer game.

Players sit in a circle, around a table is best, and place the gift in the middle along with a pair of oven mitts.

To begin, players take turns, going around the table, in rolling the dice. As soon as a player rolls dice that add up to seven, they put on the oven mitts and start unwrapping the gift.

The other players take turns, going around the table as before, at rolling dice that add up to seven. As soon as a player does, the player who is unwrapping the gift must stop and pass the gift and oven mitts to the player who has just rolled a seven. This player then puts on the oven mitts and starts unwrapping the gift while the other players take it in turn to roll the dice. The next player to roll a seven is the next player to put on the oven mitts and try to unwrap the gift.

Continue until someone has unwrapped the last layer to reveal the gift, which is their prize.

Racing Cars

Gather together:

newspaper

pens and pencils (paints are not suitable)

a piece of stiff card or cardboard for each player

string for the finish line

a whistle

How to Play:

Cut out the shape of a car, about A4 size, from a single sheet of newspaper for each player.

Have each player decorate their cars and write their names on them. Paint is not suitable for this because it makes the paper too heavy.

Players should lay their cars in a line at one end of the room. This is the starting line. Designate the finishing line. It can be a piece of string stretched between two points or something as simple as the edge of the carpet or the wall on the opposite side of the room.

Give each player a piece of stiff card or cardboard. At the blow of the whistle, the game starts, and players must frantically wave their card up and down behind their car to create a breeze and send their car racing across the room to the finish line.

The first player to reach the finish line is the winner.

Scooter Racing

If you have indoor scooters around and great floors for scooting around on the floor, allow the kids to have a race on scooters. This will be a game where you would want to monitor the kids for safety purposes. It’s also best to provide helmets for additional protection for the kids when racing.

Gather together:

scooters

helmets

tape for finish line

How to Play:

The child will place their helmet on and sit on their scooters. Have the kids start at a certain location and scoot across the floor with their scooters until they reach the designated finish line (wherever you place the tape.) Try a ‘best out of three’ race if you’d like or get creative with the course if you’d like for even more fun.

These fun games should provide plenty of entertainment for the kids!

Here are more activities to keep the kids entertained:

Springtime Activities to Do With Your Children

Outdoor Activities for Toddlers

Beat the cold-weather blues with these five no cost indoor games for kids that will stimulate your kids’ imaginations and increase their activity level.

Each game offers hours of enjoyment with little preparation or mess to clean up. Best of all, you get to spend quality, one-on-one time with your kids as you lead them in fun and adventurous play. To beat the winter chill, try these five fun indoor games.

No Cost Indoor Games for Kids

Scavenger Hunt

Make a list of items for your child to find around the house, but don’t be too specific. Instead, make your child use his own imagination and skills. For example, the list may include “find something small and blue; find an item that starts with the letter G.” Mix in easier items, such as “find a green crayon” or “include your favorite book.”

Be sure to use every room in the house, as in “find a soft item from the bathroom” or “find a plastic utensil from the kitchen.”

Once the list of 10 or more items is created, give each child a bag in which to put the collected items and let them go. The first one to collect all the items wins!

Print my free indoor scavenger hunt!

Treasure Map

Hide a small toy or object in one room of the home. For younger kids, take a piece of paper and a pencil and diagram the rooms of the house. Professional artwork is not required; simply outline the rooms and include furniture items to give perspective. Starting with a home “base,” such as the couch or fireplace, use arrows or dashes to indicate the direction kids should go to find the hidden item.

For older kids, use written directions, such as turn right or left, and the number of steps the child should take. The direction may be something like, “Take ten steps and turn right, then hop three steps and turn left.”

Watch their faces light up as the “treasure” is found.

The Anytime “Easter Egg” Hunt

Kids love to find Easter eggs, so why not parlay this into an indoor game? Instead of eggs, use kid-friendly items such as 12 crayons from the crayon box or “Littlest Pet Shop” figures or toy cars. Kids will get the same enjoyment no matter what items they are trying to find.

An Indoor Obstacle Course

With a few props and some imagination, kids can have fun and get active with an indoor obstacle course. Use index cards to write directions for each “obstacle” and connect the course with several jump ropes, towels, or a line of cotton balls.

Toss rolled-up socks into a round laundry basket on a table; roll a boiled egg from point A to point B with their nose; push a tennis ball through a weave pattern around drink cans using only one foot; stop and do five jumping jacks; stand on one foot for 15 seconds are just a few possible “obstacles” for the course. Kids can even think of their own obstacles and help design the course!

Go on an Indoor Camping Trip

Spread several large blankets over parts of a table or the back of chairs or on stools. Use stacks of books to hold the blanket corners to create an indoor “tent.” Then, let the kids plan and pack a lunch using a small, soft ice chest or school lunch box.

Collect small toys, a book or crayons, and a small pad of paper into a handkerchief or hand towel tied up with a string to a wooden spoon.

When it’s time to leave for the camping trip, play a game of follow-the-leader on the way to the “camp” site. Then, enjoy the campout with a picnic and fun games, “campfire” songs or stories.

Don’t let the winter chill turn your kids into couch potatoes. Use one of these no-cost, indoor games to stimulate their imaginations and creativity. You’ll be surprised at what they think of to make these ideas even better!