With the recent outbreak of the new coronavirus and rainy days, it has become difficult to play outside. It has also become difficult to go to crowded large facilities.
Both children and adults sometimes feel too stressed to spend time only inside the house. Here are some indoor activities that you can play with things you have at home.
Indoor play (1) Origami
Origami is a staple at home. You can find origami folding instructions on YouTube, some of which are easy and some of which are a little more difficult to make with an adult.
Indoor play (2) Clay play
Children around 1 or 2 years old may be careful not to put it in their mouths, but they will play with it enthusiastically. Colorful wheat clay and other materials are also available, so they can play freely. You can mix them to make different colors. Be careful with wheat clay, as it can dry out and harden over time. Traditional oil clay smells a little bad, but it lasts a long time because it does not harden. Both clay boards and clay can be found at 100-yen stores.
Indoor play (3) Balloon play
- Play balloon volleyball with balloons, which are also available at 100-yen stores, to consume physical energy. It would also be fun to play badminton with uchiwa fans.
- Try drawing faces on balloons or making your own faces out of origami or construction paper, hanging them from yarn or string, and hitting them with a ball made of rolled up newspaper to kill the ogres.
- Play with water balloons. Water balloons alone are fun, but also dip water balloons in paint and play with them as if they were stamps.
- Inflate a lot of balloons. Put them in a futon compression bag and use it as a balloon mat to make them bounce around.
Indoor play (4) Playing with newspapers
- Play with newspapers by tearing them into pieces, rolling them up, and throwing them.
- Play with torn newspapers and roll them into a ball.
- Have an adult hold a basket or container and play with the balls.
- Play a game where two people each stand on a sheet of unfolded newspaper, and if they lose a game of rock-paper-scissors, they fold the newspaper and the person who stays on the newspaper until the end wins.
Indoor play 5: House picnic
It is a fresh and fun way to spread out a leisure sheet in your house and make and eat lunch with your children. Children will be delighted just to pack their own lunch in their own lunch box.
Indoor play (6) Playing in a bubble bath
Toddlers are safe with less water and an adult watching them. A cup or empty container can also be prepared for fun.
Indoor play (7) Making snacks and sweets
The 1-2 year olds can make fruit punch by cutting and tearing fruit from a fruit pulp or canned fruit, while the older children can make pancakes or cookies. I think cookie making is fun because they can make connections. They also enjoy baking cookies in any shape they like and eating them. It is best to be careful when making things that use fire together with an adult.
Indoor play (8) Slime making
Washing paste and borax need to be prepared in advance, but the process itself is easy as all you have to do is mix them together. Borax can be purchased at pharmacies and laundry glue at 100-yen stores. It is fun to mix with paints to create your favorite colors.
Indoor play (9) Sticker play
You can also try drawing pictures using five different colors of large or small round stickers, or add crayons, etc. There are also sticker books available at 100 yen that you can use to change food, animals, vehicles, and clothes.
Indoor play (10) Treasure hunt
Prepare a treasure (candy, toy, etc.). Hide it somewhere in the house, and if the child is around 1, 2, or 3 years old, try to find it together. If they can read hiragana, it would be fun to write down the locations of the treasures in order and let them find them on their own.
