Physical Indoor Activities

It's getting cold & I know we won't be able to go to the park tomorrow as we're getting a snowstorm. This is going to be hard for my super active 2 year old boys. Do any of you have suggestions for indoor play that's not so sedentary? They enjoy coloring & books but also love to jump & run. I already let them jump off the bottom 2 stairs (it's carpeted & padded) but I need some other ideas.

 

Do you have room/tolerance for a small indoor basketball hoop? Or a small soccer goal? If you use foam balls I don't think the boys can hurt anything.

Marissa

 

Mine love to race around. We have a round area, from dining room to living room to kitchen, with the kitchen counters and a wall in the middle of the three areas. They will race around like little fools chasing each other! It works, it keeps them busy, lets them run their energy out, and drives me CRAZY! :lol: Also they're really into playing hide and seek with each other. They hide in the exact same place every single time, but again, they love it and it keeps them busy, plus they run back and forth to hide and to seek!

What about jumping off the stairs onto pillows? Or jumping off the couch? I'm getting mine some small remote control vehicles this christmas so they can chase those around too!

 

How about turning on some music and dancing? McDonald's play place, an indoor bouncy house place? My kids do a loop around the dining room table pushing cars and trucks. We have the What's up duck book of opposites, and my kids find it hillarious to mimic the words and burn some steam that way, Up, Down, Near, far, Loud quiet. I'll read it to them, and the do the action, like getting up on a chair, and then laying down on the floor. Running across the room for far, and then coming back to me for near.

But I hear you, my two boisterious boys and I are NOT looking forward to winter! Looking forward to more suggestions

 

I bought this - its not great quality as the top part already has a few holes in it - near the seams so I am having a hard time patching them but the bottom portion is still in good shape. We dont have it out all the time but the boys do love to bounce on it.

http://www.walmart.com/catalog/product.do?product_id=10727425&findingMethod=rr

They are also really getting into wrestling with dad or me so we are do more of that within limits and that does help to tucker them (and us) out.

 

How about setting up an indoor obstacle course? Some boxes to climb in and out of, a chair to run around in a circle, a hallway to run down and back, some cushions to climb over, etc. This worked for us when my girls were two and three.

 

I would take a jump rope and tie one end to a chair, hold the other end, and have them take turns jumping over while I held it up a little at a time. I start barely off the floor and go higher little by little. Also, I put the jump rope on the ground and see how far they can jump. They could always spend a lot of time doing that. :Clap:

 

I second the idea of music and dancing. We also act out songs together, using our whole bodies and the whole living room, and they love that.

We also have a spare mattress set up for jumping, tumbling around, turning somersaults etc.

 

My two love Rody horses. Great way to burn their energy.

 

Yeah, I guess it's time to bring in the basketball hoop inside (as it's got a bunch of snow on it currently :laughing

We currently have a spare bedroom (until #3 comes along, anyway). Maybe I could get the jumpy thing & put it in there for the time being. Hmm...

I also really like the jump rope idea- thanks!

 

Our friends installed a contraption in their hallway that they can hang rings or swinging bar from. It's pretty cool - their three year old will hang on those rings for hours at a time. It sounds crazy, but I'm thinking of hanging something similar from the ceiling in our playroom, too!

 

We bought a small bouncy castle and it is one of the best things we have bought. I drag it out and leave it in our spare room for a few wks at a time and them put it away for a few wks. The kids love it!!