Best indoor activities to encourage imagination

Now don’t get me wrong. Every kid is vastly different and what sparks their imagination also is different but these are some ideas that I have seen time over time work with my kids as well as kids that I watch weekly. So with no further ado here you go.

Color sorting:

We have the set from Amazon of the little sorting dinosaurs ( I will link them here). We love to use these as it does help the kids learn colors, we often make patterns with the dinosaurs as well. I find that if leave the kids to it they will sort them, line them up, or make their own color patterns.

You don’t need the Dino set to be able to color sort. You can sort the toys you already have or common everyday items. It gives the kids a task and thing to do. That they can actually accomplish!

Sensory Bins:

Boy oh boy, we LOVE a sensory bin over here. I got this set from Amazon for Lyra for Christmas and we use it every day. I have been rotating what sensory bin we do once a week. These never go out of style. Your kids are craving new sensory outlets and sensory bins are a great way to do that.

I got Lyra the ocean sensory bin ( I will link it here). It had an ocean them that I loved! With the ability to do different textures at the same time. I have changed out the contents out and taken the sea creature toys and hidden them in my closet for a future toy rotation. But seriously you can never go wrong with a sensory bin and letting your kids explore texture.

Play kitchen:

Now, I do get not everyone has a play kitchen. We have had one but when we moved we gave it to a friend. But I swear the two years we had one. EVERY kid that came over played with that kitchen for the whole time. And truly you don’t even need a play kitchen. You can just let them play with a pot and a spatula. They see you with them and would be happy to play on the floor or even in the sink with just water and bubbles. A little mess isn’t too bad.

We do have plans to make a mud kitchen in the backyard. I am sure it will be just as big of a hit as an indoor kitchen. We are currently painting food rocks every once and a while so when its warmer and the kitchen is set up they have some food to play with!

Read/Make up stories:

Reading is SO dang good for you and your kids. It is good for they vocab and attention as well as spending time together. Reading and then talking about the book and they story you just read can expand your kids world and imagination. You will never regret sitting down and reading them that story and being with them in that moment.

A great way to bring o it thyeir imagination is to make up your own story. Ask questions about the world t hey are creating. Is there a bad guy? Is he a monster? What color is he? You can help prompt them build a bigger world just by asking questions about it. And creating their own world and story is using that imagination!

Paint/Color:

These is a another great one, since it works on multiple levels. This can help their fine motor skills as well as help them create. If you decide to make up a story with the kids you could try to color pictures of the story. Or just let them draw and express themselves.

Our girls love to color and I love to sit down and color with them. Lucy is at the age where he drawings are really taking shape and they have a story and I love asking questions and seeing her little mind working. You can always do the same with paint, or any art you want to.

Limit Screen Time:

There is study after study that unlimited screen time is not good for kids. They do not need the tv to be the babysitter. Trust me I know it would be more convenient for me too. Lucy loves a movie and she would sit still happy and quiet all day watching tv. But it isn’t good for them or their imagination. Now don’t get me wrong at all we have screen time. At the end of the day 4:30-6 ish the girls are allowed tv time. But I do limit it. And my girls will play for a good bit all by themselves, their imagination is so expansive.

Kids need to be bored, they need to not have constant entertainment. Letting them have space to be bored and then figure something out to play with or do. Kids who have less screen time have longer attention spans and larger imaginations. Again, this isn’t anyone slamming on families who allow more screen time. It just is shown over and over in studies that it. Just a quick search shows it.

Toy Rotation:

Holy cow on a stick I LOVE toy rotation. I through out the month take toys away when the kids are sleeping. And then I will pull them back out at a later time and BAM it is like a brand new toy. My mom did this with holiday toys and I do it now as a mom too. I find it does help them play longer and its free. I can get them basically a new toy that I didn’t have to spend money on since they just didn’t see it for a few months.

I also do this if I have a sensory bin idea with some of their toys. Like the safari animals, I let them play with them in Kinetic sand (the desert) but before I did that I took the animals away a couple weeks before. SO when I brought them back out with the sand it was like a whole new toy and experience.

Dance Party:

As adults it’s frowned upon to explore with movement. To let go and be a bit wild in your expression feelings by dancing. By kids? Not frowned on for dancing and exploring. Somersaults, cartwheels, jumping, it’s all just learning and knowing what we can do. Why let that go? Why not branch out with dancing and let their imagination flow with movement. Create shapes, see how fast you spin, how many jumps can you do?

And why not put that all to music and let it all go?! We have a dance party everyday. I try to do it during breakfast. To get the day started on fun and energy. Seeing their imagination go wild with how to dance can be so fun. There is no rule about being imaginative with moving our bodies to music!

Legos/blocks:

With this one the options for imagination are endless. Build a home, a village, a giraffe. Anything you want. Kids like to build with blocks and stack. It is an age old toy for a reason. They are literally the best. I bought some blocks and truly we play with those things every day. I also remember playing with them as kid for a long time. It is a great way to get kiddos using their imagination and fine motor skills. Win win!!!

Legos are pretty much the same thing as blocks. A toy with endless possibilities. You can get a lego set and follow the instructions or just build whatever you want. There is no lego or block police for your kids so they can just go ham!

Play doh:

With play doh they get opportunity to get a sensory activity as well as build with their hands. Play doh truly is as fantastic activity. It is a another great tactical game to play with the kiddos. It is actually really good for their fine motor skills and building muscles in their hands. Play helps build their imagination by having them create things. There is numerous benefits from play doh and its amazing because kids LOVE it.

I don’t think I know a kid that doesn’t like to play with play doh or clay. It also helps the to have a fidget toy. I give the kiddos in my church class (they are 3 and 4) some play doh to hold on to and mess with while we sit down to have a lesson.

Play with the kids:

Now, do not get me wrong I want my kids to have a wonderful imagination and play and play and play so I can get things done. But the reason my kids will play for a while is, they know that mom is there and will always be there. I seek them out through out the day. I get down on the floor and play, read, laugh, etc. Kids need their parents and when they have that security they will do better going off and doing their own things.

They also do go through phases and will need you more some weeks than others. It is normal. With time they will be great at playing by themselves.

Barbies/Dolls:

Now this one may be kid to kid. But I remember playing with dolls all the time as a kid and my girls also love to play with dolls. They give them the opportunity to roleplay their life. The dynamics of family, friends, and the world. Dolls are also a good social toy, they can play with them with other kids. Dolls are a great way to spread that imagination and play by themselves. There is so many variety on dolls and Barbie’s which gives your kids a great range to pick from too.

Toys like this are shown in studies to develop social emotional skills and cognitive skills. Play is SO important for kids and will benefit them for their whole life.

Activities or a Craft:

Doing a craft will help with boredom and building imagination. Letting them explore arts and crafts will bring so much fun. Kids adore doing crafts. It is also a great idea to spend time together with the kids. A seasonal craft is super fun because if you save it and pull it out the next year it will be so fun to see how their skills have grown. Crafts do not need to be crazy fancy or expensive. You can let their imagination flourish and explore with what they want to do. You can just cut paper to help with fine motor skills and glue it to a another paper with patterns. Then BAM crafts.

We love to scrapbook over here. So, I let the girls help cut the paper and choose colors and patterns. Allowing kids to be a piece of your crafts too will foster a good relationship with them and their creativity.