Indoor activities for very active kids

[kdescalzi]

Hi mamas,

Now that winter has officially arrived here I am having trouble with my crazy 4 yr old ds and his sister. They are super energetic and I need ideas to wear them out/expend some pent up energy indoors. Any good ideas??? We do a drop in gymnastics once a week and we sometimes go to an indoor play gym but that can get expensive. Please tell me what activites you do with your lo's in the winter.

[mbhf]

Do you have any big open spaces indoors? I have a fairly big living room and sometimes I roll up the rug and push the furniture against the walls and they ride their wheely bugs around. They will do it for an hour most days and come back to do it again. They're a lot of fun and burn energy. We also go outside a lot unless there's snow on the ground or if it's raining. The kids warm up pretty quick and I have found that while they don't stay out as long when it's really cold it seems to tire them out more quickly. Plus we generally have the playground to ourselves.

[nextcommercial]

We have the opposite problem here.  We are trapped indoors during the summer.

We like Hop balls.  http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00008J1AY/ref=pd_lpo_k2_dp_sr_2?pf_rd_p=486539851&pf_rd_s=lpo-top-stripe-1&pf_rd_t=201&pf_rd_i=B00066WGSC&pf_rd_m=ATVPDKIKX0DER&pf_rd_r=1GTN24CZWZ8DBGV0STDW

And Rody.  (he gets LOTS of use here)  http://www.amazon.com/Gymnic-Rody-Inflatable-Hopping-Horse/dp/B000NZQEF2/ref=sr_1_1?s=toys-and-games&ie=UTF8&qid=1291153128&sr=1-1  We have several, and they have Rody races.  

http://www.jumpingballs.com/us/hoppity-hop-hippity-hop/jumping-balls-ages-adult-13.html  This place even has adult size hop balls.... just in case you need one too.

Nerf ball wars.  (nerf tag)

Nerf gun wars.  

Romper stompers.  (cup like things with ropes, that the kids walk around on)

http://pbskids.org/zoom/activities/games/  <--games

My brother and I had about seven miles of hotwheel tracks... we spent hours setting them up and rearranging them.  We were very tired after all of that work.

We also played some made up version of "Craps" where we would toss a nickle as close to a wall without hitting it.  (or poker chips, we usually didn't have many nickles) and whoever came closest without hitting the wall got to keep both nickles.  

[pianojazzgirl]

indoor trampoline?

[mama*pisces]

Same problem here! I am really leaning towards getting ds a Quadro set for Christmas, if we can swing it.

Originally Posted by nextcommercial 

http://www.jumpingballs.com/us/hoppity-hop-hippity-hop/jumping-balls-ages-adult-13.html  This place even has adult size hop balls.... just in case you need one too.

We are SO getting one of these, thank you!!! I like all those game ideas too. :-)
 

[TEAK's Mom]

I seriously want an adult sized jump ball...

[meemee]

at 4 there are two things i had to keep an eye on. a need for expending physical energy AND also a high need for their social and intellectual energy.

with dd just physical was not enough. we had to do a multitude of different activities.

1. dd was sensation craving - so one thing that REALLY helped her was just horsing around - looking at the out of synch child activities book. we did a lot of old fashion play. which included using our furniture as a climbing gym.

2. went on walks. touched bark. stopped and looked at dirt, cracks in teh side walk. at home looked at edges of carpets, how the windows were framed.

3. lots and lots of chores. wiping the fridge door (and then colouring them with markers and washing again). doing dishes. sudsy warm water and tuperwear and spoons.

4. dd also needed crowds. so every 2 or 3 days we'd go somewhere crowded depending on $$$$ - fav. was coffee shop, or bagel place OR just the public library.

5. lots of cuddle time - which kinda happened during horsning around.

i noticed with dd more than running and the park, she really got a workout when she horsed around with my friend and his 3 boys. they would all climb all over daddy - for an HOUR - (I know amazing energy poor daddy had), he would chase them tackle them. so much fun.

[reezley]

I have two very energetic boys, 6 and almost-4.  Things we've done over the years are the hop balls (I'll take them out as it gets colder again!), put on music and dance  (each making up dances, copying each other's dances, etc.).  And sometimes when I'm really up for it, I'll get down on all fours and be a "jungle gym" - they take turns going over me or crawling under.   Hide and seek works indoors too.  THe kids recently made up a game where one hides some small toy (or many different ones, like different color blocks) and the other comes in and finds them.  I recently taught them this game and they liked it - one person starts being a "machine", doing some big motion over and over, then the next person comes in and adds to the machine, then the third one, then the first one gets up and adds to what the others are doing, etc.   These do involve me playing with them.... I haven't figured out too many big motor things they can do inside where I'm not right there! 

To those with trampolines - does yours get used a lot?  Did it reduce the attempts to jump on couches?

And I'll echo the pp's idea that some "energy" could be a need to focus on some brain-y task instead sometimes.  Getting out a dot-to-dot or maze book, etc., sometimes does wonders. Board games are becoming more popular too, in this house, as the younger ds is now able to play and enjoy them.

[dantesmama]

We have a small indoor trampoline. It was $50 from Toys R Us and it's surprisingly sturdy. It's a lifesaver for my very active 5 and 3 yo boys and they're on it all the time (even the baby likes to stand on it and bop around). They still tend to jump on the couches, too, but at least now I can redirect them to the trampoline instead of just telling them to knock it off!

[dbsam]

Originally Posted by dantesmama 

We have a small indoor trampoline. It was $50 from Toys R Us and it's surprisingly sturdy. It's a lifesaver for my very active 5 and 3 yo boys and they're on it all the time (even the baby likes to stand on it and bop around). They still tend to jump on the couches, too, but at least now I can redirect them to the trampoline instead of just telling them to knock it off!

We also had a small indoor trampoline in our living room and it was used often.  (Had to get rid of it when they were four and really miss it.)  My children rode big wheel type ride-ons in the house when they were younger.  We have a lot of tile throughout the house and the rule was they needed to stay on the tile.  (These were never allowed outside so they were clean.)  My children also loved making indoor obstacle courses with a big crawling tube, things to jump over, etc.  Really most of their play was somewhat physical even if it was building tents, forts, putting on a play - all the set up, moving and carrying items like blankets up and down the stairs wore them out.

This past year we set up an active play area in the garage.  We have a slightly larger trampoline, a disk swing hanging from the beam, and a little room to ride scooters.

My children are also constantly rough-housing - they are crawling on each other or rolling around all the time.

[Ornery]

I love our indoor trampoline.  My kids are both on it several times a day and every child that comes through the door is instantly drawn to it.  We had a tiny house before (just bought a comparatively large house) and it was a definite lifesaver.  As were the balls they hop on, but those are hard to do in small houses.

[KCMichigan]

Another thumbs up for indoor trampolines!

We also dance a lot to music!

We have a playtent

We also have hoppy balls

We had a small ball pit, but they have outgrown it

I have them help 'wash' the floors- give them damp rags to scuff their feet around on the floor like they are ice skating, they LOVE it.

Indoor places we like to go:

indoor mall playspaces

Fast food play spaces (I always check them out before hand to see how clean they 'really' are)

kid friendly places (our local Rainbow play center store has open play once a week)

walk around the mall/stores- have them help push cart and get things

[bonamarq]

Use crumpled up paper/newspaper to have indoor "snow ball fights" - crumpling up the paper into balls also serves as good fine motor exercise for the muscles in their little hands -

saw this in a child development/early child care video once and it is indeed a great hit

could also use nerfs as said by pp or also make pom poms out of yarn - but I like the paper ones - they can throw them as hard as they can (and this can get tiring) but they don't do any damage to anything :)

[minkajane]

We go to the mall a lot. Not for shopping, for the play area. DS can wear himself out jumping, running, and climbing to his heart's content. Plus it's free. I sit and read or crochet while he plays. When we're at home, I get kids' exercise DVDs from the library or pull up videos on YouTube, either kids' exercise or dance music. Kickboxing was a big hit and we've gotten that one several times. He loves being able to kick and hi-yah and jump around.

I never thought about getting him a mini trampoline, but now I know what to get him for Christmas. He LOVES to jump and is constantly leaping from the couch to the loveseat and back. That should definitely help!

[staceychev]

Originally Posted by reezley 

To those with trampolines -   Did it reduce the attempts to jump on couches?

Ours isn't out right now, but when it is, it works great for redirects: "We don't jump on furniture in our family. Where can you jump?"