What are some good indoor gross motor toys?

[lovemyfamily6]

I'm trying to plan ahead for winter when we can't spend as much time outside, and also for rainy days. My boys have so much energy! I think we're going to get each of them one of those hop balls for Christmas, but beyond that I don't know. We let them jump on their beds and sometimes they take the couch cushions off and jump. We were going to get a mini trampoline but decided it would cause more trouble than it's worth when they have to wait for two more boys to go before they get another turn. We need plenty of things to keep them busy to keep them from fighting and destroying the house and everything in it. Any ideas of indoor things to buy?

[runes]

Rody

A collapsible tunnel

A collapsible tent/teepee

[lovemyfamily6]

Originally Posted by kidspiration

Rody

A collapsible tunnel

A collapsible tent/teepee

It's funny that you said the Rody Horse. I had never heard of it until a thread yesterday, and I told dh we'll have to buy one for our little one. It says it's recommended for ages 2-4 years though and my older ones are 5, 5 and almost 7. Is it really durable? I'm hoping it can last a long time for our little one. He'll only be 20 months at Christmas so I'm trying to decide if we should get one then or if it would be better to wait until his second birthday.

Do you have a particular tunnel you'd recommend? We had one from Target and the wires came through the nylon in a relatively short period of time (but past the return time so it felt like money wasted). They did love it though when they could play with it.

We also had a tent. It was the Main Street Playhouse from Discovery Toys. Again, it was destroyed fairly fast. We do have a new one of those on order though since Discovery Toys replaces stuff that breaks.

Those are good ideas. I feel like besides starting a Lego collection, we're kind of getting past buying too many toys for them. They don't play with the ones they have very much, but gross motor stuff would be awesome!

[AAK]

A favorite here is to have a pile of squares (use carpet squares, foam squares, hunks of fabric--just nothing that will make them slip). They make pathes to follow, obstacle courses, etc. We also have the tunnel, tent, slide, hippity hop ball, and small trampoline that get mixed in as well.

We might hang a bar from the rafters this year.

[runes]

He might need some close supervision and help if you get the Rody sooner than later, but they're very sturdy and will last a long time. DD is just about to turn 3 and I think she was about 18 months when she first sat on one, and she literally just sat on it. Now she grabs the ears and bounces around, it's really cute to watch, and she really enjoys it.

Tunnels can be pretty shabby, quality wise. If it's got wires sticking out, I wouldn't use it. I think we got our tunnel from Lakeshore Learning.

How about a Bilibo?

[kamilla626]

Originally Posted by kidspiration

How about a Bilibo?

That's what I was going to suggest.

[lovemyfamily6]

Originally Posted by kidspiration

How about a Bilibo?

I've never seen those before! I just watched the video on the site you linked and all three of them were watching and cracking up and asked if we could get one. I'm thinking that could be a good Christmas present for the little one, then they could use it too.

[meetoo]

Twister

Hullabloo by cranium


Ikea has cool indoor swings, and climbing things.


I think the lego's is a good idea too.

[lovemyfamily6]

We have Twister, I forgot all about that! I bought it a few years ago on a really good sale and put it away. Thanks!

I have a question about the Bilibo. Is it something that one kid would enjoy several of? I was thinking we could get one for each boy instead of just one for the little one. If it has so many uses, they'd probably all like their own. But when they outgrow it, we'll have four of them. I guess we could just get rid of the outgrown ones. I'll have to give that some thought about how many to buy. We'll either get three (one for each big boy and none for the one that will be 20 months at Christmas) or four, one for each of them.

[kamilla626]

Or as set of those huge cardboard "bricks"?

[lovemyfamily6]

Originally Posted by kamilla626

Or as set of those huge cardboard "bricks"?

Gosh, we have those too. They're in the storage room right now. I need to start pulling them out again!

[runes]

Do you have enough space for the kids to jump rope? Perfect way to get their heart rates up!

[AugustineM]

If you have enough room you can hang a big piece of cloth from the ceiling (on a very sturdy eye hook) and it can be hours of entertainment. My cousin lives in Alaska and has two boys, 5 and 6, and they loooove it. They wrap each other up, spin each other around, etc. They have a playroom where they have it. Also, in the same room, their dad basically build a "castle" completely into the room. It's all wood, and they can crawl through tunnels, over a bridge, and it has hidey holes and all that. They spend hours in there.

[LynnS6]

I know you said you'd decided against the mini trampoline, but I'd reconsider it. my kids get a lot of use out of ours in the winter.

We also let our kids ride their scooters through the house in the winter. We've got a relatively clear path and it uses up a lot of energy!

An exercise ball is also a great way to get kids whole body movement. My dh used one as a seat last year (before it sprung a leak) and the kids were all over that thing the moment he stood up! Actually getting them small ones that they could use as "chairs" when doing sedentary activities might help a lot.

If I had all the money in the world (and could install it!), I would get these:
Rainy Day Combo from One Step Ahead

Ikea Handrings

Ikea Swing

A Bilbo or something like this Ikea spinning chair

Tents/tunnels for climbing through

A balance board

[straighthaircurly]

We have a hanging bar, mini trampoline, extra set of couch cushions, and good music for dancing. Oh, I forgot about the Sit 'n Spin!

[tomuchspade]

It doesn't really get that cold very much in TX, but we have a mini tramp, tent with tunnels and an exercise ball, All the kids use the ball but are too big for everything else, also, a hoola hoop and jump rope! We only have one who needs entertainment though, he is now 6, she is 12. We have had the mini tramp since she was 4. Great investment for us! My son also has a guitar and loves to stand on his bed with music and give concerts, it is so adorable, he can actually play pretty decent!

[KyleAnn]

I love the rainy day combo kit...I saw that a while ago and thought ds would FLIP for that...but it's so $$.

I wonder, has anyone ever come across anything similar or hung an indoor swing in their lo's room?

[Papooses]

I have an extremely kinesthetic, spirited, hyper-reactive, prone to anxiety 6 year old. This makes for a lovely combination of necessary release outlets :

We got a long 4X4 off Freecycle that we sanded & painted with chalk board paint: doubles as balance beam & where ever else her imagination + a few pieces of chalk take her....

We have a free handmedown gymnastic bar in her doorway for her swing on, practice chin-ups on, spin on, hang off of, etc....

We have a solid metal bunk bed (double on the bottom, single on top) that I let her jump on (on the edge of the lower mattress that protrudes) because the mattress was also from Freecycle....

Soft jump rope (obviously we don't have ceiling fans or breakable objects in her room)....

Lots of handmedown throw blankets + huge cardboard boxes to create all kinds of tunnels, castles, etc....

Finally, magetic dry erase board hanging on her wall This was the only item I spent $ on.

[Aubergine68]

Lots of great ideas on this thread, wow!

A parachute is great if you have enough children to use it. Gets used at our house as a tent quite a bit.

The thing that gets used the most in our playroom by toddlers/preschoolers is a folding Little Tikes slide. Not a climber, just a slide.

Also a plastic teeter totter sort of like this one that can be used by one child in the middle or two on either end, or three altogether.

http://www.target.com/Step-Naturally.../dp/B000067R1S

I like that the slide and teetertotter are easy to move out of the playroom and can store outside all year round if need be (we have no garage).

I don't have the cardboard bricks, but every year I ask all my friends to save those mandarin orange boxes that come out in the fall through Christmas time and then put them in the playroom for a construction zone in January. They make great building bricks! Then we recycle them when we are tired of them so I don't have to store them.

The best large motor play area I've ever seen in someone's home was in my friend's basement. She has two large couches facing each other, with a king sized mattress in between and foamy mattresses against the wall behind it (held in place against the wall by the couches). Oh, to have the space for that setup in my home!

I do have a bunch of really bouncy foam couch cushions from an old couch that I covered in fun fleecy fabric that get used in lots of ways.

The best piece of large-motor fun we have is a king-sized chair from Bag the Bed, sorta like a beanbag chair but filled with foam chips instead of `beans'. The kids climb it, jump onto it, and cuddle for stories on it. I only wish we had the space for the couch version, which is twice as big. It unzips into a king-sized mattress which is great for sleepovers. It was pricy, but totally worth it. It will carry our little ones through their teen years as playroom furniture:

http://www.bagthebed.com/ItemDetails...tTypeID|itemid



We almost bought a kids exercise trampoline last year, but bought a Bounce Around instead. This was a mistake, it only lasted a few weeks under what I'd consider normal use. I was hoping for something made like a Rody, but this was much poorer quality:


http://www.grandrivertoys.com/websto...8E452848CAD2D3


This year, I think we will look at a balance board like this one

http://www.grandrivertoys.com/websto...8E452848CAD2D3

and maybe a good quality kids exercise trampoline with a handle. Maybe our Rody will get a stablemate! I think the boys would enjoy having hopping races.

[TiredX2]

Originally Posted by Aubergine68

The thing that gets used the most in our playroom by toddlers/preschoolers is a folding Little Tikes slide. Not a climber, just a slide.

I second this. DS is 7 and still spends times with friends going up, down, over and around the slide. My sister wants him to pass it to her kids and he just won't give it up (he hands down all his toys as he "outgrows" them, but there is no parting him from his slide!)