When Children Play Indoors

Do children challenge your normal good nature on a stormy day by whining, “What can I do?” A few well-planned activities will help restore order and good cheer.

Sit-down Scavenger Hunt: Give each child an old catalog or magazine, a pair of scissors, and an envelope to organize his “finds.” Then give each a list of ten to fifteen specific items to find.

If not all of your children read, divide into teams with a reader on each team, or give the group as a whole one list of items that everyone must find, and have the older children read the list aloud. The first child to cut out pictures of all the items on the list wins.

Front Room Olympics: Hold a series of indoor games. Some activities might include—

Discus throw, using a paper plate

Shot put, with securely tied, blown-up paper bags or balloons

Javelin throw, using a plastic drinking straw

Fifty-yard dash, blowing a ping-pong or cotton ball a designated distance

Relay, using two foot-sized pieces of cardboard. One person “runs” by hopping from one piece of cardboard to the next, while his partner moves the pieces into place as fast as he can.

Collage Decorating: Let children cut pictures and words from magazines that express their interests, and arrange and paste the cutouts on pieces of butcher paper. For a permanent remembrance, shellac or frame the collages and hang them on bedroom doors or walls.—Dian Thomas, Provo, Utah

Photography by Eldon K. Linschoten