If the weather or a state of emergency has you stuck inside, there's still plenty your family can do to have a great time together. Fun things to do indoors can be active or creative depending on your family interests. Use this time indoors to bond through fun.
Create Book Art
If you've got a home library, you can use your books for lots of fun activities besides reading. Try building a book city if you've got younger kids by stacking books in different ways. Families with older kids can try making a book tree or other elaborate book sculptures.
Make Laundry Art
When you're tired of using standard art supplies, create some laundry art. Take clean or dirty clothes and arrange them into works of art on the floor. Lay an empty, large picture frame on the floor and create your art inside. Then, you can take pictures of the art, print them, and make a unique wall art gallery.
Make a Movie
From stop motion to live action, your family can write, direct, and act in a fun movie. Assign each member a job like set designer, costume designer, or actor and get to work. You can use video editing software to edit the film, then host a movie night to watch it.
Play Chopped
The reality cooking show Chopped involves each contestant receiving a basket filled with a few random items they have to use together in a dish. Choose two family members to create the baskets and serve as the judges. The other family members will need to make a dish using all the random ingredients.
Set Up a Whole House Obstacle Course
Use chairs, stools, blankets, and other household items to set up an obstacle course that runs through your entire house. Take turns running the obstacle course while timing each other to see who completes it the fastest. To make it more fun, you can wear wacky workout outfits and give each other epic introductions before runs.
Set Up a Mini Golf Course
Use cups, boxes, or even the space under the couch as holes in your own mini golf course. If you don't have real or toy golf clubs to use, you can use things like brooms as golf clubs. Try to set up an 18 hole course around the whole house by having each family member create a couple holes.
Host a Virtual Party
Virtual parties are easy to throw when you choose an online group video call platform. Make up a holiday or choose a theme and plan a virtual party you can invite friends or family members to.
Build a Fort City
One fort is fun, but a whole fort city is better. Work together to turn a whole room or the whole house into a giant city made from separate forts. You could also have each family member create one building for the city, then explore them together.
Go On a Virtual Tour
You don't have to leave the house to explore the world. Choose a location or attraction you're all interested in and take a virtual tour together. Make a day of it by letting each family member choose a different place to tour.
Have a Drum Circle
Drum circles have been present throughout history in different cultures as a way to celebrate and connect. Use real drums, toy drums, DIY drum crafts, or upside-down dishes to make each person a hand drum. Sit in a circle and jam together.
Do Yoga Together
Family yoga can be more fun than doing it yourself. You can use books or online videos to learn new yoga moves or copy a yoga routine. Don some comfy clothes and find a towel to serve as each person's yoga mat. YouTube shows like Cosmic Kids Yoga is great for families with kids of all ages.
Write and Illustrate a Book
After you've exhausted your home library, write your own books to pass the time. Work together to create one story or create individual stories, then read them to each other. For cooperative stories, you can assign roles like author, illustrator, editor, and publisher.
Play I Spy Out the Window
Take your I Spy game to the next level when you add in the challenge of figuring out which window the spy was looking out. Sit in the room that has the most windows or walk around the house as you play. On a turn, you say "I Spy," then describe something you see. Family members will have to guess which window your item is outside of and find the item you're describing.
Visit Strange Places in Your House
How much time have you really spent under your bed, in the attic, or in the basement? Go on a walking house tour where you stop and explore or spend time in some of the strange places inside your own home.
Have a WWE Style Wrestling Match
WWE wrestling matches are as much shows as they are sports. Create wrestler personas and put on a show before competing in wrestling matches. Keep the matches relatively painless by using signature moves such as the pillow slam or invisible kick.
Have a Roller Skating Party
You might not normally roller skate in the house, but it is possible. You can use hard floors like the kitchen floor or even skate on low carpets. Turn on some music, dim the lights, and skate. You can even add in fun skating games like limbo.
Start a Nerf War
If you've got Nerf weapons or anything similar, it's time to start a Nerf War. Set up barriers like you'd see on a paintball course and play a game of capture the flag.
Play Photo Charades
Give each person about five minutes to take close-up pictures of things around the house. You should use a separate camera for each team. Play by classic charades rule, only instead of acting out something, you'll show the other team one picture and they'll have one minute to guess what it is.
Host a Comedy Showcase
See how hard you can make each other laugh with a standup comedy show. Write your own comedy routines, then take turns standing up in front of the family to deliver them.
Host a Talent Show
Every family's got talent, so show it off with your own talent show. Create individual and/or group acts and perform your best talents for each other.
Grow Food From Scraps
Experiment with growing fruits and vegetables from the scraps of the ones you just ate. You can put things like the leafy end of a bunch of celery or the leafy end of a carrot in shallow water to see if it will grow.
Make a Family Playlist and Groove
Dance parties are a great way to let loose and relieve some stress. You'll have more fun dancing to songs you love, so let each family member add songs to a family playlist.
Make an Escape Room
You can make an escape room using any room of your house. If you have a room with a door that locks, you should use it. At least one person will have to set up the escape room, then the others will have to try and solve their way out. You can make it a contest by splitting into two groups who each create a room at the same time, then see who can escape the other room first.
Host a Wacky Group Art Class
Gather painting supplies for each family member and get ready for the weirdest art class you've ever seen. Choose a painting you're each going to recreate. Take turns guiding the art lesson by each choosing a wacky painting method. You might ask everyone to paint a section while holding the paintbrush with their teeth or with their toes!
Become Fantasy Warriors
If you love fantasy books, shows, or movies, you can create your own band of fantasy warriors at home. Use clothing, toys, and other household items to invent your own characters that will battle evil together. Once everyone is dressed up, go on an imaginary quest around your house.
Play Quidditch
Fans of Harry Potter will be familiar with the broom-riding sport of Quidditch. You'll need two teams and each person needs a broom or something like a broom to ride for the duration of the game. Each team should have a series of goals set up that are each worth a different point value. In this version, you'll just need one ball and you have to pass it to teammates by throwing the ball to each other and throwing into the opponent's goals.
Create a Family Dance Routine
Choose a song you all love and makeup a dance routine for it. Take it a step further and record your family dance routine to share online.
Make Your Own Planetarium
You can use a hole punch, index cards, and flashlights to create an easy star-viewing science activity inside. Each person can try to make a different constellation to share. Go in the darkest room you can and shine the light from under the index card toward the ceiling or the wall for a starry show.
Set Up an Oddities Museum
Every family has weired keepsake or junk drawer items lying around, and now's the time to show them off. Scour your house for the weirdest objects you can find and set them up for display in one room of the house.
Set Up a Family Circus
Make your own circus games and find prizes around the house to create your own carnival midway. Pair off to create different circus elements like one team to make the circus food like popcorn and peanuts, one to make carnival games, and one to put on some type of ring show using hula-hoops for each animal (stuffed or pet!).
Build an Ice Cube Castle
Prepare for this activity by making as many ice cubes as you can. Use a tray with a lip as your base and start building an ice cube castle before it all melts. You can add mini LED light strands or mini LED tea lights to light up your castle and even add a toy dragon guarding it.
Turn Your Day Into a Musical
Nearly every TV show has a musical episode these days, so it's time your family does too. Turn on a playlist that can run for the whole day and require every family member to sing everything they want to say.
Virtually Ride Rides
You can head over to YouTube to find virtual rides you can "ride" by taking specific pictures with your phone that will be added to the ride or by using a 3D viewer that works with your cell phone. Some of these videos also just give you a passenger view of the ride.
Start a Prank War
Have fun while you're stuck inside with harmless funny pranks. Start a prank war by trying to one-up each other with pranks for kids and some of the best pranks to do at home. Team up or do it as individuals, but whoever gets the last laugh wins the war.
Build a Rube Goldberg Machine
Rube Goldberg machines are crazy contraptions you invent that involve a chain of reactions leading to the completion of a simple task. See if your family can build one that turns on a light switch or opens a door.
Host a Family Game Tournament
Choose one to three fairly quick board or card games to use for your tournament. Make a simple bracket to keep track of who moves on in each round. Everyone can play the first game for the first round, then the winners play the next game.
Play Paper Plate Frisbee Golf
Use paper plates as flying discs to play Frisbee golf around your house. For each "hole," one player chooses an object or spot everyone will try to hit with their paper plate by throwing it like a Frisbee. Each throw counts as one stroke for scorekeeping.
Host a Kids Baking Championship
The Food Network hosts the Kids Baking Championship where kid bakers compete in fun baking challenges. The adults can dish out challenges and serve as the judges while the kids bake or decorate treats.
Experiment With Cup Phones
Back in the day, kids kept in touch with cup phones. You simply tie a string between two disposable cups and you have a long-distance talking device. Make your own cup phones to see if they really work. How far can you stretch them? Does it work with more than one line?
Decorate With Mixed Up Holiday Decorations
Pull out all your holiday decorations and choose a few from each holiday to decorate your home. You can decorate one room or the whole house with your mixed up holiday decorations.
Have a Sock Fight
When you can't have a snowball fight, have a sock fight. Gather up your sock pairs and roll them into balls. Split into teams or make it every man for himself.
Take an Online Group Class
There's no shortage of options for free or paid on line classes you can take as a group. Find something you're all interested in and search for a class on that topic.
Host a Rave
Raves are large dance parties that typically involve techno music and a lot of glowing toys. You can host a family-friendly rave at home by turning out all the lights, turning on some techno music, and busting out all the glow sticks or glow-in-the-dark things you have.
Host a Video Game Tournament
Choose one or more two-player video games and make a tournament out of them. The players who win each round move on to the next round.
Make Family Tree Art
Celebrate family with a creative family tree art project. You can focus on your immediate family or your extended family. Use a piece of poster board or cardboard as your canvas. Make a family tree picture that fits with your personalities then hand it on the wall.
Host a Netflix Movie Party
If you've got a Netflix account, you can host a Netflix Party with friends and family members who also have accounts. This new feature allows you to watch a movie simultaneously and talk to each other in a private group chat. Grab some popcorn and enjoy.
Play a Cooperative Online Game
Multi-player online games can be played together when you each create an account from a different device. Look for a game all family members can play, then create your accounts and have fun.
Host a Brain Games Challenge
From logic puzzles to riddle scavenger hunts, you can challenge each other's intelligence with a brain games competition. Gather a variety of brain games and see who's the smartest in the family.
Do a Nailed It! Challenge
Nailed It! is a popular Netflix show where ill-equipped contestants try to recreate an amazing baked good. Look for a baking trend online like character cake pops or pull-apart cakes and choose one. Give each family member the chance to bake and/or decorate a treat to make it look just like your inspiration.
Listen to a Book Together
Audiobooks for kids and families are often narrated by celebrities or famous voices. Ask everyone to choose or make their ideal comfy seat in the same room, then press play on an audiobook.
Try Out Some Tik Tok Challenges
Tik Tok is a short-form video platform where you can upload short videos to share with the world. Many celebrities and influences create challenges for others to try using Tik Tok. See if your family can create amazing and fun Tik Tok challenge videos.
Plan a Fantasy Vacation
You might be stuck inside now, but that won't always be the case. Take some time to talk about each person's fantasy vacation and see if you could plan one trip as a family that would make everyone's dreams come true. Make a collage or keep a journal with all the information you need to turn this dream vacation into a reality one day.
Play Balloon Soccer
You can still play your favorite sports indoors with a few modifications. Replace your soccer ball with a balloon and play soccer around the house in your socks.
Record Your Own Podcast
Create something you can listen to next time you're stuck indoors by recording a family podcast. You can play word games, talk about your current situation, or share your favorite things while recording audio.
Play Picture Tag
Arm each person with a camera of some kind and play picture tag. Run around the house like crazy paparazzi trying to take pictures of each other. If you snap someone's photo, show it to them so they know they are tagged. If you get tagged, you are out. The last person standing is the winner.
Create a Family Bucket List
You might have individual goals, but this is a great time to make family goals. Find a creative way to keep track of all the things you agree you want to do as a family at some point in your lives.
Make a Family Vision Board
Vision boards help you organize your goals and dreams in one visual space. Use a bulletin board or craft materials to make a family vision board that includes things like a family mission and words that describe your family. Hang it somewhere everyone can see it daily.
Turn Your Family Room Into a Theater
Create a theater feeling in your living room or family room by elevating seating and arranging it so some people will sit in front of others like a real theater. Find creative ways to give each seat a cupholder and enjoy an at-home movie theater experience.
Rearrange A Room Competition
This is a great time to give your home new life by rearranging the furniture. Different people will see the room differently, so explore everyone's ideas for the best room layout. Have everyone vote on the best arrangement and keep it for the next week or month.
Race Office Chairs
Use office chairs or other furniture with wheels as vehicles to race around the house. You can work in teams where one person pushes the other or let everyone figure out how to move fast on their own.
Enjoy the Indoors Together
Any type of family can have fun indoors together. Look for activities and projects everyone will enjoy and get creative. Finding new things to do inside together can help turn your house into a home.
