Fun Indoor Games to Play with Children

The following are some indoor games to play with kids. This compilation is best when you are able to work in a large area such as a church sanctuary or indoor gym. There are a few of these games that are adaptation of more popular games, but all of the games can be done with very few props.

Drag Races or Chariot Races

All you need for this game is a few full sized sheets, start and finish lines, and the kids. Unless you want to take the chance of your designer sheets getting ruined, use older sheets. Divide the children up into teams of three. You would probably want to make sure that at least one lighter weight person is on each team. You can make it fun and let the teams come up with their own (appropriate) names. Set up a racing bracket and even create trophies or medals for the winners, along with certificates for the other participants. For the actual races, fold the sheet in half and have one of the racers from the team sit on the end. Have the other two members grab the other end of the sheet. Make sure the rider is facing forward and isn’t on the very edge of the fabric. They can hold onto the sides of the sheets. You can yell start and let the races begin!

Hockey

Before you completely dismiss this idea, this is a safer version. Instead of using the actual sticks, use the foam noodles that are for swimming. Instead of a puck, use a waffle ball. If you don’t have small goals, use two cones at each end. Tape or mark off the boundaries. Make sure to enforce a “no high sticking” rule before the game begins. This will help make sure that the teams aren’t whacking each other with the noodles. Have a penalty box for the rule-breakers. You can make a time limit, or a goal limit. Make sure to switch out the players if you have many kids.

Big Sheet Volleyball

Remember the sheets from before? Go ahead and whip them out again. Split the children up in teams and have each one grab and edge of the sheet. Make sure to have them all spread out. You can either tape off a line or use an actual net. Have one team serve it to the other using only the sheets. The other team scores if the ball drops or if a team uses anything but their sheet. This game involves the teams really working together.

The Ball Roll

All you really need for this game is a softball, a wall, and masking tape. This is better when played on carpet. Tape off lines with scores for however far the ball rolls. For example, between lines one and two is worth ten points. The space between lines two and three is worth 25 points, but the space is smaller than the first. The last line should be about a foot away from the wall. Make this final space worth 100 points. Also, make the rule that if you hit the wall, you get zero points for that turn. Let all the kids go through the line a certain amount of times. Remember though, only one child can go at a time, so if your line is long, many kids will get bored quickly.

Indoor Stand and Shoot

You will need a basketball and a small, clean trashcan. It should be big enough for the basketball to fit in it, but not easily. Put the trashcan against a wall and make a line far enough away that is appropriate to the age range you are working with. Let the kids stand behind the line and bounce the basketball once and try to make it in the trashcan. The ball should be allowed to bounce against the wall as well. This game takes a little while to get the hang of. Plus, you are also facing the problem as above when it comes to the kids becoming bored in the line. A twist to this idea is to place another trashcan and divide the kids into teams. Give them a two or three minute time limit to get as many baskets as they can.

Cross the River

This is played easily with carpet squares and masking tape. Try to tape of a pair of lines parallel to each other. (You can make the space wider for older children or narrower for the younger ones.) Divide the kids into teams and tell them they must cross the river using the carpet squares to step on. If they fall off of the square, the entire team must start all over. They are allowed to arrange the squares however they want as long as they aren’t in the water doing so. The key to this game is to give the kids fewer carpet squares than it would take to cross the river. This way they have to use teamwork to rearrange the squares or pick up an unused spare and place it somewhere else. You can keep this going and just subtract one square each round. However, once the kids get used to this game, it will become easier for them.

Survive!

Divide the children in to teams. Take one member from each, preferably a lighter weight individual. Hid them in different places without the groups knowing where they are. Tell the individuals that they are not allowed to shout to their teammates, they are only allowed to hand out the clues. After returning to the groups, give them each a few clues to help them find their “lost” teammate, and that they must help that teammate survive. Once a team has found their teammate, they will be given two more clues from their “lost” teammate. One of the clues should lead part of the team to a sheet; the other clue leads them to an ace bandage. Returning to the “lost” teammate, member must wrap a body part (such as a foot or arm) in the ace bandage. Then, they need to move that teammate onto the sheet and carry them back to the starting point. First one there wins. NOTE: This game is best played with older children! This is a great team building exercise. Feel free to make the clues as easy or as difficult as you wish.

The great thing about these games is the fact that you can alter the games however you want. Many of these games are teambuilding and will help the kids feel connected to each other. So the next time you have a group of kids and don’t know quite what to do with them, just take this list and put it to use!!