50 Indoor Games for Kids to Improve Cognition & Creativity

There are several indoor games that kids can play any time of the day. Fun, easy indoor games for kids also pack a lot of fun while empowering them with the necessary skills. It is important to play a range of games with kids to maximize learning output when spending quality time with them. 

You can refer to these awesome indoor games for kids when considering games that can improve different aspects of a child’s developmental matrix.

What Are Some of the Best Skill-Building Indoor Games for Kids?

Skill-building indoor games offer a lot of opportunities for engaged learning. They’re designed to spark creative thinking and problem-solving in new and challenging environments. Let’s check out the best-skill building indoor games for kids at home.

1. Online Learning Games

You can bring excitement back into at-home online learning with SplashLearn’s story-rich interactive games for kids. The young ones can strengthen their counting, multiplication, fractions, and word problems through something they already love doing—playing fun games!

Age group: 2+ years

What you’ll need: Tablet, smartphone  

Related Reading: Best Math Games for Kids to Make Learning Fun

2. Memory Palace Game

You can present a tray filled with interesting toys and various objects to your kid, let them observe it for 10 seconds, and then cover it up. Your child can use their recall skills and earn points for every object they guess correctly.

Age group: 3+ years

What you’ll need: Tray, toys  

3. Treasure Hunt

A themed treasure hunt can include riddles, objectives, collectibles, and rewards. You can make the game more skill-based by introducing math, science, and history questions.

Age group: 5+ years

What you’ll need: Map, instructions, clues   

4. Bring Me the Objects

You can present a question based on which your kids will have to collect the right objects that fit your criteria. You can ask them to hunt for blue solids or green nature objects to make it more exciting.

Age group: 4+ years

What you’ll need: Clues  

5. Does it Float?

Kids can learn with greater efficiency through a hands-on approach. Some of the best indoor activities involve checking if household objects sink or float in water.  

Age group: 3+ years

What you’ll need: Bucket, objects, water  

6. Guess with Your Hands!

You can prepare a cardboard box or shoebox with a hole in the middle to store objects in. Your kids can guess what the object is using only their hands for sensory motor skills development.

Age group: 4+ years

What you’ll need: Cardboard box, toys  

7. Carnival Ring Toss Game

Having your kids toss rings onto toys or various objects can keep them engaged for hours. You can give them challenges, such as increasing the distance between them and the object or reducing the ring size to improve their hand–eye coordination.

Age group 5+ years

What you’ll need: Rings, toys  

8. Match My Vibe!

You can start with a single line of poetry and have your child finish the rest. They would have to find the right rhyming words while making the song coherent, which improves their grammar skills.

Age group: 5+ years

What you’ll need: A rhyme book  

9. Let’s Make Games

You can play imaginative thinking indoor games with “let’s make” style themes. You can make castles, landscapes, cars, and other interesting 3D scenarios with clay, Lego, paper, glue, etc.  

Age group 4+ years

What you’ll need: Lego, clay molds, clay

Related Reading: Best Indoor Games to Play with kindergarteners

10. Jenga Tower

Jenga tower games are a great way to improve fine motor skills, concentration, focus, and perception. You can add challenges to each block to make the game more interesting.

Age group: 5+ years

What you’ll need: Jenga stack

Help Burn Off Excess Energy with Physical Indoor Games for Kids

11. Hopscotch

This classic indoor game can be made more challenging by asking your kids to pick up toys placed at specific numbers when they hop on back. This improves their balance and perception skills.

Age group: 3+ years

What you’ll need: Tape, chalk  

12. Hula-Hoops

Kids love Hula-Hoops and can use it to swing to their favorite songs. It strengthens their coordination, body control, and movement skills significantly.

Age group: 4+ years

What you’ll need: Hula-Hoops    

13. Freeze!

Freeze is one of those fun indoor games that requires minimal setting up. You can have your kids dance to a song and suddenly stop it in the middle, having them freeze their motion.

Age group: 4+ years

What you’ll need: Speakers   

14. Indoor Bowling

Bowling is one of the best indoor games as it combines concentration, vision, and gross motor coordination. You can use old bottles as pins with an inflatable ball as the official bowling ball.

Age group: 4+ years

What you’ll need: Bottles, ball  

15. Balloon Tennis

You can fill up a bunch of balloons and ask your kids to keep them floating in the air by bouncing them off rackets. This is a great indoor game for kids that can burn off excess energy within minutes.

Age group: 5+ years

What you’ll need: Balloon, rackets   

16. Zig-Zag Obstacle Course

You can create a unique obstacle course, giving kids a few minutes to complete the run without tripping over. Rewarding the winning team with toys can make it more engaging.

Age group: 5+ years

What you’ll need: Objects, a dedicated path  

17. Follow My Pose

You can have your kids follow along to unique yet easy yoga poses, enabling them to gain confidence in their physical abilities. You can test balance, strength, and core stability.

Age group: 5+ years

What you’ll need: Yoga mats 

18. The Floor Is Lava!

This is one of the best fun simple indoor games for kids at home that involves no setup and can be played anytime. You can set new rules about chairs and furniture that may melt off in 20 seconds.

Age group: 4+ years

What you’ll need: Rewards tailored to your young one 

19. Let’s Pretend

This indoor game requires kids to pretend to like their favorite animal and perform tasks for extra points. They can hunt, drink water, and communicate while role-playing.

Age group: 3+ years

What you’ll need: Adding animal costumes will make the game even more fun! 

Related Reading: Creative Indoor Activities for Kids to Have Some No-Screen Fun

20. Sock Free-Throws

In these types of indoor games, you can have them roll up socks into balls to stand in as basketballs, footballs, and more. A laundry basket can be hung off a hook to act as a basketball hoop.

Age group: 5+ years

What you’ll need: Socks, basket, ring

Best Indoor Party Games for Kids

21. Follow the Tape!

In this game, kids have to follow a straight line made of tape as it goes through different loops, formations, and patterns. You can fill the track with obstacles and run the tape across furniture with a start and finish point.

Age group: 5+ years

What you’ll need: Tape, measure

22. Hide & Seek

This is a great party game when you’re trying to engage children. Kids have to hide and finish tasks without getting caught.

Age group: 4+ years

What you’ll need: Task sheet, a blindfold

23. Let’s Start a Band!

Kids will have to create an original song in this fun activity and perform in a designated stage area. It’s one of the more interactive indoor birthday party games for kids, keeping them engaged and creatively occupied.

Age group: 5+ years

What you’ll need: Instruments

24. Musical Chairs

You can make musical chairs more interesting by having kids control the duration of the song snippet. This is one of those fun indoor games for kids that can be played at any party, anytime.

Age group: 5+ years

What you’ll need: Chairs, speaker

25. Hot Potato

Kids can sit in a circle and pass a round object or “hot potato” around. The last person holding the hot potato will get a lifeline if they solve a math puzzle successfully. This makes the game educational and fun at the same time.

Age group: 4+ years

What you’ll need: A round object

26. Red Light, Green Light

In this classic party game for kids, “red light” means freeze, and “green light” means go. The kids have to follow the simple rule and perform a particular activity when the words “green light” or “red light” are mentioned. The rules for the activities, trigger words, and punishments can be customized. You can mix it up with some random words tossed in to test their agile thinking.

Age group: 4+ years

What you’ll need: Speaker

27. Balance Beam on the Floor

A party can instantly be made more fun with the right tape-balance-beam game. You can use colored masking tape or painter’s tape to make narrow paths on the floor on which kids try to maintain balance. Use the tapes to create straight lines, curved intersections, and other interesting tape paths to test their balance.  

Age group: 3+ years

What you’ll need: Tape, lines

28. Laser Maze

This Mission Impossible-style indoor game can be played by making a simple maze with toilet paper and tape. You can make different laser beams by sticking the tape across the length of two walls, and children can pretend to be spies trying to enter the room. 

Age group: 5+ years

What you’ll need: Toilet paper, tape

29. Target the Cups

In this classic party game for kids, you can stack solo cups in the form of a pyramid and have kids strike them with a hacky sack.

Age group: 4+ years

What you’ll need: Cups, hacky sack

30. Indoor Golf

You can make a golf club with a rolled cardboard sheet and a tiny paper cup. Kids can use the edge of the paper cup to put ping pong balls into larger solo cups.

Age group: 4+ years

What you’ll need: Rolled cardboard, cups, ball

Related Reading: Enjoyable Kids’ Activities for a Whoopee Time!

Spark Creativity with DIY Indoor Games for Kids!

31. Upgrading Toys

One of the best DIY activities for kids is to spruce up their old toys. You can help them stitch eyes onto old stuffed toys, glue costumes on dolls, and patch holes in toy clothes to bring out their inner creativity.

Age group: 4+ years

What you’ll need: DIY art supplies

32. Let’s Make Origami!

Origami structures are some of the most exciting things that kids can create, paint, and display on their bedside tables. You can make the DIY activity more engaging with different levels of origami. 

Age group: 3+ years

What you’ll need: Origami instructions

33. Fort Building DIY-Style

Fort building can be taken to the next level with some planning. You can prepare towers with cardboard boxes and stands and make a moat with some blue tarp or bedsheets.

Age group: 4+ years

What you’ll need: Sheets, pillows

 34. Recreate Memories

You can have your kids paint memorable moments from their lives, such as a trip to Disney World, their birthday, or their favorite park. Guiding them along the way will encourage them to keep going.

Age group: 3+ years

What you’ll need: Paint supplies

35. DIY Telephone

You can make connected cups with strings and have your kids talk to each other with their new telephonic creation.

Age group: 4+ years

What you’ll need: Cups, string

36. Paper Airplanes

This classic indoor game revolves around making paper planes that need to accomplish specific tasks. You can have your kids make long-nose bombers, thick landers, and other unique types of planes.

Age group: 4+ years

What you’ll need: Paper

37. Making a Racetrack

DIY indoor games must be specific to a kid’s preferences, so making racetracks is perfect for kids who love track cars. You can have them prepare the launch site, the track, and the finish line.

Age group: 6+ years

What you’ll need: Paper, cardboard, tape

38. Cardboard Box Coloring

This activity is perfect for younger children to draw to their heart’s content by placing them within large cardboard boxes. They can pretend like they’re drawing on walls for hours on end.

Age group: 2+ years

What you’ll need: Cardboard, crayons

Related Reading: Easy Activities for Preschoolers [With Tutorials]

39. Let’s Make a Car

You can have your kids make their favorite cars with cardboard and paper plates. Black paper plates can be glued onto the box to serve as wheels, while the interior can be jazzed up with Christmas decorative wrapping paper.

Age group: 4+ years

What you’ll need: Cardboard, paper plates, crayons

40. Paper Plate Tic Tac Toe

You can inscribe O & X on the back of paper plates and create a 3×3 matrix using tape on the floor. Kids can take turns and play this classic game in a life-size format.

Age group: 4+ years

What you’ll need: Paper plates, tape

Indoor Group Games for Kids

41. Life-Size Puzzle Play

This is one of the more fun team-building games for kids that revolves around gross motor skills, coordination, and teamwork. Kids need to look at the larger picture when joining different pieces.

Age group: 5+ years

What you’ll need: Printed puzzle pieces, master sheet

42. Group Worksheets

A great indoor game for kids is filling out worksheets. You can print out worksheets about counting words, letters, and objects and have two teams solve them simultaneously.

Age group: 4+ years

What you’ll need: Printable worksheet

Related Reading: Best Brain Games for Kids That Make Learning Exciting

43. Indoor Olympics

You can have kids perform long jumps, frisbee throws, and hopping skills in an Olympics-style group event for a memorable Saturday afternoon.

Age group: 5+ years

What you’ll need: Tape, sheet

44. Minute to Win It Games

Minute to Win It games can test lateral thinking, creativity, and agility within a limited period. Kids can get rewarded based on who finishes first.

Age group: 5+ years

What you’ll need: Cups, balls, spoons

45. Color Toss

You can prepare four colored boxes on the floor, with colored sheets and taped outlines, and have kids toss a ball or toy onto their designated color. They can earn extra points if their toss lands perfectly within the square.

Age group: 4+ years

What you’ll need: Colored paper, tape

46. Ping-Pong Ball Catch N’ Toss

By grouping kids into two teams, you can have them toss a ping pong ball from side to side using only red solo cups. They need to land the ball within the cup to have it count as a single toss.

Age group: 6+ years

What you’ll need: Cups, ping pong ball

47. Follow the Leader

Kids can sit in a circle and follow any action that the leader suggests. They can follow along and keep track of what motion they’re performing to remember the action trail.

Age group: 3+ years

What you’ll need: A mat

48. Simon Says

Using a paper megaphone, you can have your kids perform simple tasks each time you say the phrase “Simon Says.” The game is classically designed to improve listening skills and quick thinking.

Age group: 3+ years

What you’ll need: Paper

49. Movement Chain

Kids can perform dance steps and have their peers copy it and add another step to make a memory sequence in this exciting game.  

Age group: 5+ years

What you’ll need: Music, a tracker

50. Guess the Quantity

These are generally some of the more fun indoor games, where kids have to guess the number of candy pieces in a jar.

Age group: 3+ years

What you’ll need: Candy jar

Teaching Your Kids Valuable Lessons through Games!

Now that we’ve gone through awesome indoor games, it is important to introduce them steadily over time. You should make games collaborative, fun-filled, and positive to nurture your child’s curiosity about new learning opportunities. Games are a great way of strengthening skills, improving social bonding, and boosting confidence for kids of all ages. Get started today with these amazing games!