Looking for some fun indoor sensory activities to keep your child entertained during the cold winter season? Look no further! In this post, we share several occupational therapist-recommended ideas for wintertime games and activities that will not only keep children engaged, but also promote their development and motor skills.
Indoor Sensory Activities to Promote Motor Skills and Development
1. The Floor is Lava Game
Build The Floor is Lava game by simply placing three pillows, chair cushions, or couch cushions on the floor. For a bigger challenge, increase the space between pillows or cushions to approximately one foot. For a smaller challenge, separate the cushions by a few inches, depending on desired skill level, to achieve the “just-right-challenge” – neither too easy nor too difficult to ensure proper growth and development.
Do not forget to supervise to guard your child’s safety. You can place a toy at one end with its matching target at the other (examples include puzzle pieces, shapes, blocks, Legos, or crayons), encouraging your learner to walk across the obstacle course in between sets without touching the floor and carrying the toy to and from the target.
2. Indoor Obstacle Course
Use pillows, tape lines on the floor, or use couch cushions to create a fun and safe obstacle course. Obstacle courses are great for building motor skills and burning energy!
3. Act Out a Story
Pick a favorite book, read together, then act out the characters. This builds imagination, communication skills, and joint attention.
4. Snowy Sensory Bin
Grab a large bowl and head outside to fill it up with snow! It’s a free, quick, and easy sensory bin. Next, try adding an empty plastic cup and spoon to practice scooping and bilateral coordination (using both hands together), a pair of kitchen tongs to facilitate fine motor skills, as well as some small objects to play “hide and seek,” such as Legos, erasers, beads, or even spare change to target visual motor skills. The possibilities are endless!
With a creative lens, grabbing everyday household items to add to your snow will help to facilitate sensory processing (tactile, visual, and proprioceptive sensory systems). If the cold snow is too much for your child, have a pair of winter gloves handy to aid in reducing frustration or an adverse reaction.
3. Yoga
Time to break out your yoga mat! If you don't have one, no problem. Yoga can be done in any small space indoors on any soft surface such as a blanket, towel, or carpet. Your child should wear non-skid socks or remain barefoot to ensure safety and reduce slipping. Yoga has so many benefits including mindfulness, self-regulation, deep breathing, stretching, digestion, balance, coordination, and core strengthening. There are many resources for yoga such as Cosmic Kids Yoga that are interactive and great for following directions. You can work on social skills, such as parallel play, by joining your child or getting the whole family involved (parents, siblings, pets).
4. "Build-It" Challenge
Grab Legos, blocks, or recycled boxes and challenge your child to build a tower, a house, or even a “winter castle.” This fun activity enables your child to practice pretend play and build motor skills.
5. Dance Party Warm-Up
Put on your child’s favorite songs and have a mini dance party! Movement is a mood-boosting way to warm up and build coordination.
6. Bake Something Simple
Try baking cookies, banana bread, or a making simple snack together. This builds motor skills and teaches your child about how to measure, pour, and mix. Kids love helping in the kitchen!
7. Puzzle and Game Hour
On a long afternoon indoors when you aren't sure what to do, pull out that stack of board games and puzzles! You'll have hours of fun for the whole family and time to build problem-solving and turn-taking skills for your kids.
The activities above will provide endless hours of family-centered entertainment and valuable skills development for your children. We hope you have a wonderful winter season of building memories together!
Featured Photo by Maddy Baker on Unsplash