{"id":25963,"date":"2014-12-22T09:00:46","date_gmt":"2014-12-22T14:00:46","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/thehappyhousewife.com\/homeschool\/?p=25963"},"modified":"2019-09-30T10:25:49","modified_gmt":"2019-09-30T14:25:49","slug":"creative-indoor-play-ideas","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/thehappyhousewife.com\/homeschool\/creative-indoor-play-ideas\/","title":{"rendered":"Creative Indoor Play Ideas"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><em>By contributing writer <a target = \"_blank\" href=\"http:\/\/bit.ly\/WvA0b8\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Colleen<\/a>.<\/em><\/p>\n<p>Winter is here,\u00a0and with it comes long days cooped up inside. What do we do to pass the time with our stir-crazy\u00a0kids? Kids that may finish their work by noon or early afternoon? Kids that are tired of their toys, their siblings, and their mom?<\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone wp-image-26048 size-full\" title=\"Creative Indoor Play Ideas at The Happy Housewife\" src=\"\/\/thehappyhousewife.com\/homeschool\/files\/2014\/11\/Creative_Indoor_Play_Ideas.jpg\" alt=\"Creative Indoor Play Ideas at The Happy Housewife\" width=\"433\" height=\"650\" srcset=\"https:\/\/thehappyhousewife.com\/homeschool\/files\/2014\/11\/Creative_Indoor_Play_Ideas.jpg 433w, https:\/\/thehappyhousewife.com\/homeschool\/files\/2014\/11\/Creative_Indoor_Play_Ideas-200x300.jpg 200w, https:\/\/thehappyhousewife.com\/homeschool\/files\/2014\/11\/Creative_Indoor_Play_Ideas-400x600.jpg 400w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 433px) 100vw, 433px\" \/><\/p>\n<p>While it\u2019s tempting to pass the time with a movie or stick the kids on the computer, try inspiring creative play\u00a0instead. Here are some creative indoor play ideas to get you started, and remember to <strong>think outside the box<\/strong>.<\/p>\n<h3>Caf\u00e9<\/h3>\n<p>Give the\u00a0kids\u00a0blankets, scarves, and cardboard boxes, and ask them to work together to create something. Pull out play dishes, dolls, dress up clothes, or paper, markers, and tape.<\/p>\n<p>Forts are fun\u2026but what about a caf\u00e9? You could be their customer and order a fancy coffee to sip at their glass tables.<\/p>\n<h3>Post Office<\/h3>\n<p>Or, maybe they can build a post office and sort mail, then deliver it to family and neighbors. Put out some fun stickers, markers, paper, and envelopes, and see what they can come up with.<\/p>\n<h3>City<\/h3>\n<p>Got little ones? Spread a big piece of butcher paper on the floor and draw some roads. Dump their blocks out, and get on the floor to help them build houses and cities alongside the roads. Then bring out the matchbox cars and trucks and take imaginary families to visit their relatives for the holidays or the imaginary toddler to the doctor to get his check-up.<\/p>\n<h3>Spider Web<\/h3>\n<p>Try spinning a spider web in your family room. All you need is a skein of yarn. Let your kids string it all over the place and then play spider.<\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone wp-image-25969\" title=\"Creative Indoor Play Ideas at The Happy Housewife\" src=\"\/\/thehappyhousewife.com\/homeschool\/files\/2014\/11\/Spider-Web.jpg\" alt=\"Creative Indoor Play Ideas at The Happy Housewife\" width=\"550\" height=\"367\" srcset=\"https:\/\/thehappyhousewife.com\/homeschool\/files\/2014\/11\/Spider-Web.jpg 600w, https:\/\/thehappyhousewife.com\/homeschool\/files\/2014\/11\/Spider-Web-300x200.jpg 300w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 550px) 100vw, 550px\" \/><\/p>\n<p>Getting your kids to use their imagination is important. With so many toys filled with bells and whistles, it\u2019s hard for them to come up with ideas on their own. Simple prompts like these, using everyday materials, can be big boosts to their creative thinking skills.<\/p>\n<p><strong>How do you encourage your kids to play creatively?<\/strong><\/p>\n<h3>You might also like&#8230;<\/h3>\n<ul>\n<li><a href=\"http:\/\/thehappyhousewife.com\/home-management\/indoor-sandbox-homemade-gift-for-kids\/\" rel=\"noopener\">Indoor Sandbox<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"http:\/\/thehappyhousewife.com\/homeschool\/physical-education-during-the-winter\/\" rel=\"noopener\">Physical Education During the Winter<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"http:\/\/thehappyhousewife.com\/homeschool\/mom-im-bored-activity-cards\/\" rel=\"noopener\">Mom I&#8217;m Bored Activity Cards<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>By contributing writer Colleen. Winter is here,\u00a0and with it comes long days cooped up inside. What do we do to pass the time with our stir-crazy\u00a0kids? Kids that may finish their work by noon or early afternoon? Kids that are tired of their toys, their siblings, and their mom? While it\u2019s tempting to pass the [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":26048,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"wprm-recipe-roundup-name":"","wprm-recipe-roundup-description":"","_genesis_hide_title":false,"_genesis_hide_breadcrumbs":false,"_genesis_hide_singular_image":false,"_genesis_hide_footer_widgets":false,"_genesis_custom_body_class":"","_genesis_custom_post_class":"","_genesis_layout":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[10],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-25963","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-helps","8":"entry"},"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO Premium plugin v15.4 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>Creative Indoor Play Ideas - The Happy Housewife\u2122 :: Home Schooling<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/thehappyhousewife.com\/homeschool\/creative-indoor-play-ideas\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Creative Indoor Play Ideas - The Happy Housewife\u2122 :: Home Schooling\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"By contributing writer Colleen. Winter is here,\u00a0and with it comes long days cooped up inside. What do we do to pass the time with our stir-crazy\u00a0kids? Kids that may finish their work by noon or early afternoon? Kids that are tired of their toys, their siblings, and their mom? While it\u2019s tempting to pass the [&hellip;]\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/thehappyhousewife.com\/homeschool\/creative-indoor-play-ideas\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"The Happy Housewife\u2122 :: Home Schooling\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/TheHappyHousewife\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2014-12-22T14:00:46+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2019-09-30T14:25:49+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/thehappyhousewife.com\/homeschool\/files\/2014\/11\/Creative_Indoor_Play_Ideas.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"433\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"650\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@tonihanderson\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@tonihanderson\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\">\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Toni Herrbach\">\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\">\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"1 minute\">\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Organization\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/thehappyhousewife.com\/homeschool\/#organization\",\"name\":\"The Happy Housewife\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/thehappyhousewife.com\/homeschool\/\",\"sameAs\":[\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/TheHappyHousewife\/\",\"https:\/\/www.pinterest.com\/tonihanderson\/\",\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/tonihanderson\"],\"logo\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/thehappyhousewife.com\/homeschool\/#logo\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/thehappyhousewife.com\/homeschool\/files\/2019\/02\/THH-Logo-schema.png\",\"width\":154,\"height\":60,\"caption\":\"The Happy Housewife\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/thehappyhousewife.com\/homeschool\/#logo\"}},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/thehappyhousewife.com\/homeschool\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/thehappyhousewife.com\/homeschool\/\",\"name\":\"The Happy Housewife\\u2122 :: Home Schooling\",\"description\":\"homeschool tips, printables, curriculum reviews, and more\",\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/thehappyhousewife.com\/homeschool\/#organization\"},\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":\"https:\/\/thehappyhousewife.com\/homeschool\/?s={search_term_string}\",\"query-input\":\"required name=search_term_string\"}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/thehappyhousewife.com\/homeschool\/creative-indoor-play-ideas\/#primaryimage\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/thehappyhousewife.com\/homeschool\/files\/2014\/11\/Creative_Indoor_Play_Ideas.jpg\",\"width\":433,\"height\":650},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/thehappyhousewife.com\/homeschool\/creative-indoor-play-ideas\/#webpage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/thehappyhousewife.com\/homeschool\/creative-indoor-play-ideas\/\",\"name\":\"Creative Indoor Play Ideas - 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