Affordable Indoor Activities Your Kids Will Love

Winter has abundant opportunities for outdoor family fun. But with limited daylight and stretches of severe weather, how do you keep your kiddos entertained when going outside isn’t an option? It’s a tricky question for parents on a budget—you can’t just take your little ones to the movies day after day.

Fortunately, children have an unlimited imagination that can fuel a full day of fun. So flex your creative muscle, and keep them occupied indoors with these activities:

Build A Cushion/Pillow Fort
Kids love to build, so encourage them to take the cushions from your couch and create their special fortress. They can build different rooms for each person in your family and even reinforce the perimeter against all enemies with extra pillows from their beds!

Have A Dance Party
Do your children bounce off the walls after being cooped up inside on a snow day? A dance party is an excellent way for them to burn excess energy. Designate one area as the dance floor, and have them pick some kid-friendly upbeat music. For a twist, they can even challenge each other to dance-offs.

Work On A Puzzle
Puzzles are perfect for kids on days when they’re stranded inside. Depending on their age, they may even be able to stay focused on large puzzles, potentially keeping them busy for hours.

Make A Movie
While children may be more familiar with online videos than feature films these days, they can easily pass the time by making their own movies. Using your phone or another camera with video capability, encourage them to write a script, choose costumes, and act out the characters. Most smartphones even have basic editing tools as well.

Bake With Your Kids
If you have a knack for creating sweets from scratch and need to keep your kids occupied, baking can take a bite out of a long winter afternoon. First, have them choose a treat (Cookies? Brownies? Cake?). Then, visit the store together to pick out the low-cost ingredients. Finally, incorporate them in every step of the baking process. It’s a great bonding experience, and you get to enjoy a sweet reward for your efforts when it’s over.

Take A Tropical Vacation
Not really, just pretend like you’re on one. So shut the curtains and crank up the heat; it’s summer in January! Time to pull out your swimsuits, beach towels, and sunglasses. Watch a summer movie, toss a beach ball, play island music, or have a beach towel picnic. For added fun, have a limbo contest. How low can you go?

Do A Color Scavenger Hunt Around The House
Here’s how it works: Draw a chart, like a BINGO card, color each square a different color and label it with a type of item, e.g. “protection from rain” or “baking a cake.” Next, the kids have to search the house, looking for something in each color category they can add to the BINGO sheet. First, one to five in a row wins!

Have Fun With Money
Your Credit Union has a range of age appropriate accounts for kids that come with special access to money clubs. These include newsletters and websites with competitions and prizes. They’ll have plenty of fun and in the process pick up life-long money management and financial responsibility skills. Learn more about our youth accounts here.