Active Activities for Cold Days

Do you have space to put a small plastic playset indoors? In my house, I made space for a toddler size basketball hoop in the living room. A friend of mine put a Little Tykes toddler slide with climbing wall in her living room (like this: https://www.littletikes.com/item/630286/hide-seek-climber...) . You can often find these at thrift shops this time of year, because people are getting rid of them before winter.

We also had a nylon play tent with a crawling tunnel. Kids loved that and it was easy to fold up and store afterwards (actually, my kids are waaaay past toddler age now, and they still pull it out sometimes).

We lived in Alaska 15 years and we almost always bundled up and went outside anyway...even at 20 below! I made sure my son was dressed in fleece pants and jacket, snow bibs, a snow jacket, mittens, and a hat that had cheek flaps. Sometimes a neck gator too. Warm (wool blend) socks and snowboots of course. We would do all kinds of things...scavenger hunt in the snow, follow the leader, riding on a sled that I pulled, stomping on ice to crack it (just on the street/sidewalk). I had little strap on skis he could walk around on (sort of pretend cross country skiing). At age 4 he started downhill skiing and ice skating. So don't give up on going outside! Indoor activities - make a fort, make an obstacle course, (my son loved to do the obstacle course on his hippety hop when he was 3!), build with rolled up newspaper (google it! We made huge cool structures in the living room!), get a small indoor trampoline. Our friends had a small exercise one they were getting rid of. We set it up next to the couch and that was used a LOT to get out energy. Have fun!

I watch my younger granddaughters 25 hrs a week. I'm a big advocate of getting little ones outside as often as you can. The outside air knocks them out and a sleeping toddler is a good toddler. lol.

Inside we do simon says with simon saying to skip, hop, run, to jumping jacks (all hysterical to watch a toddler try), play hide and seek with something like a stuffed bear hiding and everyone seeking, red light green light with them choosing an animal to move like when the light is green, zombie (which is basically me being a zombie and them running around the great room trying to get away). Their parents will put them on a small trampoline at home and they also run on the treadmill sometimes. Treadmill has a clip that goes on their shirt. When the clip comes off the treadmill shuts off asap so there's no problem with them falling.

Bundle them up in the afternoon and go outside with them for 30 min to an hour.
Fresh air is good for everyone and really helps tire everyone out.
I use to spend quite awhile on story time - our son and I both enjoyed snuggling up for a story and reading.
It's ok to read before nap time too.

For activities inside - get a large cardboard box and everyone help make a fort.
You can cut out windows, they can draw on it to decorate it.
Furnish it with pillows and read some stories in there with a flash light.
When it wears out you can recycle it.
It can be a castle, a rocket ship, a pirate ship - there's no limit to how it can be decorated.

There is a book called Unplugged Play. You can probably find it at the library or on Amazon. It has a ton of ideas for indoor play.

I used it pretty frequently in the dead of winter, snow days, and even for kiddie parties when my kids were little.

My kids had 2 rooms that they could kind of trash, as in, build forts, climb on couch cushions etc. We had that kind of play in evenings right after the meal. Dad and I would lie on the floor (resting!) and they would use us as a gym. You know, flying them in the air on your feet (lying down) that sort of thing.

Balls were a big one in our house - rolling, etc. having games.

We had a pop up helicopter that our kids used a lot when they were toddlers. It just folded up and there it was, they'd play for long time in that.

We had a 'ball pit' thing in our basement which they would just climb in and out of.

We had a very small house at the time - so it's doable. Mostly though our kids just played with whatever - we had room to let them keep their toys 'out' like train sets, etc. so they just went to whatever they'd been doing and would run around it together. '

Bathtime was always big in our house - just part of routine. We'd leave them in it a long time, and they'd play with boats, splash, etc.

I live in one of the coldest places on earth, and learned very early on that it was important for children to play outside every day, no matter the weather. I made sure they had warm clothes and rain gear and sent them out for fresh air. Our schools and daycares know the importance, so unless it is actually 40 below with the wind chill, or a lightening storm, the kids are outdoors. On the days when it was really impossible to play outdoors we usually went someplace with a gym or an indoor swimming pool for the evening to burn off all the extra energy.

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I live in one of the coldest places on earth, and learned very early on that it was important for children to play outside every day, no matter the weather. I made sure they had warm clothes and rain gear and sent them out for fresh air. Our schools and daycares know the importance, so unless it is actually 40 below with the wind chill, or a lightening storm, the kids are outdoors. On the days when it was really impossible to play outdoors we usually went someplace with a gym or an indoor swimming pool for the evening to burn off all the extra energy.

Updated

I live in one of the coldest places on earth, and learned very early on that it was important for children to play outside every day, no matter the weather. I made sure they had warm clothes and rain gear and sent them out for fresh air. Our schools and daycares know the importance, so unless it is actually 40 below with the wind chill, or a lightening storm, the kids are outdoors. On the days when it was really impossible to play outdoors we usually went someplace with a gym or an indoor swimming pool for the evening to burn off all the extra energy.

So I'm assuming you are at home mom??? How old are they? I LOVE the game Hullabaloo! Hope they still sell it. I had a yellow plastic ball that I drew a happy face on it with a sharpie marker. We would take turns playing "hide happy" lol. You can also use hot/cold clues with the game etc. We played this outside too, cause when they were little I never liked playing hide and seek with them cause then I didn't know where they were! haha. We had a toy cash register and would set up a store and dress up and take turns playing the customers, workers, cashier. You can set up simple obstacle course - I used hopscotch twister and other things. You can also buy or make, a simple traditional hopscotch. We made stuff with cardboard!!! I had a big piece and used a sharpie to draw train tracks and it and the kids would play with that thing forever! lol. Playdoh! arts and crafts time. Oh man, I could go on and on - those years at home with my little ones was SO fun!!! Now they are 13 and 15 :(

With my boys we always have tried to have them burn off energy outside--whether it be from swimming (membership at an indoor pool pays for itself, in that regard) or just generally running around enough to get tired by the end of the evening.

However there's also the option of possibly encouraging reading, if you're kids are up for it. That's a wonderful way to burn time before bed.

Take them outside! Cold? Dress them in warm clothes.

I agree with going outside as much as possible! It really helps them sleep and fresh air is good for everyone! What about a small basketball goal? My kids loved those and it's fairly easy to have them inside or outside. You could even do a Nerf one on the back of a door. Do you have a circle area where the kids can make laps through a room or two? My kids would take roller skates, ride on toys, push toys, etc. and just go round and round. Play doh is another one that entertained my kids for a long time but it's super messy. You can set up buckets or laundry baskets and have them throw things into them like balls or stuffed animals or do smaller things and throw cotton balls into them. That Hullabaloo game that someone mentioned is super fun but you have to play that with them. Gonoodle.com is a fun website for dancing and wiggling too.

i dress my kids for the weather and send them outside unless its below 20.
when its raining or too cold i will make them do the workout warmup i do in my HIIT classes. (which is simple and my 5 yr old has no trouble with it.) i basically play simon says with easy exercises.. jumping jacks, pushups, situps, burpees, run in place, jump, march in place, etc. this can be a 5 minute activity or you can have it go for a half hour depending on your childs energy level. they get about 5 jumping jacks in and i am calling out the next thing so they have to listen to know whats next and it keeps changing so they don't get bored. you would have to bring it down to their age and have them run, dance, jump, crawl, instead of the other stuff, and if you need a quick workout you can join them