Indoor activities for active young boys

Chasing the cat?

Thank you all very much for your suggestions. I apologise for not thanking you sooner but we were so busy having fun with various ideas but you gave.
I get so much advice from GN but this was the first time that I ever asked for advice.
Thank you all. It's all peaceful now and we are just back to DH and I 😁

after lunch have quiet time, with books. My dgc loved that short time, maybe 20 -30 minutes. You will have to be strict if they aren`t used to being calm

Then wrap up and outside play. Young children do like structure

When they come in again, milk and a biscuit and a den-making session

Hi everyone ,
I’m a new gran here and I’m so happy to be here!! I would suggest making forts with blankies and pillows - my DGS loves those to bits bless him 🤣. Also recommend the gruffalo- a sentimental classic! Granny Pringle out !

for 12.99 you can buy 20 finger puppets on amazon. Children and an adults make up stories.

THE TWIDDLERS - 20 Plush Animal Finger Puppet Toys for Boys & Girls, Great for Parties & Party Bag Fillers for Kids, Includes Animal & People Puppets for Story Playtime

Collect lots of different sized boxes and containers. Buy some reels of masking tape to create models but joining with the tape.
Dressing up with hats, waistcoats, scarves, pegs and masking tape.
Making pictures with natural items such as leaves, shells, feathers.
Jigsaws from cards or printed pictures.

Do you have a local library? They often offer story sessions in school holidays or craft activities. It's more difficult with a range of ages. I've only had one child at a time, and a trip to a more distant park by bus went down well as did his first trip to the cinema with a longer bus ride. He was 3 and a half at the time. He also loved the trampoline park but we took him there when my DD was there too as it was a bit too physical for me. His mum recently took him there and he was worried she wouldn't know the way as he'd only been with Granny and Auntie! Unfortunately those types of places get very busy in school holidays - we went during term time.

Making erupting volanos.
Gloop (cornflour and water) in a tray.
Zipper bags filled with paint laid flat to clean finger draw.
Blow balloon with water a pop small toy in freeze and take balloon off, get children to chip away at it to find 'treasure'
Buckets water paint brushes, 'paint' and shed /house/fence.
Make playdough flour water etc.
Make moon dough (as above but with hair conditioner.
Skittles with bottles (decorate) soft ball (screwed up paper)
Collect foilage and create a collage
Bug hotels out of toilet rolls, sticks etc
Make bird food balls
Draw round their bodies for them to colour in
Roll paper across floor draw roads for their cars.

Check out some fun indoor activities for children, like this one www.footprintseducation.in/blog/10-indoor-games-for-children/

If you have to stop and sit for any length of time try sensitive shaving foam on the kitchen table ….(or garden table). It is a glorious sensory activity. A quick wipe with a towel and the mess is cleared and there’s a pleasant smell! Even if a child covers another with the stuff there really isn’t too much mess.

I would definitely get them to run some energy of outdoors ,the park ,a scavenger hunt ,puddle splashing, a walk and picnic ,if nothing available in the area then you could draw a map of your area and ask them to take you to a particular place.. or a bus ride somewhere. If there is any soft play or stay and play activies nearby then that would work .Afterwards a picnic on the floor at home,and den making if they need some quiet time the Stickman film is a nice one to watch, enjoy your day and have a ready meal or a delivered meal in the evening x

When my 4 children were stuck indoors they used to build an obstacle course in our living room, which only had two couches, a chair and the tv in it, as we had a separate sitting room. They used books, the broom and floor mop to jump over crawl under. This could last all day. They came up with tasks which were put in a bag and the person doing the task had to pick one out a random, it could crawl under the hurdles backwards without touching anything. Lunch became a rainy day picnic under the dining room table complete with the picnic hamper. Gosh just seems like yesterday they did this, the eldest is 36 and the youngest 27

Definitely look for an indoor playgymn in your area..Most ..even small.ones...are ok up to age 10 and often have a baby play area x

Ask the parents what the children do at home when weather isn't good. They could suggest tasks and perhaps even bring sonethings toywise they like to play. If this is a one off visit best to look in charity shops rather than go to expense of buying toys that may be grown out at any future next visit. The 6 year old will probably be in charge of what they want to do!

My son used to like to play horses when he was about four or so.
This consisted him being a horse called Nicey & me being a horse called Lovely. He made-up the names & we lived in a 'stable' behind the sofa but we used to come out for little canters in the garden. This game went on for hours! We even made little cavelletti jumps for our horsey ego's enjoyment! He is now 6ft.1!
I still sometimes have a little trot around the garden, much to the bewilderment of the Dog.😊

and do whatever the heck they do in the spare bedrooms

Gymnastics and acrobatics on the beds!

vegansrock

Ours like to put on a show - rehearse, make tickets, video the performances.

I bought easy hand puppet kits which they sewed then put on shows.

Lots of giggling, then the show would begin as the hand puppets appeared from behind the back of the sofa.

Another one was keen on being a waitress, writing out orders then making the food in the "kitchen" then serving it on the little tea set. If we giggled or complained about the food we were ordered out of the café. 😁

vegansrock

Ours like to put on a show - rehearse, make tickets, video the performances.

Have you got a Magic Tricks box as well.

That then takes up a lot of time.

With much hilarity as they try and master some tricks, if my lot are anything to go by!

vegansrock

Ours like to put on a show - rehearse, make tickets, video the performances.

Ohh, that reminds me of when my 3 Boy's used to do this. I've still got the dressing-up box. It was such fun, also cheap & it stretched their eager brains thinking about how the little plays would evolve, often with hilarious results. 🤠🥳🥸🤡🤖

Goodness that’s a handful!

Put the TV on and open the gin?

Only joking.
Good luck with it though,

Get them involved in cooking or baking. Mine love anything that involves eating the produce afterwards! Home made pizza and decorating their own individual ones are popular as are scones,rocky roads, flapjacks and biscuits.

Ours like to put on a show - rehearse, make tickets, video the performances.

Oh, and the Orchard games would be good for their ages - Tummy Ache, Shopping List, etc. And picture bingo. Always to be found in charity shops.

We’ve 5 grandsons, no girls in the mix, and I’d agree that if it’s at all possible they need to get outside in the fresh air and just run some energy off. If it’s pouring down and they’re stuck indoors though, ours just shoot upstairs when they’re together and do whatever the heck they do in the spare bedrooms. We’re lucky in that we’ve accumulated a lot of toys, puzzles etc from charity shops over the years, but from the clearing up afterwards it looks as though dens and made up games are usually the order of the day. If we’ve just got a couple of the boys at once, baking’s one of the few calming activities I can rely on. Treasure hunts are good, but over very quickly for the effort involved. Ours are too old for play dough, but that used to be a winner. Good luck - have fun!

I didn't mention painting nor play dough because you focused on 'active'. Anything messy is good but difficult when you have four to entertain. I've also given mine chalks and carte blanche to chalk the terrace in the back garden. Definitely science experiments but, again, that's quite difficult to manage with four. If you can get them to soft play for an hour, that'll tire them out. I've done that with the boys when I have them all day, although I'd rather stick pins in my eyes