When the weather is bad outside and the kids are whining that they can't go out to play sports, tell them that they can play sports inside. A statement that many kids would love to hear! Instead of brining out the footballs, baseball bats and soccer balls, here are three ideas for sports that you can play and how you can have an indoor sports day without breaking all of the items in your home.
Bowling
Save up ten empty soda bottles and their caps. Fill up each bottle with a half an inch of water to add some weight to the bottles and blow up a beach ball to full size. Set up the bowling pins in correct formation and have the kids stand about six feet away. Then, have them use the beach ball to bowl down the pins. Total up the score and declare a winner at the end of the game.
Basketball
Instead of doing the regular one on one game, have them play a game of HORSE. Set up an empty garbage can on one side of the room and give the kids a few sheets of newspaper that is balled up into a tight ball. To play HORSE, have the first child take a shot at getting the ball into the garbage can from anywhere in the room that they want to. If they make the shot, the second child has to take the shot from that exact position. If the second child misses the shot then the second child gets a letter “H”. This continues until a child gets the word HORSE spelled out. If the second child makes the shot, then the first child picks a new spot in the room to take the shot from and the game continues. It works the same way if the second child makes a shot and the first child misses from that spot, the first child then gets the “H”.
Miniature Golf
Set up a miniature golf course in a room in your house. Make obstacles by cutting tunnels in small cardboard boxes for the ball to go through. Set up solid obstacles by putting a book in the way or a toy that the ball can bounce off of. For the hole, put a coffee can on it's side and hold it in place by putting a heavy rock in the back inside of it. For the ball, use any type of ball that you find appropriate for the room depending on what you feel comfortable having the child use, whether it be a wiffle ball, a tennis ball, a small rubber ball or even a golf ball itself. For the club you can use either a plastic toy child's club or even a tightly rolled up piece of poster board.
Make sure that your child understands the safety rules before playing and the rules of breaking absolutely nothing in your house. To play it safe, remove any extremely fragile items in the room before they start playing.
