Indoor gross motor skills activities for kids are the best way to help your toddler’s or preschooler’s physical development–even when you have to be inside the house. When you can’t spend time at the park or allow your child to play outdoors with friends, these indoor activities can help fill the void.
Indoor Gross Motor Skills Activities For Kids
Gross Motor Skills And Why They Matter
Gross motor skills are those that control big movements of the body’s largest muscles, like arms, legs and core. Kids need developed gross motor skills for everything they do at home or at school. Kids who have trouble with these skills have trouble doing things like running, jumping and climbing.
Simple Activities And Games To Improve Gross Motor Skills
The activities and games you play with your kids to improve their gross motor skills can be surprisingly simple! And simple means they don’t require a lot of planning or time. Just have fun with them, because your kids definitely will.
Gross Motor Skill Activities
- How many times did you pretend the floor was hot lava when you were growing up? This is a great game for indoor gross motor skills activities, and kids love it!
- An indoor scavenger hunt is another great activity. Here are some suggestions!
- Set up a large basket or plastic bin as a target, and have your child try to throw tennis balls into the target from varying distances.
- Grab some squares of colored paper and lay a track around the house for your child to follow. Try different ways of getting between squares, such as hopping on one foot or jumping like a frog.
- A simple jumping competition is fun for the whole family. See who jumps the farthest!
- Cut a cardboard box to make one big flat panel. Use a marker to draw a hopscotch game on the cardboard. After you play, save it for next time there’s a rainy day!
Additional Gross Motor Activities for Kids
- Have a little indoor basketball with crumpled paper {no balls in the house!}.
- Create a “balance beam” with a couple of 2x4s or whatever you’ve got. My kids love theirs.
- Try some yoga together. Kids love this, and it definitely improves gross motor skills.
Before you go, check out these suggested toddler games to help improve coordination.