Ideas for Indoor Fun at Home

Make a town on your floor. Use painter's tape to create city streets, make buildings out of LEGOs to place around the different blocks, and drive hot wheels around the town.

Play dress-up. Few things delight a child more than seeing grown-ups wearing a ridiculous variety of wigs, masks and accessories, so join in on the fun!

Use cushions and other household objects to create an obstacle course with things that kids can go over, under, through and around. Time them and see if they can beat their own times!

For an easy, no-prep toddler activity, I don't think it gets any better than blowing bubbles. Chasing and popping these magical floating spheres is the height of fun for little ones! It's an active, easy toddler activity you can do anytime, anywhere.

Placing letters on a letter board. I discovered this one by accident, but I love how it keeps my 4-year-old sitting quietly for long stretches of time while he tries to get the plastic letters to stay in my felt letter board.

Dressing dolls, especially barbies. When my kids were really little this usually involved me sitting and playing/dressing dolls with them and then they gradually learned to do more and more on their own.

This probably depends on the kid, but when my kids were little I would give them a task/goal such as "we can go to the park as soon as your shoes are on and I finish one quick chore" and then walk away to do my own chore somewhere close by, like emptying the dishwasher. I found that they would figure out how to do things for themselves when I wasn't standing over them and tempted to help or looking at the clock. Be sure to do this a looong time before you have to be out the door.

Peeling and placing stickers. Sticker books are great for this - we like the "paint by sticker" series, though it may be a little challenging for some little ones. My 4-year-old is awesome at it, but my 6-year-old (whose fine motor skills definitely need work) struggles a bit. I also really like the Phidal line of reusable sticker books - the quality is such that they truly are reusable!

Sturdy stair guards at the top and bottom of the staircase are a must once baby starts moving around!

I discovered that a heavyweight hairband looped around both door handles was just as effective (if not more!) at keeping my cabinet doors shut than those cabinet latches made specifically for baby proofing. Plus, they were way easier (and less annoying) for me to take on and off, making it more likely that I'd always keep it on. This only works on certain handles, though, like pull bars and knobs.

If you have thick runner-type rugs for hallways or entryways, they can also serves as great padding for edges on shorter bookshelves, tables and fireplaces. Just put the rug on top like a tablecloth, and let it hang over the edges. Certain rugs work especially well for this, like those faux-fur ones that are super soft and fluffy.

I am not a fan of the plastic plug in outlet protectors. Thankfully, most of our outlets were not accessible to our young kids (who also never showed any interest in them), but the plugs were pretty easy to remove and then posed a choking hazard once they were loose. I much preferred the outlet covers that go over the entire outlet, as it was still easy for adults to use the outlet while keeping the opening covered from curious little hands.