5 Minute Indoor Energy Busters for Kids

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Gross MotorIndoor Activities
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Need to help your kids get some energy out, but you're stuck indoors? Try these five-minute energy busters from Julie!

When we’re stuck inside due to rainy or cold weather, my kids get antsy fast. I don’t always want to turn on the TV to keep them occupied, so I turn to energy busters to keep them entertained and out of trouble.

Try these 35 awesome gross motor activities for preschoolers.

5 Minute Indoor Energy Busters for Hands-On Moms

We love these 5-minute indoor energy busters at our house. They’re zero or low-prep, and your kids will love them too!

Alligator Escape Indoor Energy Buster

This fun indoor activity requires zero supplies! All you need are some silly kids with good imaginations.

This is our favorite game when we need to kill some time indoors. My kids love it, and it’s great for varying age groups to play together.

Assign an “alligator” from the group. Give everyone else a ten-second head start to hide.

Just hide for as long as you can until you hear the alligator coming close, then make a run for it to the next hiding spot!

We also sometimes pretend that the alligator is just imaginary. We’ll run from bed to bed hiding under the blankets until we “hear” him stomp close by.

So much fun, and it creates wonderful memories!

Try an easy indoor cup stacking challenge for active play!

Vertical Tape Jump Challenge

You’ve probably tried tape on the floor for games to get your kids moving. This simple activity moves the tape to the wall!

Place a few strips of tape on the wall or door frame. Write the numbers 1-5 on the tape pieces, starting at the bottom.

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Then challenge your kids to see how high they can jump!

The cool thing about this challenge is that you can keep up the tape for a while. They might only be able to jump to tape number two today, but if they keep practicing, they’ll soon jump higher and higher!

Animal Races to Get Kids Moving

My kids love to race, but running indoors can get out of control, fast! Instead, we try animal races.

This slows them down a bit, but makes them amazing indoor energy busters.

Try these animals to get started:

• frog hops
• crab crawls (sideways!)
• bear crawls
• elephant stomps
• snake slithers
• spider crawls
• cat tiptoes on all fours
• kangaroo jumps

Set out a start and finish line with tape on the floor, then get ready to call out animals as the kids race!

Be sure to try this crab walk transfer gross motor activity, too!

Walk the Plank Indoor Energy Buster

Balance beams are great indoor energy busters and also develop balance and coordination. It can be tricky to build a balance beam inside, though.

We like to use our stackable toy buckets to make a quick balance beam.

Line up your buckets, with bottoms facing up. I like to line them up from smallest to biggest.

Then let your kids take turns, “walking the plank” and jumping off the last bucket.

Bonus points if you put on a great pirate’s voice!

I would only try this activity with older kids with more developed coordination. Toddlers probably wouldn’t do well with this one!

For a toddler-approved balance beam, try this pool noodle balance beam idea.

These indoor energy busters are such an easy way to get kids moving! Next time, you’re stuck inside, try one of these low-prep ideas.

How do you burn extra energy when you’re stuck inside? Share your best ideas below!

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