5 Fun Indoor Family Activities

When the cold of winter arrives, it's time to think up some fun ideas that the family can enjoy indoors. While you may not have all of the options that accompany outdoor fun, indoor activities with the whole family can be a fun way to have kids come up with creative ideas for making an exciting time out of a day indoors. Here are five fun indoor family activities you can enjoy this winter.

Game Night

Any indoor time can be made exciting through some friendly competition. Gathering the family around a board game is an interactive way to pass some time indoors. Find games that involve teams and watch your kids work together (or against each other) to gain a competitive edge in sibling rivalries. Game night will encourage kids to think practically, engage in problem-solving strategies and spend time away from their precious screens. When game night becomes a tradition, so too does spending quality time together as a family.

Indoor Camping

When you can't go outdoors, sometimes it's fun to simulate them in your living room. With the use of gas fireplace logs, a fort of pillows or your own tent and some sleeping bags, you can partake in a creative night of indoor camping. Tell stories by the fire, try some microwave smores and pretend to hide from all kinds of wilderness critters in your make-believe campsite. It's a great way to bring an outdoor activity indoors for a night. In what can often be a dull time of year when you are forced to create your own fun inside, setting up an indoor campsite will let your kids' imaginations run wild and create the excitement they are missing out on by not being able to go outside.

Arts & Crafts

Unleashing your creative side with a night of arts and crafts is always a great activity that the whole family can participate in. Whether you want to have a drawing or painting contest, make some new posters for around the house or DIY a mug or other personalized item, arts and crafts will keep everyone busy and engaged in a night of indoor fun. Plus, if you're looking to get away from screen-based entertainment, sitting around the table performing arts and crafts is an easy way to forget your phones and television for the evening and spend quality time with each other. 

Cooking

Anyone can go out to eat, but it takes a special kind of kitchen zeal to prepare an elaborate meal in your own home. Cooking together can be an activity that everyone in the family is involved in and that provides a sense of accomplishment once you dig in. There are plenty of recipes available that highlight different roles for each family member. Cooking is also an avenue through which you can teach kids the value of working together as a team throughout a long and sometimes difficult process. When they see the end product of a meal they played a part in making, they'll see the fruits of their labor made the time worth it.

Movie Night

There's something charming about turning the lights down, popping some popcorn and throwing on a movie with the whole family gathered on the couch. When it's particularly cold outside, there's nothing better than cozying up under a blanket and watching a movie. Movie night is a fun way to make an event out of a time when you are constrained to staying indoors and there may not seem like there is much going on. 

These five fun indoor activities will keep the whole family entertained when going outside is not an option. In today's age, indoor time can easily be turned into an isolating time when everyone is on their individual devices. With these ideas, this time can be turned into a communal gathering period where family members are excited to interact with each other and embrace the family time indoors. 

Here are five fun indoor family activities you can enjoy this winter.