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Indoor Sports
Ideas for Fun, Active Indoor Games
By Jacqueline Rupp
After a day at the beach, try some cold weather fun – no snowsuits required. Flores creates snowballs from old, white stockings. "We cut each leg into three or four pieces, fill each with fiberfill stuffing and knot the ends," she says. "You can also use rolled-up socks, crumpled up newspapers or toilet paper. We have even made igloos and snow forts out of white Styrofoam florist bricks. The kids loved these!"
Next, turn your attention to skating, but before you head out the door to the local ice rink, read on. Flores creates an indoor skating rink by spreading clear plastic on the floor and securing the ends with tape. Wax paper or paper plates turn into indoor "ice skates." She even spreads shaving cream over the plastic "ice" for barefoot skating fun. Just don't forget the music and hot chocolate.
Flores makes boxcars with her kids using big, sturdy cardboard boxes. She tapes plastic to the bottom of the boxes for easy pushing. The kids decorate their cars with markers, paints and some reflector tape for headlights. They then take turns pushing each other around. Create streets that children have to navigate through, using small pieces of furniture and flashlights for traffic signals.
Another idea is to make an obstacle course full of places to go under, over, around and through. Make a start and finish line, plus a path the course should follow with obstacles scattered throughout. String a rope or tape about 2 feet off the ground, connecting both sides to sturdy pieces of furniture for an obstacle kids have to crawl under. Pile pillows to jump over, stagger cones to create curved paths or stick masking tape onto the floor to make a twisting path for kids to balance on. Include challenges such as throwing beanbags into a bucket, juggling or balancing on one foot.
