A friend of mine taught me this indoor active game you can play instantly (and anywhere) with your kids. With the weather dipping below freezing we are spending time using our list of indoor activities for inspiration, and this is a fun new inside game to add. It’s called “Land, Sea and Air”.
What you need:
- Kids full of energy, bouncing off the walls
- Tape (optional), or a bit of floor in which two distinct areas are laid out
How to play “Land, Sea and Air”:
Determine which part of the floor is “land” and which is “sea”. If you are using tape, lay down a long piece. The area in front of the tape is “sea” and the area behind it is “land”. Since our carpet is patchwork, the boys chose a gray square to be “land” and a blue square to be “sea.”
The leader (that was me) calls out one of three directions: Land, Sea or Air. When she says, “Land!” kids jump into the land area. When she says, “Sea!” kids jump into the sea. When she says, “Air!” kids jump as high into the air as they can.
Play continues until everyone collapses on the ground laughing.
I surprised the kids a couple of times with random commands like, “Tornado!” “Earthquake!”, to which they invented their own movements.
MORE: To really get the wiggles out, try one of these 20 indoor ball games (really!).
Join us every Friday this month as my fellow bloggers and I give you easy indoor activity ideas to keep your kids busy, active and happy, even when the weather keeps them inside. Last week I shared a video of how to play the simple pen and paper game of dots and boxes. Next week join us for ideas to keep big kids busy.
See more Active Indoor Game Ideas:
- 35 fun indoor games for kids
- LEGO rockets at Creekside Learning
- Family game night: build a letter at Growing Book by Book
- Indoor play with ballons at Betsy’s Photography
- Run and find syllable game at This Reading Mama
- Igloo building at Study at Home Mama
- Bean Bag Toss at The Gingerbread House
- Reading Readiness Games at Sight and Sound Reading
- Mini trampoline and jumping ideas at Barefeet on the Dashboard
How will your kids stay active indoors this winter?
Jenny says
January 16, 2015 at 8:13 amThis sounds so much fun, my kids love this kind of thing!
Ann says
January 16, 2015 at 8:47 amWhat a great imaginative idea that gets kids moving too! Reminds me a little of how my kids won’t step on the red tiles at the library because they are hot lava. I don’t think the librarian is amused. We will have to try this today since we are home for teachers professional day.
Anya says
January 16, 2015 at 12:38 pmWhat a fun game!
Meeghan says
January 16, 2015 at 5:43 pmOh my! Sound like so much fun!!
Jodie @ Growing Book by Book says
January 16, 2015 at 6:09 pmWhat a super easy and fun game to play. You could also call out an animal and they have to jump where they would find that animal. Thanks for the idea!
Savannah says
May 20, 2015 at 8:34 pmThis game is like compass! I play compass with the kids at work and they love it.
Erica MomandKiddo says
May 23, 2015 at 6:55 amOh, yes! That’s a good one, too.
Anna says
February 13, 2016 at 4:53 pmIt’s less than 10 degrees here today, so we just played this game for a few minutes and my kids had a blast! Thanks! We’re on to something else from your Active Indoor Play ideas. 🙂
Erica MomandKiddo says
February 16, 2016 at 7:23 amYay! It’s so good for spur of the moment play. My kids like it when I throw in the odd, “earthquake” or “hurricane”, too. ha ha