Instead of just letting your kids watch TV or play their games all day, why not introduce some fun new games and activities that will keep them on their toes? Kids will especially love playing with you!

Here are 5 exciting indoor activities you can try with your children:

Indoor Bowling

Young children love to stack things and knock them over, that’s why bowling is an ideal game to play! You can easily find a toy bowling set at a store, but you can opt to make your own as well.

Here’s what you need:

• Space to play
• 10 empty soda cans
• Tennis ball (or any toy ball bigger than a tennis ball)
• Masking tape
• Marker

Create a bowling lane using the masking tape. Consider your child’s age and physical abilities to determine how long the lane will be. Arrange the cans at the end of the lane then show your child how to strike them. Keep a score board or change the rules to make the game more fun and competitive!

Building a Fort

Kids love the idea of having their “own space”. So when you introduce the idea of a fort with them, they would love building it as much as playing in them. Pillow forts are the most popular – all you need are some different size pillows, blankets to stack or to use as “doors” and some sturdy furniture that will hold the fort together.

You can also build a cardboard fort – you’ll need a few large boxes and just tape them together to create room to play in (better if you could crawl in, too!). Once you have a fort in place, provide a flashlight and some books to read or play their favorite toy with them!

Falling Dominoes

This is a simple activity that may have a big positive impact on your child. All you need is a domino set. Start lining up the dominoes in any pattern you like (let your child decide the arrangement), then ask him to help you with the stacking.

Once all the tiles are in place, get the video camera ready before asking your kid to flip the first one! Voila – instant entertainment!

Obstacle Course

We all loved crawling under chairs or climbing over tables as a kid, so why not make it a fun activity? Create an obstacle course in your home using your furniture and some of your children’s toys.

Go through it first to show the kids what to do in each part then give them scores according to how fast they finish the course. Just pay extra attention to ensure kids safety.

Card Games

If you want to do something more quiet, play some card games with the young ones. Start with simple, easy-to-teach games that would encourage logical reasoning, arrangement abilities and number identification.

Start with classic games such as Go Fish, Memory Game (requires 2 deck of cards) or Crazy Eights. Other card games like Uno or Blink would be ideal, too.