Fun Indoor Activities for Kids with Building Blocks
When we’re stuck inside, I’m always looking for simple ways to get the kids moving. We’ll use painter’s tape as a balance beam, do an animal workout on Alexa, and one of their favorite things is pulling out the Melissa & Doug cardboard blocks. We turn them into jumps to pretend we’re ponies, build tall towers to crash into, and even create boats or cars for imaginative play.
Make “Horse Jumps” and Jump Over Them
This is always the first thing we do and it never gets old.
We set up the blocks like little jumps, similar to what you’d see in horseback riding, and my daughter pretends she’s a horse jumping over them.
You can:
- line them up in a row
- space them out around the room
- make them higher or lower depending on age
It turns into a mix of:
- movement
- balance
- imaginative play
And honestly, it’s a great way to burn off energy indoors.
Build Towers and Then Knock Them Down
Next up, stacking as high as possible.
We take turns building towers and seeing:
“How high can we go before it falls?”
Then comes the best part… knocking them down!
You can:
- build one giant tower
- make multiple smaller towers
- turn it into a challenge or game
This activity helps with:
- problem solving
- coordination
- patience
And kids LOVE the crash at the end.
Pretend Play Builds – This Is Where The Magic Happens
Once we’ve done the active play, we slow things down and start building for pretend play.
We’ve made:
- boats
- castles
- forts
- little “worlds” to play in
One of our favorites was building a boat and having my daughter sit inside while we played and imagined different pirate adventures.
Another time, we built a castle and turned it into a whole scene – complete with toy swords and defending it together.
This kind of play builds:
- creativity
- storytelling
- social interaction
What I love most about these Jumbo Block activities is how simple they are.
No instructions. No setup. Just open-ended play.
✔ Active when they need to move
✔ Calm when they want to build
✔ Creative all the way through
Find These Melissa & Doug Jumbo Blocks on Amazon:
