We all need hot summer day activities for kids indoors during the summer months. Some days are stormy or just too humid for play outside. These ideas are all inexpensive to set up. They can be done by children from infants to school age. Hot summer day activities for kids are great summer boredom busters too.

Summer Day Activities for Kids When They Can’t Play Outside

$5 sensory bin

This sensory bin only cost $5. The plastic bin I had in the garage. I bought a small package of plastic fish from the dollar store. Then I picked up some aquarium plants that were on sale at PetSmart. It all only cost $5 total!

This sensory bin is perfect for toddlers and preschoolers. Even older kids would love this. If you can be outside, add water. If your child is playing indoors, try these indoor water play ideas for containing mess. Or, just let them play with the items in the dry bin. Still very creative and fun.

Water play indoors for toddlers

Water play is a go-to activity for toddlers. If your toddler is in a tough mood, add water play. It is such a mood brightener for little kids. All you need is a container and water!

Water play can be done indoors with some prep to contain the mess. Place some towels on the floor to catch spills, or just head to the bathtub. I definitely recommend staying closeby so you can remind your child about keeping the water in the container.

Infant water play idea

We love infant water play! Always, always supervise. For this idea, I used pizza pans while we were visiting the grandparents. A towel on the floor caught the drips and splashes.

The twins tapped their hands into the water and had so much fun with the sensory play. It was so easy, free and great for infant development. Always supervise your infants and toddlers with water! Keep them safe.

Packing peanuts/paper shreds

These make a huge mess, but they are so fun! I learned that it is just as much fun for kids to make a mess with the packing peanuts as it is for them to pick them back up. So, I always have my kiddos clean this up when they are done. Teaches good clean up habits too. Kids get so creative with packing peanuts.

Shape hopscotch

So easy! You just need a large piece of paper for this. You could also use a couple paper bags cut flat. Here are instructions. Then, tape the piece of paper down to the floor and draw shapes onto it. Make the shapes large enough that your child can step onto each one like  a stepping stone.

Another great way to teach the names of shapes. We love shape activities for toddlers and preschoolers. This shape hopscotch game gets all ages involved.

Indoor yoga mat hopscotch

If you have a yoga mat, turn one side of it into a hopscotch mat. We used our yoga mat as a hopscotch mat and on the back made it an indoor bowling game. Gets the kids moving indoors. You can use duct tape or washi tape to make the boxes. It is an inexpensive DIY hopscotch mat.

>>Check out more fun activities for little kids in Toddler Play & Grow activity guide.<<

Easy-clean, dry sensory bins

I love sensory bins…that clean up easily. LOL! I tend to pick materials for the sensory bin that I can vacuum or sweep up. After the kids are done playing, this makes clean up simple.

This sensory bin with kitchen staples was easy to prepare. We did it outside, but it could have done been inside and cleaned up easily.

Another easy-clean, dry sensory bin idea is shredded paper. The kids love the touch and feel experience when playing with paper shreds. You can hide toys in the paper, or large blocks to do a color search and sort. This color sorting game would be a great follow-on activity.

Water color painting

Nothing like painting when you can’t be outdoors. Kids love the opportunity to create paintings. Water colors are easy for clean-up. They also are easy for mixing colors.

Acrylic paints that are non-toxic can even be used with babies. Check out the ideas for painting with babies. Always watch over the kiddos with paints.

Q Tip painting

This is a very loved activity idea over on Pinterest! Painting with Q tips does so much for developing a preschoolers’ fine motor skills. We did a letter painting activity, but you could do shapes too.

Shadow pictures

Looking at the pictures that my older two did when they made shadow pictures brings back so many memories! This was a morning when they both had woken up really early. I was scrambling for activity ideas that only need one or two supplies. We decided shadow pictures would be a fun one to try.

You need a wall or space where the sun is creating a shadow. Or you can shine a lamp directly onto the wall.

I tape a piece of drawing paper on the wall. One child sits to make a shadow on the paper. The other child traces the shadow made by the other. You could definitely try profile tracings instead. Then, each child can draw in the facial features or make a funny face on their shadow pictures.

Dry erase on windows

This activity saved us on many indoor days whether it was too hot or too rainy to play outside. Using dry erase marker on the windows is so fun. It is a great way to get kids coloring in a different position to work large motor and fine motor skills.

The dry erase markers erase easily from the windows. I used this activity to help my son learn to write his name. Write the name on the window and then your child can trace it. So easy but such an interesting and engaging activity to keep the kids playing and learning.

DIY Bean Bags and Bean Bag Toss Game

These homemade bean bags were a hit in our house! Use a cardboard box to create a simple toss game. Use these instructions to make your own bean bags and bean bag toss game.

Hot summer days can actually provide the perfect time to try out unique kids activities. From infants on up to school age, you have a great list to try on your next indoor day.

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Check out even more kids activities for rainy days.

What is your child’s favorite indoor activity? Which one are you going to try first from this list?