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Indoor Games

I’ve always been a sporty sort of individual. Not so sure about the unintentional pun though! Growing up, I was ever ready for outdoor and indoor games be it with my brother and cousins or with my colony friends. Not many know that I used to play field hockey for my school. Those were undoubtedly the best days of my life. Please pardon the cliche but it is what it is. 


Then somewhere along the way I lost sight of games and sports. It’s only now that I’m rediscovering the magic of indoor games with my toddler. 


The initial phase of the lockdown was tough and especially so for an energetic toddler. I had to find ways of burning that energy and keeping him engaged. I don’t know how I did all this in my post partum phase along with recovering from nerve compression releasey surgery but as they say, needs must! 


Little did I know that these games would end up benefiting me as much as or perhaps even more than my toddler. These games brought me calm, focus and motivation. They helped me slowly rebuild my arm strength which took a big hit due to issues with my neck and upper limb. In fact, this is an ongoing process and I hope to win this battle one day. 


Coming back to the games then, I’d like to list out a few in the hope that it may help someone in a similar situation as me. Alternatively, to seek out these games as a source of pure joy and entertainment! So..ready , steady GO! 


Indoor Cricket : My hopeful husband had bought a plastic cricket bat for our toddler when he was merely 10 months old! It came to our rescue when we started playing indoor cricket with our now 3 year old. Our desi dil was overjoyed to see our son taking so well to the game. The surname is Shiralkar...close enough to another ‘Kar’ I’d say! Haha talk about over enthusiastic parenting and all that! 


Races : Running races in the corridor of our flat resulted in a few minutes of rapid energy expulsion for the toddler and energy pick me ups for us. We even did running races between book characters through role play e.g. tortoise and hare, gruffalo and mouse etc. 


Basket ball : We converted a bucket into a basket and kept it on the floor. If you’re more adventurous you can experiment with different surfaces...cabinets, chest of drawers...kitchen counter? Maybe not! 


Hide and Seek : Good old hide and seek never fails to disappoint. Have you tried playing this with a toddler who’s just recently understood the concept of the game? It’s oodles of fun. Not so much when he throws a massive tantrum as you didn’t hide where he expected to find you. Hey! You can’t win it all! 


Catch : Of the human, ball and even cushion variety! We had so much fun with this simple yet enjoyable game. Towards the end of lockdown, baby was crawling so the toddler conveniently made him the ‘piggy in the middle’. I don’t think the baby appreciated this very much. 


I Spy : This game has helped us through many a tedious afternoons. The toddler loves playing it as he needs to search for an object based on a given clue e.g. I spy something that keeps baby warm or I spy something that’s red in colour. You can use the room you’re in or even use pictures in a book. 


Board Games : The toddler really enjoys these and I highly recommend ones by Orchard Toys if you’re in the UK. Our favourites are Shopping List, Three Little Pigs, Cheeky Monkeys and Bug Bingo. Get ready for family fun time! No really!! 


Jigsaw Puzzles: The larger floor puzzles work really well! They keep everyone occupied and intellectually stimulated. Our favourites here are the Gruffalo, Peppa Pig and Dinosaur puzzles. 


Now that you are fully equipped with some game gyan, I hope you find it useful during the upcoming Christmas break. I also wish it helps you on those days that never seem to end.


Happy holidays!



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