Indoor Games to Play During COVID-19 Lockdown

With all of us zoned in due to lockdown and now with everything closed for the foreseeable future, we are all looking for ways to pass our time. How long can we watch TV or listen to the radio? While adults can somehow manage to spend their day doing office work and talking to friends, colleagues, and relatives, children have nowhere to go.

While it’s true that the technology has advanced in recent years with everything you want available on a device near you, there’s nothing that can beat the fun of playing old-school games, which are loved by everyone in the family. 

Whether it’s chess, carrom, or even cards, some classic and new-age games can bring the family together. 

Here are our top picks every home should play during this lockdown.

Carrom

Who doesn’t like playing carrom? It’s one of the oldest games that’s extremely popular in India and brings generations together over a game. Almost every family today has a carrom in the house and if you haven’t already dusted it, then you must do it now.

• Snakes and Ladder

The old board game like snakes and ladder is always one of the best ways to kill time. Always played between 2 or 3 or 4 players, the game has moral and ethical lessons for children to learn. This game is enjoyed by people of age groups.

• WhatsApp Storyline

This new game is completely dependent on three parts: smartphone, WhatsApp account, and WhatsApp user’s creativity. Form a new group or play the game in the existing group. All you need to do is to write “Once upon a time” in the group and allow people to contribute to the story by writing newer lines. The users have to write their lines within 15 seconds so that others don’t get a chance to write. The story could be fictional or even related to one or several of the group members.

• Scramble and guess the word

Like the previous game, this game too involves WhatsApp and a dictionary. Pick a word from the dictionary and scramble it. Ask the group to unscramble the word and form the real word within 10-15 seconds. It’s fun when played with a large group.

• Tambola

Suitable for all age groups, this family game is fun and can be played at any time of the day. If you don’t have the game with you, tear a couple of back and the front cardboard cover from your child’s disused text or notebooks, and write numbers on it in small boxes. Because you can’t tear the numbers, you can use a pencil to strike out the numbers so that it’s easy to erase them and use the cardboard for the next game. Use small paper chits to write numbers from 1-100.

• Quiz

Everyone loves quizzes. Pick a theme of the day and research on the subject until you have enough questions and answers. Shoot these questions in the WhatsApp group or in the home if you have a large family.

Notable mentions—There are other games you can play with your children like Uno, Lego, Ludo, Monopoly, Puzzles, chess, and balloon badminton.