I spent my childhood jumping across chairs and using cushions on the floor to create obstacle courses. Back then we created our own indoor play structures and playgrounds for home adventures. Now it is possible to buy the most exciting indoor jungle gyms, climbing frames, pikler triangles, slides, foam blocks, gymnastics mats and all the indoor play equipment you could ever imagine your children having fun playing and exercising on.
The best thing about all this indoor playground equipment is that these indoor play structures for home, can be used in the comfort of your own home. I will show you some fun play structures for toddlers and older children too, so you can keep all the children entertained and keeping active indoors.
My favourite home indoor play structures
I’m going to start by showing you some of the best toddler indoor play structures and then move up to some of the bigger and more adventurous play structures to entertain older kids at home.
ECR4kids Soft Zone Climb and Crawl Play structure
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Foam is the perfect material for creating exciting indoor play structures for toddlers to crawl, climb and slide on. I love the assorted colour choice and the mixture of colours is randomly placed across the selection of triangular, square, rectangular, cylindrical and a half moon shaped foam blocks that ECR4Kids have created.
Having so many different shapes is so exciting for toddlers who experience different movements and sensations as they navigate their way across the blocks. Place them side by side and you can create a mini obstacle course or stack them high and build a big tower out of a mix and match of fun shapes and colours.
These different shapes also help youngsters to start to learn which shapes can be placed together and the motor skills and coordination awareness to navigate across and onto the different foam blocks.
The last thing you want with play blocks is for your toddler who can’t yet walk, to have to balance like a circus clown as the foam blocks shift and shake and roll. Luckily each different shape has a bottom section which is covered with a non-slip material to keep them steady on the floor.
The ramp section is one of the most fun parts of this indoor play structure because children love to crawl up the ramp to reach the other blocks when placed side by side. If your children have evolved into little daredevils they may also slide back down again. It isn’t much higher than the height of child lying flat on the floor so you don’t need to be concerned about safety, as long as you supervise them at all times, as you know little ones are capable of the most spectacular unexpected movements.
Each block is made using a firm foam material and the outer layer is a strong wipe clean vegan leather material. The blocks are lightweight so toddlers can lift, stack and move them around to experiment with creating exciting obstacles and structures in your home, to see which combination is the most fun for knocking over, crawling on, jumping around and balancing across.
ECR4kids Soft Zone Single Tunnel Foam Climber
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This is another offering from the hugely popular ECR4kids. I like this play structure because it includes a foam 2 step section which links to the larger block and then can connect to the triangular slide section block. These 3 blocks don’t fasten together, but place them side by side and the grippy base will hold them in place so kids can climb up the steps, crawl a small distance at the top and slide down the slide section.
Children don’t often have much practice climbing steps that are padded and safe so this indoor play structure is the perfect opportunity for them to climb up and down the 2 steps while holding your hand so they can become familiar with the movements and build up more leg strength to be able to push up the steps themselves.
Toddlers love these soft climbing structures and this is a great option for practising climbing and sliding skills. Once they have tired themselves out climbing and sliding they can crawl into the tunnel that goes underneath the main structure and hideaway or laugh and have lots of fun crawling round, under, onto, up and down the structure.
ECR4Kids Climb-N-Crawl Caterpillar Tunnel
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Now, we move up to a slightly larger indoor play structure for your home that is suitable for a 3-8 year old and adults too if you can squeeze into the tunnel, which from experience we wouldn’t recommend!. This Caterpillar tunnel is a massive 7 ft long and is a wonderful option for so many reasons.
The main structure is made of weather resistant materials that form the big tunnel area that is 42″ high and can even be extended by adding other structures to it to create a tunnel even longer than 7ft. Because of the strong frame and weather resistant materials it is safe to keep this indoors during winter and bring it outside when the weather is good.
One of the main reasons the caterpillar tunnel is so popular with young children is because of the wonderful themed design. The whole tunnel forms the body of the caterpillar and the front entry is the caterpillars mouth, with both a nose and eyes attached onto the structure to make it look like a real caterpillar.
ECR4Kids have gone the extra mile and added 6 caterpillar shaped feet supporting each side of the play structure. Not only is it themed and shaped so beautiful but the number of different vibrant colours makes this one of the most exciting play tunnels I’ve ever seen.
If crawling isn’t fun enough, there are plenty of round holes along the tunnel where you can post balls or other toys through to create even more imaginative play adventures. Older children can also climb onto the top of the play structure ( caterpillars back) and use it as a seat or place some soft mat’s beside it and they can jump off with your supervision. The caterpillar indoor play structure is easy to assemble and you can configure it in different ways to create a bend in the tunnel if you also purchase some of the additional extension pieces.
Little Tikes Hide and Seek Climber
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Little Tikes are well known for creating some awesome and exciting children’s toys. The hide and seek climber can be used both as an indoor playground and outdoor playground and is a perfect and safe activity for toddlers around 18 months to 2 years old under parental supervision.
Finally you don’t need to take a trip to the local park to take your children on a slide. In the comfort of your living room you can help your youngsters climb up the little climbing wall that has 4 foot and hand holes.
This wall can be a little tricky for some toddlers to place their feet into the small foot holds but with your assistance they will learn and as they develop more strength and coordination they’ll be able to climb up and slide down. I like the tree house style design and the plastic the hide and seek climber is constructed from is strong and well designed.
EZ play Koala Indoor play structure
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This EZ play koala play structure is suitable for children ages 4-10 years old and is the ultimate playground for your home. Your children need to be able to climb and swing across the monkey bars to have the most fun with the EZ play koala. Your children can choose to climb up the metal ladder or use the rope ladder for a more challenging ascent up to the top of the structure where there is an exciting and colour set of monkey bars to swing across.
After making your way across you reach a platform on the other side where you can slide down the fun slide. Even though attaching this structure to your wall requires a little bit of work, it isn’t too difficult and when you take it down again it can be folded and stored away easily.
What is an indoor play structure for home ?
An indoor play structure is a piece of equipment that is suitable for children to play on inside your house. Usually a play structure has some kind of raised platforms, monkey bars, soft blocks or foam surfaces that allow children to crawl climb, jump or take part in other fun play activities.
There are also some options for older children that are much more similar to a climbing frame, with bars and other objects to climb on or fun stepping stones to navigate across.
Final Thoughts – Who would enjoy an indoor play structure at home
The indoor play structures for home that we have shown you above are suitable for children ranging from toddler age up to around 10 years old. All children enjoy indoor playgrounds of different shapes and sizes depending on their size, age and physical ability. Toddlers enjoy being able to play at home on equipment that is soft and that they can touch, feel and learn to crawl and develop basic coordination skills.
For toddlers foam blocks and soft play areas are the most fun. Having fun themed play structures like the caterpillar which has a lot of colour and fun elements can make play even more exciting for youngsters. If you are looking for outdoor play toys we have already written about some amazing obstacle courses for your garden and colourful children’s stepping stones.