Post includes ways to do these things at home, too!
For months, I looked forward to a December trip to Dallas, Texas and the warm, sunny temperatures sure to greet me. As luck (bad luck is luck too) would have it, the Dallas area got walloped by a fierce ice storm that shut down the airport, the mall, restaurants and — well — the whole area!
Stuck at the hotel with all my plans canceled, I had two options: lounge around my room and watch soap operas OR explore and find fun things to do. I chose the latter!
If you find yourself stuck at a hotel, particularly with kids, maybe these 20 activities will help you pass the time AND have fun doing it!
Most of these are great for when you get stuck at home, too!
20 fun things to do when stuck at a hotel
1. Play with shaving cream. Stuck at home with kids and want to keep them clean? Make shaving cream sculptures. We used to let our toddlers play with shaving cream at their high chairs. It cleaned the trays, too.
2. Let the kids give you (and dad if he’s brave) a makeover. Or give the kids one! An added bonus, when the kids are doing your hair, you get a “sort of” massage out of the whole deal. I wash my makeup brushes before using on the kids — and before I come back to using for myself. Q-tips work, too)
P.S. She is NOT usually allowed to wear makeup! Special treat.
3. Count the stairs from the ground floor to the top floor… Yes, that means stair climbing. If you prefer, count the stairs going down. This works in hotels, but it also works at home.
If you don’t have stairs — or are staying at a motel — count how many steps it takes to get from point A to point B.
4. Draw pictures on the steam-covered bathroom mirror. Let the kids take a relaxing, steamy bath. When the mirror is all steamed up, draw funny pictures.
BONUS: If they are learning to spell, challenge them with some vocabulary words.
5. Write an old-fashioned letter to loved ones on hotel stationery. If you’re at home, have kids write grandparents letters the old fashioned way. Sure, FaceTime is great, but our older relatives still love snail mail. Don’t you?
6. Jump on the beds (maybe ask the neighbors below when is a good time). Come on, parents. When is the last time you jumped on the bed? It’s fun. Be a kid again!
7. Have a pillow fight. There’s nothing like an old-fashioned pillow fight to inspire hilarious laughter.
8. Order room service.
If you’re not at a hotel, how about turning your home into an “at home B&B?” Read our post for great tips!
9. Write thank you notes for the hotel staff who are likely working double shifts and dealing with grumpy guests. Be the difference!
If you’re stuck at home, who can you send an encouraging letter to? If you’re sick, write the doctor a thank you note. If there’s a weather emergency, how about a letter to your local police and fire departments.
Spread kindness… wherever you happen to be!
10. Open the curtains and have everyone draw a picture of what they see outside the window. Ask for paper from the hotel front desk if you need it.
If you’re at home, do this every day from a different window — how different is the view from one room or another?
11. Go on a scavenger hunt through the hotel. Ask the front desk if the hotel has one pre-made. If not, make one and see how long it takes the kids to find everything. Look for things like:
- How many steps are there at the pool?
- What color is the hotel logo?
- How many lights are hanging in the lobby?
If you’re at home, make a scavenger hunt that’s fun for kids and helpful to you:
- How many socks are under your bed? (if you find some, take them to the laundry)
- Which garbage can is the most full? (If you find a full one, take the garbage out)
You can also just make it fun:
- How many pictures are hanging on the wall of our family?
- Which room has the most lights?
- Who has the biggest bed?
12. Splurge on an in room movie. Watch it in pajamas all snuggled on one bed.
Though, if you’re reading this at home with a sick family member, don’t cuddle! Make a “nest” for the sick person and keep your distance to fight the spread of germs.
Read this post on fighting germs at home!
You can also subscribe to Amazon Prime to watch free movies and TV shows if you don’t want to pay the steep fee for a one time rental.
13. Build a blanket tent. At hotels, there are usually extra blankets in the closet. If not, ask the front desk for extra blankets to use in your room. Even if you just drape a blanket between the beds, it can be loads of fun. We use the towels from the pool to make a “clean floor space.”
At home, this is even easier. Make the tent big enough for snack time (under the kitchen table) or to add pillows and read books.
- Get Amazon Audible and enjoy free books for 30 days
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14. Practice your ninja skills. The goal: To get to someplace at the far end of the hotel without anybody seeing you. Sneak through the halls, tiptoeing and hiding behind pillars. The quieter the better.
At home, maybe adapt this one and have kids try to get from one place to another without touching the floor. OOOHhhh!!! Challenge accepted!
15. Write a note to housekeeping thanking them for their hard work. Place it on the beds after you make them. Talk about a surprise for hotel staff!
At home, ask kids to make each other’s beds (if no one is sick). We learned years ago that our daughter loves helping other people do their chores and never complains. It somehow seems more like an act of service than a chore. May as well use that power for good, am I right?
16. Sit in the lobby and count shoes of passersby by color. What color is most popular?
At home, have kids organize the shoes by color and size. We all need clean shoe closets, right? (Just make sure they wash hands when done!)
17. Let the kids quiz you about what life was like when you were a kid. They don’t know life before the internet, drive through restaurants or self-pump gas stations. Hmmmmm….. New Jersey still doesn’t know what self-pump means. 😉
Even better, interview grandparents or other, older friends in your community to learn what childhood was like for them.
Here is a link to some questions to help you get started.
18. Make towel animals. They always bring smiles. Right?
19. Skip down the halls. Yes, parents too! And if you can take a walk outside, why not skip? It’s a great cardiovascular exercise. And… it’s fun!
20. Take a ride on the luggage cart. Is it a train? A princess carriage? A pirate ship? Watch out for other guests, the walls and be respectful of hotel policies.
Have you ever been stuck at a hotel? How did you entertain your kids?
Fitness Solutions says
Amazing Post. Thanks for sharing!
Tex Hooper says
Having a scavenger hunt at the hotel sounds like a lot of fun. I need to get a hotel in Prague. I’ll have to do some research online for the best one.
Sylvia says
My 6 year-old loves staying in hotels. Here are her favorites:
1. I bring a couple large balloons and she enjoys blowing them but the fun is hitting it back-and-forth to each other while never letting it touch the ground.
2. We make sure to get a room with two queens and she practices parkour leaping from one to the other- flips, rolls, etc.
*make it crazier by swinging pillows at kiddo during lol.
3. I always pack face masks. She loves when we pamper each other, but mostly just getting to cover mommy’s face in pretend slime!
4. Doordash her favorite meal.
Arts and Bricks says
1)ACT LIKE A PHOTOGRAPHER: We learned this idea serendipitously. When our kids were 4 and 6, we were in a Boston hotel and both my husband and I needed to jump on our computers for work for an hour or so. Our kids used our phones and took artistic photographs of the details of the room. They even photographed out the window and took some wonderful city life photos. It kept them busy the entire time! Frame. Shoot. Share. Giggle. Repeat. It was a great hotel activity.
kira says
omg here is an idea write a love note and knockon a door and Run come back in 5 min and see if its there
Stacey says
Great ideas!!
I will remember these for my future travels!
Stacey says
Great ideas!!
cheese says
apples taste great
Molly says
These seem so fun
Emily says
I have 5 kids, Kia who is 2 is asleep and Peter who is 4 was watching a movie with a his big siblings, Fredrick 14, Lily 12 and Jackson 8, but Kia woke up and was crying and Peter got exited, which of course made Jackson HAVE to get exited and Lily was yelled good at Peter to calm down, which made Fredrick get mad, I am all alone in a hotel room with 5 crazy kids and a snow storm, WHAT TO DO???
PS: I can’t go out of the hotel room because Kia is crying calm activity please?!
Bob says
This was terrible but thanks.
Brianna washington says
shut your fat ugly corona virus mouth and die in a fire pit you don’t deserve to be alive.F-u
a says
jesus dude
Non says
Lol wtf??
a dude says
god dammit u don’t hv to overreact at that comment…
Shelbie says
I’m an 11 year old girl stuck in a hotel room with a sleeping grandparent and a dog. It didn’t say anything about what to do at night or when you have to be quiet!!! I like the ninja skills one, but it just me the dog and my grandparents. What do I do?
Karen Dawkins says
Hey Shelbie! I am glad you like the ninja skills one, but late at night with the grandparents and the dog? Hmmmmmm….. Read a book? Draw pictures? Write your grandparent a letter to thank them for the wonderful things they do? Watch a movie, age-appropriate, on your computer with head phones? I hope the rest of your trip is fun!
Mackenzie Monthey says
these are so fun I agree on everything it says they seem so fun
ivy says
I’m still a kid only 10 only in a hotel room with 4 dogs but they all rlly good so i would try these they sound fun but I and to shy or afaird to do the show counting scavenger hunt even tho i love them nor the stairs but i think this a great idea for people who are not alone!!
Nat24 says
I am 12 and I am at a hotel with my grandparents and I am really bored and I don’t feel like leaving the room so what do I do
Emily says
You should watch a movie, write to friends and relatives and, I don’t know about you but my kids all have phones (except the 4 and 2 year olds!) so text or call your friends!
Danielle says
If you’re an adult and stuck in a hotel and they don’t have a gym work out in your room.
Karen Dawkins says
Great idea! You can ask for a blanket from housekeeping to use as a yoga mat so you don’t have to lie on the carpet!
Anon says
Yes!! In COVID times, gyms are closed, so ask front desk if you can check out a dumbbell. If they say no, curl an upside down chair.
Scott says
I like that you suggest to practice your ninja skills if you are unable to leave the hotel. I can see why this would help entertain any children you have. I remember doing this as a child. This also helped us be less disruptive to other guests.
Karen Dawkins says
Thanks, Scott! Happy travels to you and yours.
Karen Dawkins says
Glad to hear that! We have Tropical Storm Hermine bearing down on us — I’m sure we’ll be doing some of these this weekend.
sasha hislop says
This sounds so fun to do!!!..
Karen Dawkins says
We’ve been stuck in more than our fair share of hotels due to bad weather — but that’s the price we pay for traveling during hurricane and ice season. Right? We’ve mastered the art of hotel fun!!! =)
Sarah says
Cute ideas. 🙂 I like the ninja one. I can so see Noah getting into that. And the stairs one is a GREAT way to burn energy!
Karen Dawkins says
Yes it is!!!! And for us older people, it’s a great workout! 🙂
No more mr.bad dad says
I like to go to the pool and get a tan while my son plays with new friends. And I like your idea to do truth or dare Sophie, my kids love that game
Sophie says
We roll under beds
Sophie says
Knock on a strangers door and then run away
Karen Dawkins says
Oh my gosh. I somehow missed your contribution to roll under the beds. Are they generally clean? (Ewww)
Linda says
Hi Karen Dawkins I am disgusted at the idea of rolling u der beds, but I like rolling. What do I do?
Theres Just One Mommy says
Love it! When we met my sister in Ill. a few years ago we had torrential rain — and 3 small kids. I’m thinking they’d have loved the ninja idea!
Karen Dawkins says
My oldest and his college roommate inspired the ninja idea. 🙂 Crazy college kids!
Sofie says
Lol, I love some of these!
How about:
– play truth or dare
– go knock on your neighbor’s door and introduce yourself
Karen Dawkins says
GREAT ideas, Sofie. Thanks for adding to the list. 🙂
Monsters says
Better knock and run away
Susan says
Oh my gosh! I want to get stuck at a hotel with you! Too much fun. A lot of these would be great on snow days at home too!
Karen Dawkins says
They are! We don’t get many snow days here in NC, but when it gets icy, we make it fun!