In these uncertain times it’s never been more important to find ways to keep your kids entertained at home. We’ve rounded up 20 activities to beat the boredom.
Drawing & Painting
Encourage your budding artist with some drawing or painting lessons. If you’re unsure where to start, YouTube has plenty of videos with step by step instructions.
Treasure Hunt
A treasure hunt will go down well with children of all ages and can be done in the garden or indoors. Hide some small sweets or objects and let them loose! Create a treasure checklist so they can tick off things they find, or for older kids, get them to take a photo with their phones.
If you want to incorporate some home learning into your hunt, you could give them questions or tasks to do. Write down some numbered questions or tasks, wrap each one around a treat and hide them. Start the hunt with a task and once completed, give them a clue to help them find the first treasure. Carry on until they’ve found all the treats.
Grow a Windowsill Garden
If the weather isn’t warm enough for some outside gardening (or you don’t have a garden), creating a windowsill garden is the next best thing. Let your child choose their favourite flowers or grow vegetables or herbs.
Junk Modelling
Turn the contents of your recycling bin into awesome models or robots.
Cooking & Baking
Teaching kids to cook is one of the most useful things you can do. Whether it’s baking cookies or cooking pizza, there’s no better way to show them how their favourite foods are made and how to eat healthily.
Card Making
Making cards is creative and handy! Grandparents will love receiving a handmade card, or if you have elderly neighbours, why not give them a special card to let them know you’re thinking of them.
Hide & Seek
The classic game of hide & seek is always a winner. Just close your eyes and count to ten…
Obstacle Course
If you have a garden, an obstacle course is a great way to get your kids active. Let them help to set it up and see who can complete the course in the fastest time. Don’t forget to join in!
Play Dough
If you don’t have play dough in the house don’t fret, there are lots of play dough recipes online.
Write a Story
This activity can include all the family. Each person writes a paragraph then shows the final line only to the next writer. Once the last person has written their section, read the story out loud. The more imaginative the story, the funnier it is.
Put on a Play
Get your child/children to put on a play for you. They’ll have fun using their cuddly toys or dolls as characters.
Drawing Game
Similar to writing a story, each person takes turns drawing sections of a body. After each section, the paper is folded or covered over and passed to the next person. When the last person has finished, uncover the picture to find out what you’ve created.
Play a Board Game
Board games are great fun and also educational. Every family has their favourite but younger kids usually love games like Snap or Zingo.
Science Experiment
Turn your kitchen into a temporary lab and run some science experiments. You never know, you might learn something too!
Listen to an Audio Book
Listening to stories read aloud helps to improve reading skills. When you don’t have the time to read to your child, an audio book is a great alternative.
Do a Jigsaw
Puzzles are important in helping kids develop their concentration and problem solving skills. They’re also a relaxing way to pass time.
Build a Den
Younger children love building dens. All you need are a couple of blankets or sheets thrown over chairs and some cushions. Put a couple of snacks or a toy inside and they’ll be in there for ages!
Exercise Class
Just because you’re stuck indoors it doesn’t mean your child can’t exercise. YouTube and Facebook have plenty of online workouts that are ideal for children.
Create an Idea Jar
Write down suggestions for activities on individual pieces of paper with your child and put them in a jar or box. When they’re bored they can go to the jar and pick out something to do.
Online Classes
There are a range of online classes that have recently started up to occupy kids at home. Choose from cookery, circus lessons, dance sessions or bedtime stories.
We hope you find our ideas to keep your kids entertained at home useful. If you have any other suggestions leave a comment below!