If you’re anything like me, I do not like my kids staring at screens all day long and rotating between TV, video games and google searches. There is so much more to do and explore! (Sometimes they don’t share my passion on this one).
But I get it, things get really tough when everyone is under the same roof, 100% of the time, staring at each other … and parents are trying to get work done too.
Over the years, I have spent many days hanging out with my kids and getting creative on what we can get up to and into in order to keep them interested in things and have a break from technology. Here are a few of my ideas on how to keep your kids busy with fun at-home activities and for you to have fun together (or apart) trying something new, getting active or being goofy.
Let me know what you tried or tag @kitchentableceos in a post to show me what you get up to.
FUN AT-HOME ACTIVITIES:
Get Creative
- Set up a tent in the basement
- Do science experiments (check out the rubber egg experiment and making slime)
- Have a paper airplane making and flying contest with your family
- Make a bird feeder
- DIY mani & pedis
- Create a Corona diary
- Draw a picture
- See if you can walk around your house blindfolded
- Make a music video
- Make a play
- You Tube a new hairstyle and give it a try
- Create a giant painting on multiple sheets of paper, bristol board or mural paper
- Put on a dance party
- Sing karaoke
- Build a fort
- Roll coins/count piggy banks
- Build a bonfire and roast marshmallows (inside or out)
- Put on make up
- Teach yourself how to play guitar
- Paint a room
- Shadow puppets
- Get the ol’ rainbow loom out
Keep Active
- Shoot hoops at a local school or park
- Play road hockey
- Play catch (baseball, football, etc)
- Set up a gold hole in your backyard
- Play hide and seek or manhunt
- Find an online exercise class
- Do a 100 situps and pushups every day
- Go on a hike in a nearby forest or around the block
- Go tobogganing (if there is still snow)
- Play badminton
- Find a local tennis court
- Go for a bike ride
- Have a pillow fight
- Learn a new language
Don’t Go Hungry
- Bake a cake (or cookies or muffins)
- Plant vegetable seeds in preparation for spring
- Make nachos (a family favourite for everyone!)
- Make your own pizzas
- Go grocery shopping for an elderly neighbour
- Make a smoothie
- Have a tea/hot chocolate party with all of the fancy dishes and teacups
- Make a meal you’ve always wanted to try, but never had time to do
Keep Busy With Games
- Make Your Own Board Game
- Play a board game (some of our favourites are: Risk, Rummoli, Ticket to Ride, Yahtzee, Scrabble, Monopoly, Scattergories, and Sorry!)
- Sudoku, Crosswords, Word Searches, Puzzles
- Play a continuous card game that you keep track of points until the end of Corona
- Have a lego building day
- Play charades
- Play Twister
Stay Calm
- Daily reading time
- Listen to music and mope 😉
- Knit or start a sewing project
- Have a nap
- Make a Coronavirus playlist
- Go through old photo albums
- Write a letter to someone you miss or that you can’t see
- Watch old home movies
- Write a book
- Face time a family member or friend
- Binge watch a movie series (see my blog on family-friendly movies)
- Take pictures of your kids, family members, pets and yard and then get creative with apps and filters
- Study for your boater’s license
- Learn to touch type
Stay Clean
- Clean out every closet and room in your house 🙂
- Give your pet a bath
- Have a bubble bath
- Clip your toenails (or your dog’s)
From my kitchen table to yours,
Photo by Allen Taylor on Unsplash
Thanks for the great ideas. I have one for you……it’s a great time for Moms to share makeup hygiene with their daughters. Learn to clean make up brushes, check expired products and replace mascara. Should be done every 3 months. Makeup and cosmetics drawers should be vacuumed and sanitized as well as makeup bags. ( all that dead skin and dust are breeding grounds for bacteria) If your makeup bag needs replacing ask an older relative or make your own…there are lots of YouTube videos..
Thanks for the great tip. A great future article topic for sure. I think we are all guilty of letting things stay in ‘the drawer’ a little bit too long. I am lucky that my husband or “santa” buys me a new mascara every year for Christmas. So although it is longer than the 6 months recommended …. it’s my annual reminder to do a bit of ‘out with the old and in with the new’ Thanks for visiting!