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Whether by choice or by circumstance, staying at home with our kids is something that we’ve all been tasked with lately! At the beginning of this pandemic, I felt excited to finally get a chance to slow down and just ‘be’ with my kids. But two weeks turned into 6 months and we’re all getting a little tired of the humdrum of staying at home. If you’re out of ideas and need a refresh, I’ve got the perfect list for you! Here are 9 fun things to do with your kids at home!
Take a Virtual Museum Tour
Just because you’re stuck at home doesn’t mean you can’t experience art and culture! Services like Google Arts and Culture offer virtual museum tours! Your kids can enjoy artwork from all over the world in the comfort of your home. How cool is that?!
Try a card game!
A simple deck of cards can offer so much of happy hour spending with time is remarkable. There are nearly 40 different card games that can be played at home. A light and casual game of UNO or go-fish is a great way to keep busy, learn, and have fun!
Read a new book.
If your family is anything like mine, then you might find yourself with several bookshelves full of kids books. Sitting down to actually read eacho f them? That’s another story. Each day ask each of your kids to pick out a short story to read. Then pile up and got through each book in a cozy corner or on the couch. Their imaginations will lead them to incredible places! If you prefer, there options for digital downloads from your library or on the Kindle store!
Have a Lego building contest
LEGO is, by far, one of the top building games for kids. We have thousands of LEGOs on hand from our seven-year-old. But the great thing about LEGOs is that kids (and grownups!) of all ages can enjoy them.
For this, pick a theme — like, “house,” “car,” or “airplane.” And set a timer. Everyone builds their own version of the theme and at the end you vote on who’s is the best!
Do a puzzle
Puzzles are extremely useful for growing your kid’s mental health. This indoor fun activity offers a great way of learning and engaging. Plus, doing puzzles together will undoubtedly build problem solving and logic skills!
If you’re looking for a fun puzzle, I recommend heading to Puzzle Huddle. This business is minority owned and focused on including diversity in their puzzles. My son is obsessed with their “future engineer” puzzle.
Put together a dessert board
When we’re all stuck at home 24/7, meals can get boring. Whether you still have Summer weather or dipping into cooler temperatures, a s’mores board is always a good option. We put together a s’mores board with traditional offerings like graham crackers and marshmallows. But it also includes rolos, peanut butter cups, oreos, ritz crackers, and even strawberries! Everyone gets an option with indoor s’mores!
If you can’t make it outdoors for your s’mores, try wrapping them in foil and sticking them in the oven! The kids will still have a blast and will remember these moments forever.
Paint with your kids
Painting is so fun for everyone! Creating amazing art using vibrant colors is an awesome way to spend time with your kids. You can even try out some marshmallows, popcorns or slices of bread to try out food painting activities at home. Check out these edible food paints for more ideas!
Make some homemade Play Dough
I used to be the kind of mom that was anti-play dough. It just seemed messy. And my naivete as a new mom meant that I hated the colors mixing. But I learned, fast, that you should throw your cares out the window! And always buy Play Dough when it’s on sale.
So if you already have some, great! Everyone play together. But if you don’t, this is the perfect time to try making it yourself. Make bright colors, add in some sensory items, and play the day away. If you need a good homemade Play Dough recipe, head here.
Try a science experiment
Home-based science experiments like glitter slime and exploding volcanoes are so fun. But there are also loads of other experiments where you can try out of homemade supplies. Just hop on YouTube for hundreds of videos to try out kid-friendly science projects. What a great way to have fun with your kids while getting some STEM learning in, right?!
Tell me — what’s your favorite thing to do with your kids at home?!
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I certainly attempted most of these while in lockdown, except the dessert board which sounds delicious. We also did things like ‘hide and seek’ which was great fun!
I dont have kids but since I’ve moved back to my home I have two neices except desert board and museum virtual tour I’ve done all. Actually they don’t like museum but we had a virtual tour to zoo!
These activities to do with kids at home are truly very interesting on to do..glad you shared the list of activities with us..great work though..Found it quite helpful and useful one…
I love all of these ideas! I’ve been watching my two nieces a lot over the summer, and these are some things I could try with them over the last couple of weeks before they’re back in school.
Those are great ideas to do with your kids! Our museums offered many virtual tours and science experiments.
We have done most of these over the summer. One of our favorite dessert “boards” was actually a make your own ice cream sundae bar.
The dessert bar sounds wonderful! I would love to do that with my son.
A virtual museum tour that’s something I hadn’t heard before 🙂
Trying a science experiment and doing a lego building contest sounds like it’d be a lot of fun. Also a family night involving putting together a puzzle sounds like it’d be exciting as well.
Yum to that dessert board! I want in!
My kids and I have definitely gotten the legos out during this pandemic… I love how legos are fun at any age ; )
great list of ideas!
The whole family will definitely be fun for the whole family. Thanks for the idea!