Activities You Already Have At Home

March 12, 2020 /

Stuck at home and don’t have any good craft supplies? Here is a great list to keep the kids entertained both indoors and out with things you already have around your house!

Indoor

  • Baths! Swim away, add some colors or bubbles (food coloring or dish soap can also work to make bubbles)
  • Play-doh & kitchen toys (play kitchen or real kitchen stuff works here) – cookie cutters, cup cake pans, rollers, butter knives. It doesn’t matter what you bring out your kids will have a blast. We sit at the table to contain the mess a little bit. If you don’t have any cans of play-doh in house making your own is also a great activity to pass the time with your kids!
  • Make Masks! Cut some circles out of a cardboard box whether your amazon delivery or even a cereal box. Decorate them with whatever you’ve got around – markers, crayons, paint, a pen – doesn’t matter. Make one for everyone in the family and then put on a show or pretend to be animals together.
  • Hide and Seek/ Flashlight Hide and Seek. Kids just love this game and really love when they find their grown ups hiding in a silly spot. Flashlight hide and seek is a great alternative to movie night – use whatever flashlights you’ve got on hand or even your phone and turn off all the lights to see if you can find each other!
  • Sensory Play: Water is a great tool for sensory play – empty out a tuperware box or any other larger tray/bucket/bowl you’ve got add some cups or spoons and have some water fun! As an added bonus you can create a washing station by filling one with soapy water and one with clean water and have them wash some of their water proof toys!
  • Another great sensory play you likely have at home is lotion – put a little on a plate to trace letters, draw, make shapes or just squish around. Great for those who don’t like to be messy there’s virtually no clean up. Just have the kids rub it into their hands or on their belly.
  • Toilet paper/paper towel roll activities: If you’re using up all your toilet paper hoards try some simple measuring. How many toilet paper rolls high are you? How many rolls long is your couch, your bed, your table etc. Is it different if you use paper towel rolls vs toilet paper rolls?
  • Another great use is toilet paper roll puppets – paint them, wrap them in tape, or make construction paper clothes. Or have a grown up cut two slits in the bottom of a few rolls and see if you can stack them into a tower!
  • Marching Games: march your kids around your hallway, your table, your bedroom wherever you’ve got room to move. Some of our favorites are “We’re going on a bear hunt,” “We are the dinosaurs,” or a few rounds from our Mom/Baby Work outs.
  • Have a dance party! Choose your favorite dance song or find some kid favorites like Hokey Pokey, Happy Tappy Elmo, or I’m a Little Teacup and dance away.
  • Grab a couple of cardboard boxes or a laundry basket and make a train to pull your kiddo around. See if they can pull a favorite doll or toy around.

Outdoor

Nice Days:

  • “Paint” with water – you can use water as chalk on your driveway, paint/clean the house, car, or fence with sponges or brushes!
  • Collect leaves and flowers from different plants for an art project – who needs glitter or fancy foam stickers when you’ve got some nature and glue!
  • Get a cup and water the grass or any plants you can find
  • Find a few sticks and see what letters or shapes you can make with them
  • Create a scavenger hunt or bingo game with sights in your neighborhood then have the kids “hunt” for them – this can be things for them to find like pinecones or just to look at like a street sign or a neighbor with a red car
  • A reading picnic – there’s something about a picnic that just appeals to kids so spread out a blanket grab a few books and have a reading picnic. A little sunshine and some time spent reading together is good for everyone.
  • Red Light/ Green Light : Have kids stand a short distance away and come towards you when they hear green light. They have to freeze when they hear red light or get sent back to the start! Added bonus this is a great game for working on their listening skills!

Rainy Days:

  • Splashing in puddles
  • Shovel up Puddles – my kids self invented this game and went to town trying to shovel all the puddles out of our driveway
  • Get really messy with the wet dirt and make some mudpies! (Have a hose handy for this one)
  • Get a measuring cup and see how much rain you collect in a minute, ten minutes, an hour etc. – is it more or less than the last rainy day? Is the rain falling faster or slower in the morning vs afternoon?
  • Bring out a few different pots and pans – does the rain make different sounds on different materials, sizes, shapes? See if you can get some good music going.
Play With Your Food!
Valentines

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