Are you and your kids getting a little stir crazy stuck at home? Check out this list of 25 fun activities for kids that will keep everyone sane and build wonderful family memories. Post contains affiliate links.
For one reason or another you may find yourself confined at home with your kids. Someone might be sick or there is a sequence of rainy days or maybe your whole state is under quarantine for the COVID-19 virus.
Whatever the reason, it doesn’t have to be boring for the kids or stressful for you!
It All Depends on your Perspective.
You can either believe that your current confinement circumstances are horrible, limited, and extremely taxing. With thoughts of “How am I going to get anything done with my kids at home?” “My house is a mess!” “I’m going to die if they don’t open the schools backup!” “When is this going to end?!!!!!”
Or you can view your situation as a special opportunity to refocus on things that matter most. Namely your family. With the mindset of
“I can spend this added time building a deeper relationship with my children. Teaching them new things that perhaps I haven’t had the time for before.” “And what a blessing that we are all healthy and have the supplies/food we need to make it through this crisis!”
See the difference? Although they are in the same position their outlook is completely opposite.
I liked the perspective my neighbor told me (while we were standing over 6 feet apart of course). She relayed the story of it being the year 2030, and an 18 year old high schooler is asked in class what he remembers from suffering through the devastating COVID-19 virus epidemic in 2020.
And he responds “It was awesome! We had family meals every night and we played lots of board games together. My Dad was home more so we were able to play catch outside and we did school with my mom real fast so I had more time to play.”
This is a very unsure and stressful time, but there is always a silvering lining.
Yes the “social distancing” and quarantine stinks but it also frees up time for essential things. Free of the distractions of extra curricular activities, errands, friend time, etc. This time can be used to build a stronger family bond, focus on self, and teaching and learning something new.
Having said all of that, I know that many are struggling with ideas for keeping their children occupied at home and keeping themselves happy. So I thought it would be helpful to compile a list of meaningful and fun activities for kids (and parents!) to enjoy during this stay at home time just in case you are seeking a little inspiration.
But before we jump into all the activities…
You NEED a Schedule
First things first, you need to have some form of routine in place. I cannot stress this enough! If you are stuck at home for one day, this isn’t as crucial. But if you are predicting to be quarantined at home for a while, a schedule is absolutely essential.
It doesn’t matter how amazing the activities are, no one will be having any fun unless you have a set routine. Above is a view of our homeschooling schedule.
Aside from you actually getting things done, children need it. It’s security for them. With a routine, they know what to expect next. They know what’s going to happen in the day. They know what they can look forward to most in the day. Without it they are clueless to what the day may hold, which would leave anyone, child or adult, feeling anxious.
You don’t need to be militant with your routine, but you DO need to be consistent. Consistency is the key.
For example, the first day of our quarantine was extremely rough. I already had a routine in place with my homeschooled kindergartner and toddler so I just incorporated my 2nd grader, now home from school, into the mix. He fought me the ENTIRE. DAY. I honestly didn’t know how I was going to survive. But despite his resistance, I kept to the schedule.
The next day, he was great! He didn’t fight me once. It was AMAZING!!! Nothing had changed except that now he knew what his homeschool day would consist of. A routine is really magical!
So grab a pen and download the schedule printable below to map out your day! When is breakfast and lunch? When is school time? Free time? Reading time? Write out a blueprint of the day and stick to it!
I’ve provided a printable PDF file of our daily schedule as well as a blank PDF file of it so that you can personalize to fit your family’s needs.
Click on the link to download the free Homeschool Schedule.
Now onto the activities!
25 Great At Home Activities for Kids
I’ve compiled a list of 25 fun activities for kids to help build memories, occupy the time, and keep everyone happy!
Rest assured that most don’t require any planning ahead of time. I like keeping things simple, less prep work for me 😉 but still fun for the kiddos.
And just like Christmas morning, anticipation for an event is always half the fun! So let your children know in advance the activities you have planned (you can even have certain ones scheduled once a week) that they then can look forward to.
1. Write a Letter
Have your children write a letter or draw a picture to send to a loved one, like to Grandparents, cousins, friends that have moved away, a relative who has a birthday coming up, a missionary, etc.
2. Plan a Movie Night
Don’t just plop in a movie for the kids, plan a fun movie night! Part of the fun is in the anticipation, so let the family know at least several hours beforehand that you will be having a special movie night. Pop up some popcorn or ask for input on favorite treats, set up some extra pillows, bean bags, and/or blankets.
If you wanted to go further you could make movie tickets or use play money for everyone to ‘buy’ some concessions. You could have them do their chores or school assignments to earn money. Anything to mix up the movie night. Your kids will love it!
3. Bake Cookies
Gather everyone together to make a batch of homemade cookies! As long as your kids can walk, they can definitely help get out ingredients, pour in the flour and sugar, help with the mixing, and of course with the taste testing! Nothing like having fun while teaching a little Home Ec!
>> Check out this recipe for gluten free sour cream cookies. Yum!
If the children are capable, definitely don’t hold back in letting them learn how to make cookies all by themselves! Growing up, my mother never bought sugary treats, but we always had all the essentials to bake our own. So in our want for sweets, we each learned how to make cookies.
4. Act out or Write a Play
What could be better for their little imaginative minds then to let them act out a story or better yet write their own! Help them find props to use, set up the chairs to watch, and maybe even let them charge a few cents per ticket.
You could also make some puppets for the play!
5. Homemade Play Dough
Get out the tubs of play dough or better yet, make your own! Let their creativity run loose! And if they are struggling with ideas, give some suggestions or find pictures of things for them to make.
Simple Play Dough Recipe
- 2 cups water
- 1 Tbsp. cooking oil
- 1/2 cup salt
- 2 Tbsp. cream of tarter
- food coloring & vanilla (optional)
- 2 cups flour
Combine water, oil, salt, cream of tarter, food coloring, and vanilla in a saucepan over medium heat until warm. Remove from heat and add flour. Stir, then knead until smooth. Store in an airtight container in the fridge.
6. Read, Read, Read!
Read to Them. Snuggle up on the couch with your littles and read them a book. If they are a little older, start reading a chapter book to them. The Little House series is a great place to start.
Encourage Independent Reading. Spend this one on one time teaching your child to read if they don’t know already. I taught both my boys to read from this book
If they are already readers, give them a challenge to read a certain amount of books and tell them they will earn a reward if they do. During the summer, I challenged my boys to each read 100 books and if they did, they both would earn $10. They did! And their reading improved!
7. Spring Cleaning
Whether it’s spring or not, get your kids involved with decluttering the house. They can help go through their school papers, toys, and clothes that are too small to donate or get rid of.
8. Learn Something New
Ask your children what they want to learn about and dive into the topic! Use the internet to do some research and have them write and draw pictures about what they learned. Since they did the choosing, they will be very eager and receptive to the facts they learn. Self-driven study is really the best way to learn.
When we moved to a new state for a job my husband had taken, I found myself stuck in a small apartment with my two boys (ages 3 and 5) while we waited to move into our house. To fill the time, we would study about a different animal of their choosing every day. National Geographic for kids on Youtube is a great resource- just be sure to watch the “for kids” because the other ones can get a little graphic… you know, lions eating their prey. Probably a little much for a three, five, or even for my eight year old.
9. Create Art
Color. Bring out the coloring books or if you have a printer there are lots of resources of free coloring pages online you can download. Just google “free coloring pages”.
Learn to Draw. Also encourage their own drawing, find instructions for how to draw certain things and let them pick what they want to draw.
Don’t limit it to markers and crayons, bring out the watercolors. Or better yet don’t use paper at all but let them color on the windows with window markers
Crafts. This often requires a little prep work on your part, but Pinterest is full of craft ideas that your kids will love.
10. Connect with Family
Technology really is an amazing thing that let’s us connect with family wherever they are! Take advantage of this added time to let them FaceTime their grandparents or cousins they don’t get to see that often. Or set up a Marco Polo group for the family. Keeping connected with family especially now when everything seems to be changing so much day to day can be good for the parent too. My husband has a Marco Polo group set up with his 8 siblings so they can keep track of each other.
My boys personally love the Marco Polo messages they receive from their Aunt. She makes short funny videos for them that they enjoy watching again and again. Like this one called “Quarantine Time” that you should definitely view!
11. Build a Tower
When was the last time you built a tower? Construct one using wooden blocks, legos, dominos, paper cups, anything you have on hand and see how tall ya’ll can make it!
Then let the younger kids knock it down. That’s no doubt their favorite part!
12. Science Experiments
Check out this list of 63 easy science experiments using household items.
13. Housework
Work is good for everyone! What better time when everyone is at home to teach them how to properly perform chores. With more children home, it’s guaranteed to get messier faster. Why not teach them tasks you would be doing anyways?
Folding laundry, mopping the floor, sweeping, dusting, they are totally capable! Might as well spend the time now teaching them how to do it when you have all this “extra” time. 😉 Believe me it will definitely pay off in the long run! I haven’t vacuumed for years because that chore was delegated to my boys starting at the age of 4.
14. Make a Fort
Let the kids have at the kitchen chairs and blankets and sheets to make a fort. Have a nerf gun war. Let them “campout” in their fort for the night.
15. Plant a Garden
Get a little dirt on your hands and grow some plants. Yogurt containers, cottage cheese containers, milk jugs cut in half, all can be great starter spots for plants. There are so many resources that help explain the best way to start growing your own vegetables or fruit. The kids love the dirt part and in a few days you’ll start to see sprouts.
16. Creative Learning
Kids are so innovative. Help foster new learning opportunities with toys and activities they are already playing with and doing.
For example, my oldest when he was younger LOVED lining up toy cars. He would spend long periods of time carefully pushing one car right up next to the other. I used this love he had of car organization, to teach him the abc’s. We used wooden blocks that I helped him arrange from A-Z then we would take turns saying a letter of the alphabet while the other person parked a car next to the block. We called it the ABC Car Game, original I know. 😉
17. Puzzle Contest
Put a puzzle together with everyone. Or take it up to the next level by having a puzzle contest! If the puzzle isn’t too small, I recommend having it as a group. It’s a great team building activity.
We have this 300 piece puzzle
18. Old School Games
Bring back memories from your younger days by playing and maybe even introducing some fun classic games to your children.
- Red Light, Green Light
- Simon Says
- Freeze Tag
- Hide and Seek
- Hopscotch (you can use painters tape inside)
- Duck, Duck, Goose (my 1 year old’s personal favorite!)
- Blind Man’s Bluff
- Mother May I
- Hand-Clap games
- Marco Polo
- Musical Chairs
- Telephone
- I Spy
- Freeze Dance
Click here for an explanation of any of the games.
19. Balloon Fun
Blow up a pack of balloons and let the party begin! See how long you can keep a balloon in the air. Change it up by not using your hands. Segment off a small area with chairs and cushions to throw all the balloons in.
20. Learn a New Skill
What awesome skills/talents do you have that you could pass down to your children? Do you play a musical instrument, paint, knit, sew, or woodwork? Or what’s a skill you want to become proficient in that you and your children could learn together?
And don’t forget about the domestic arts like money management, nutrition, using tools properly, car maintenance, gardening, and cooking. These basic home ec skills will better prepare your children for their adult life.
And this teaching doesn’t need to be all at once in a lecture form. Look for opportunities you have to teach them a little bit at a time and give them chances to practice what they have learned.
21. Have a Picnic
Make a few PBandJs, cut up some fruit, and take everyone outside for a picnic! If the weather isn’t cooperating, set out your blanket on the floor in your house (preferably by a window) for an indoor picnic! My six year old really enjoys having picnics and last spring asked to have one pretty much every day.
22. Make a Meal Together
Get everyone in the kitchen to try out a new recipe! Teach them how to make one of their favorite meals whether it be breakfast, lunch, or dinner. My boys birthday dinner choice is usually these Chicken Baked Taquitos and they are great helpers getting supplies out, pouring ingredients in and mixing. You may be surprised how capable your children are in the kitchen!
I used this opportunity to teach my 8 year old how to make pancakes from scratch. After a few days of practicing, he surprised us one morning by waking up earlier than usual and heading straight to the kitchen to whip up some pancakes. Aside from taking care of the clean up, I didn’t help him with any other aspect of the pancakes. He was so proud of himself! As was I!
23. Enjoy the Outdoors
If weather permits, head outside to let the kids run around. Go on a walk, ride bikes, play catch, climb a tree, go on a plant scavenger hunt, make mud pies, play frisbee, jump rope, look at bugs, construct stick forts, splash in puddles, etc.
24. Build an Obstacle Course
Use pillows, cushions, and give them direction of getting to one place to the next. Get their input as well. It may even morph into a game of Hot Lava!
25. Play Board Games
Gather the family around the table for some fun board games! Connect Four, Sorry, Spot It, Candyland, Chutes and Ladders, Monopoly, and Life. Get your kids thinking a little more with games like Checkers, Chess, and Scrabble.
A few of our family favorites currently are Cover your Assets
We all take turns picking out a game we will play, which helps mix things up.
Conclusion
This is definitely a rare opportunity we have with our children. And there are definitely going to be many rough days.
But …
you are also surrounded by the people you love most in the whole wide world, free from outside distractions. Enjoy it! This won’t last forever.
Mama, you got this! 👊
Set up a routine, incorporate several fun activities into the week, savor some chocolate (when the going gets tough), and count your blessings!
Hopefully this post gave you some ideas to make it through quarantine time. What activities for kids would you add to the list? Let me know in the comments below!
Stay well my friends!
So many good ideas! Thank you!