Got cabin fever? Bored being stuck with your family all day? We get it, but being quarantined with kids does not mean you have to suffer. While it can be challenging to find things to do around the house, there are some activities you can do both indoors and outdoors to keep your kids (and yourself) entertained.
Indoor Activities
- Elephant Toothpaste– This is a great science experiment for kids! First you carefully pour ½ cup of hydrogen peroxide into a clean 16 oz plastic water bottle. Next add 10 drops of food coloring, then 1 tablespoon of liquid dish soap and swish it around to mix it. Now, in a separate small cup, combine 3 tablespoons of warm water and 1 tablespoon of dry yeast and mix for 30 seconds. Finally, pour the yeast-water mixture into the bottle and watch the foam rise!
- Bake Together– Baking with your kids allows them not only to “help you,” but it is also a way to incorporate math and science into your quality time. They can learn about different measurements and fractions, as well as the results of mixing different ingredients together. An added bonus is all the cookies and brownies you get to eat together!
- Facetime With A Princess– There are some princesses who would love to Skype or Facetime with your child, sing with them, and do activities with them! You can download an app or visit a site, such as Glass Slippers Productions, where you pay a real- life princess to interact with your child.
- Photography Journal– Help your child capture memories with a photography journal. Instead of just having them write out their day, take pictures throughout the day, print them, and have them arrange the photos into a journal.
- Dance Class– Make your spare time fun with a yoga class or dance class in the middle of your living room. If you’re not feeling creative, YouTube has some great programs you can follow. Dance like nobody’s watching!
- Cardboard Box Fort– Grab a couple of large cardboard boxes, break them down, and build a fort with your kids. Then you can help them decorate the fort.
- Listen To An Astronaut Read From Space– NASA offers some pretty cool activities to do on their site in order to help pass the time, but an especially fun one is watching an astronaut read a book to you while they float around space!
- Build A Birdhouse– Got any popsicle sticks laying around? Grab them, and if you don’t have any, then grab some sticks from outside and build a birdhouse. Paint it and then hang it outside!
- Hold a Fashion Show– Have everyone in your house gather some clothes, put together crazy combinations, and then walk the runway. The rest of the family then critiques each outfit – all for fun of course. Whoever is the most silly or chic, wins!
- Facetime With Family/Friends & Play Pictionary– Stay connected with your friends and family. Try using the app House Party. This video chatting app can help you and your kids connect with multiple family and friends. You can all play pictionary or other games on the app with them.
Outdoor Activities
- Body Painting– Let kids paint themselves with washable paint and then let them wash it off afterwards. They can become living picassos.
- Sun Melted Crayons– Have some broken crayons laying around? (Don’t we all?) Well make them into art! Get some aluminum foil, place cookie cutters on the foil, then put crayons into the cookie cutters and place in the sun to melt them. Once it is all melted, voila, newly shaped crayons to use!
- Balloon Volleyball– Set up a little court in your backyard with a rope and use a balloon to play volleyball. Who knows where the wind will shift the balloon!
- Driveway Bull’s Eye– Draw a bullseye on your driveway with some chalk, then throw a sponge in a bucket of water. Have each person stand behind a line and take a turn throwing the sponge at the bullseye.
- Glow In The Dark Bowling– Grab some glow sticks and 10 bottles of water. Put the glow sticks into the bottles of water and line them up like bowling pins in the yard at night. Use a soccer ball and see if you can get a strike!
- Aqua Limbo– Everybody limbo, with some water! Use the stream from a water hose as the limbo line for everyone to go under.
- Ice Painting- Freeze water mixed with washable paint in ice cube trays. Then use them to create art on some paper!
- Squirt Gun Painting– Fill up a water gun with paint instead of water, and have at it at a sheet of paper.
- Treasure Hunt– Want to keep the kids busy for a while? Send them on a treasure hunt! Find a couple of knick knacks around the house or outside, with each location providing a clue to the next.
Being stuck at home can be tough, but with a little creativity, you can make the most of it. By using the above ideas, you can keep everyone’s spirits up, and focus on using this time to reconnect with your family. Or, at the very least, you can grab a few minutes to yourself!