With all the new changes going on with travel restrictions, school closures, and a lot of job closures due to the recent outbreak of Covid-19. You may now find yourself at home, and you’re wondering what some activities for kids are to keep your kids entertained when you have to work from home.
If you are trying to figure out how to balance working from home with all your kids around, you need to find a few ideas to help keep everyone occupied while you get some work done.
This is a huge challenge but it can be achieved! I have done it for the past three years and I want to share with you some tips I have learned along the way.
The key to surviving your kid’s home all day for an extended period of time is providing them options for things they can to do INDEPENDENTLY!
You will burn out quite quickly if you are constantly giving your children undivided, focused, one-on-one time.
I am a huge advocate for parents to spend uninterrupted one-on-one time with their children. Because children of all ages need that, however, children also need to learn how to independently play by themself for a period of time during the day.
I have broken the list up into three parts. Educational activities, creative activities, and toddler activities. I hope you enjoy this list and that you are able to use some of these activities for your kids!
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In This Article
Educational Activities For Kids
Reading
We are big readers in our family but this only happened as of recently if you could believe it for not. Growing up I was never a huge reader. If I found a book I loved, well sure I could barely take my eyes off it. But going to the library or asking for books as a gift rarely happened.
My husband and his family are on the complete opposite side of the fence. They would go to the library once to twice a week. Their free time/downtime was reading!
As I have gotten older I have found a huge love for reading and wanted to instill that in our children. But, I had how or even where to look for great books that my kids would love until I found Mary C @childrenlitlove on Instagram. She was a huge game-changer for me.
Our oldest could hardly get through two pages of a book when we first started having scheduled reading times a day. But now, she goes through 3-4 books because she loves the stories and pictures!
If your child struggles to independently read, one solution you could do is to provide them with headphones and an audiobook while they play with legos or draw/color.
Typing lessons
Helping your children develop strong typing skills is a life skill that will benefit them forever! If your child hunts and types one letter at a time. Now would be a great time to help encourage legitimate typing skills.
A great resource you can use is typing.com. One of the greatest things about it besides that it helps your child develop their typing skills, it that it is FREE!
Math Practice
Your children’s teachers may or may not have given take-home math homework to do during this quarantine time. If not, then keeping your child’s math skills is a must!
There are a ton of great math sheets, apps, games, and places such as Khan Academy that you can have your child do.
When you are approaching math. Don’t just tell your child that it’s time to do Math. Let them know what their options are such as games, math sheets, math apps, etc.
They will be more excited to do math when they have the option to choose which math activity they would like to do!
Handwriting
I feel like cursive is becoming a thing of the past. But, I do still think it is an important skill to learn. Even if it isn’t cursive, handwriting, in general, is something that can be developed.
Your child’s school may or may not have dedicated time for your children to practice their handwriting. This Creative Adventures in Cursive and Express Yourself handwriting books are two handwriting books that are super fun and creative! Your child will surely have some fun with these books.
Watch A Documentary
We are not a big tv or movie watchers in our family. It is recommended by the American Academy Of Pediatrics that children under 2 should not watch any tv and children 3 and older should only watch a very limited time of tv.
However, if there is a time where the tv is needed. Trust me we have all been there where we need to switch on the digital babysitter sometimes. Instead of turning on a regularly watched movie or tv show. Turn on a documentary based on something that your child is interested in!
Write A Letter
Pen pals may be a thing of the past but a lot of papers are still mailed out in today’s day and age. Do your children know how to address an envelop and stamp it too? This is a great activity for kids to practice their handwriting while staying connected to friends and family the old fashioned way!
Physical Activity
One thing I love about Youtube is that you can find so many fun moving exercises for kids. You can add PE or recess right into your living room once a day with Yoga, setting up an obstacle course, kickboxing, and aerobics!
The best part is, you can do any of these types of activities inside or outside!
Creative Activities For Kids
LEGO Building
Lego building is great for independent playtime. You could even make it more fun with Awesome LEGO Creations!
Art Time
You may need to set up a few supplies such as glue sticks, scissors, string, glitter, and magazines in an organized place. This is a great way to do an art class in your own home! Once your kids get started you will be amazing at what they create.
Do A Puzzle
Puzzles are big in our house. I remember growing up that any downtime we had often involved a puzzle. You can kill two birds with one stone by having your children listen to an audiobook or music that you approve of.
Practice An Instrument
Do your kids play any instruments? You can create a music class right in your home with piano tutorials from Hoffman Academy on Youtube! there are not only piano tutorials online but all different kinds of instruments.
Photography Scavenger Hunt
This one may take a little prep work but it will keep your kids busy and having fun! This is just like a normal scavenger hunt but instead of collecting the items they find, they take pictures of the items to find on their list!
Dot Markers
Dot markers are my favorite! They are not messy, super easy to clean up and are easy for even littles to use. There are so many great dot marker worksheets on Pinterest for FREE! You can use Dot markers for Math, spelling/reading, art and so much more.
That is probably why I love them so much because they can be used for so many different activities.
Window Clings
Have you ever done window clings with your kids? They are super fun and easy! Angela over at Teaching Mama shows you step by step on how to make window clings. Your kids will surely love this activity!
Fun & Easy Toddler Activities
Busy Books
I am a huge fan of busy books! We use them all the time at church. They are a great way to keep your toddler entertained. There are busy books out there that you can sew if you have a sewing machine. But I do not, so I prefer no-sew books like this one from Uplifting Mayhem.
Ice Cube Fun
Ice Cubes are fun to play with all year round. Get a few bowls, spoons and cups and watch your toddler go to town! You could even get more creative and make colorful ice cubes or do one giant ice cube in a bucket!
Fill it will small plastic animals and have your kids hammer the animals out! The last one may need some supervision and defiantly some safety goggles!
Science Experiment
There are so many toddler-friendly science experiments out there. One of my favorites is to get skittles and line them up at the edge of a plate, and pour milk onto the plate and watch the magic happen!
These are also some other great science experiments you can do!
A Sensory Bin
I love sensory bins! they are easy to put together and they entertain my daughter for the longest time! You can put rice, beans, flour (this may get a little messy) and kinetic sand. Add little objects that they have to fish out with spoons, forks or other utensils.
I love adding our magnet alphabet to our kinetic sand and have the letters on another piece of paper. I give our daughter a spoon to fish out the letters and match them to the letters on the paper!
The great thing about sensory bins is that there are endless things you can do with them.
A Box
Give your toddler some markers, crayons, and stickers and let them go to town on a cardboard box. Whoever invented cardboard boxes I applaud them because a cardboard box has come handy many times in our house.
Playdoh
Playdoh is another one of those favorite activities in our house. It is fun to see what our daughter creates she has defiantly gotten more creative every time we play with playdoh.
You can never go wrong with playdoh!
Final Thoughts
During this crazy time with everyone being quarantined. I know it can be a little stressful and overwhelming being with your kids all day. In the matter of one day so many parents became homeschoolers.
Use this time to spend time with your kids and to enjoy getting close as a family. I see this as a blessing because It has given me time to slow down and for us to slow down as a family.