In this post, I want to share with you 20 creative and fun activities to do at home with your kids. Being stuck at home as a family can sometimes get boring, especially if you always stick to the same tried and tested activities like watching movies and playing monopoly.
The things you do at home with your family often condition the amount and quality of fun you will experience. If you have an abnormally long amount of time to spend at home with your family, you have to be creative and try new exciting activities.
Here are some fun and innovative ideas to boost your family time:
1. Origami
Origami is an ancient Japanese art that involves folding paper to make different kinds of shapes like animals, plants, etc. It is an engaging form of art that anyone can learn. It’s very making origami at home with your kids. You can find origami papers from Amazon with very good price. To learn origami, all you need is some white paper, color pencils, scissors and glue. You can easily follow tutorials on YouTube together as a family. Depending on how competitive your family members are, you can also have Origami contests after you have mastered several shapes.
Recently some artists have gone on to add some led lights to the paper shapes to give the artwork some beautiful light and color scenery. To kick things up a notch, add colored led lights and display the forms in the house.
2. Indoor camping
Indoor camping is another fun activity for families. It is easy to set up, and everything you need is usually already available in the house. You can turn the living room into a camp out space, turn off the lights, and take turns telling scary stories while roasting marshmallows on a portable burner. I like this indoor camping tent from Amazon. It can easily fit a family of four in it.
3. Make short movies
Depending on how many you are in your family, you could write and create short video clips that you record using a phone or a camcorder if you have one. The idea is to have everyone participate in the whole movie-making process, including writing the script, picking the wardrobe, and acting it out. Keep the dialogue short so that you do not have to memorize a lot of words. It is even more fun if you turn the whole house into a movie set. Making movies is one of my favorite activities to do at home with kids. They enjoy it a lot and it is a great family activity.
4. Treasure hunt
A treasure hunt is another way of having fun as a family. To make it enjoyable, have one person set up the hunting clues and divide the rest of the family into groups. The hunting clues should cater to all different age groups of the family so everyone can actively participate. You can also buy this treasure hunting game from Amazon and play the board game today. It is very fun!
5. Play fun group board games
There are quite a number of board games that your kids can play to stay distracted during a pandemic. The most important thing to keep in mind is to stick to the kind of games that they love. You can also take part in some of the games to make things more interesting. You could pick the game once in a while but involve the kids in the selection of a game and stress to them that selecting a game is their responsibility.
6. Play brain stimulating games
Brain games or games that challenge the intellect will not only keep your kids mentally sharp, but it will also keep them competitive and entertained. Compliment your children when they complete a level or stage to keep them motivated and feeling proud. Encourage them when they fail to complete a certain level the same way you would encourage them when they are doing their homework.
7. Indoor Olympics
Organize your own indoor Olympics as an entertainment for goofy and hyperactive family members. Create ten competitions that you can do indoors. The activities have to vary in nature and difficulty so that everyone can enjoy and participate. Assign points according to ranking at the end of each event. The winner of the tournament is the one with the most points at the end of all activities. Ideas for activities include eating competition, cup golf, bucket ball, song lyrics, etc.
8. Family Master Chef
Depending on the resources you have in the house, another very fun activity you can engage in is a cook-off. Just like the TV Master Chef, divide into teams and compete in creating an entirely new dish using a chosen set of ingredients. To make it more interesting, write down the different ingredients on a spin wheel and take turns to spin the wheel to select the ingredients. Use only the selected ingredients for the cook-off!
9. Let your kids help with the household chores
Household chores are yet another activity, aside of games, you can engage with your kids. Teach them or ask them to give you a hand with the chores and make it interesting. They can help prepare their favorite meal, help set the table, and help clean the house by dusting the furniture. They can also help with washing or folding the laundry. Some kids love it when they do something that their parents encourage or ask them to do. So, give it a try!
10. Try online games
You can also try playing online games with your kids or let them play with their friends online. However, keep a close eye on the kind of games and activities they choose to play online.
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11. Do something funny together
If you are going to spend a considerable number of days at home together as a family, you can come up with something funny to do together. The choice of a funny thing depends on the family’s interest, but they can range from making dress up or superhero costumes together to acting out a silly movie clip.
12. Start a family project
You can come up with certain family projects that your kids can participate in. It could be any type of project that your kids will love. It does not have to be a school project. It could be the kind of project that they can actively contribute to. For example, you can grow pot-based plants, repaint the bedrooms or build a 3D puzzle or create your genealogical tree. You could even learn a family dance on YouTube or form a band if you have instruments laying around.
13. Learn a new language
Learning a new language is a fun activity to engage every member of the family. Since it is a new language, everyone will be at par and can start together. Just agree on the language and get it going. There are so many learning apps and free online tutorials available that you cannot miss this opportunity! To get things more exciting, plan a future trip to a country that new language is spoken!
14. Give them books to read
Books are a great way of keeping your kids’ minds off the pandemic. So, try giving them books to read. You could give every child a different book according to their age and then ask for a 5-minute summary every day before they go to bed. This will not only keep them busy, but it will also perfect their intellect as well as feed their curiosity. Make sure there is a reward for each completed book.
15. Help with their schoolwork
While kids are asked to stay at home while schools are closed, they may be given assignments and homework. You can keep your kids entertained by helping them out with their homework. If the school does not give them any work to do while at home, you can come up with your own assignments. Focus on areas that your child is currently struggling with at school so as to help make the work comprehensible.
16. Turn your home into an Art Gallery
Get the inner artist out of every family member by organizing a home art festival. Everyone must participate and use his creativity and imagination to express his artistic side by painting, drawing, googling or making collage with old newspapers. At the end, stick all the masterpieces on the walls to create your own family art gallery!
17. Revamp your family photo album
Remove the “digital” dust from your old photos kept on your computer and start a fresh family photo album. This can be a fun activity to do with the family as each family member reminisces the good old souvenirs. Revamping your digital photos will also be a good opportunity to clear up duplicates and irrelevant pictures, freeing up valuable space on your computer or cloud storage.
18. Watch movies with them
Movies are without a doubt a great source of entertainment for both adults and kids. You could watch one or two movies a day with your kids as a form of entertainment.
19. Have them come up with their own ideas of entertainment
Coming up with great ideas of entertainment for your kids is a good thing. Nonetheless, if you want them to truly enjoy you can let them come up with their own forms of entertainment. Doing so is also a great way to empower them when you have run out of ideas. All you have to do is approve of the kind of entertainment they choose and participate cheerfully when asked.
20. Help cultivate their talents
It is true that every dark cloud has a silver lining. Even during a pandemic your kids’ talent can be improved. You can take advantage of the situation and find ways of improving or even discovering your child’s talent. For example, if your child is an aspiring artist encourage the artist in him or her by buying color books, pencils, and crayons. You could also go the extra mile by visiting reputable art galleries online and explaining what each photo symbolizes, where and when the painting was made, and what inspired the artist to produce that particular painting.
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Are you used to be working in the office with other colleagues but now need to work from home? What challenges do you have and how do you resolve? Share with your comment below.
