I think everyone can agree that pandemic parenting is a whole new beast. Between homeschooling, working from home, extreme boredom, and anything else that is going on in your life or your kid’s; it is definitely helpful to have some kid-friendly activities on reserve. And the longer we’re in lockdown, the quicker we run out of ideas for ways to keep kids busy. They could always color on the back of the coloring sheets they already completed, or do that puzzle for the 16th time, or…. try one of these 8 fun activities for kids in lockdown (we’ve tested them, and they’re pretty good).
1. Dance Party
We could all use an opportunity to move our bodies these days, and dance parties are the perfect way for your kids to get their wiggles out. Put on their favorite music and let them go wild, or use a dance-along video for something more structured. Just Dance is a great game to promote fun expressive exercise, and if you don’t have a Wii or Nintendo Switch no worries! Simply type Just Dance into YouTube and choose from tons of videos and playlists for your kids to follow along.
2. Scavenger Hunts
This is a perfect way to buy yourself some focused work time with you and the kids in the same house. Take a few minutes to write one letter of the alphabet on each line of a piece of paper. Then, send your kids on a scavenger hunt around the house to find things that start with each letter until they have filled all the lines on the sheet. It also works with finding items of each color or items of different shapes. Zoom uninterrupted and thank us later.
3. Make a Quarantine Time Capsule
There are many days when it feels like there is nothing that we want to remember from this time of self-isolation. But there may be a time when you cherish all the cookie baking, craft making, game playing time with your kids. Creating a time capsule and having your kids add to it is a great way to capture all of these memories. It can include photos, hand-drawn pictures or artwork, diary entries, or whatever else you deem memorable. And don’t worry, you can leave all the homeschooling stress out of it.
4. Cooking Challenge
What better way to get your kids doing something creative and making their own snacks?Give your kids certain ingredients and challenge them to make a delicious creation. For younger kids, this can be a “no cooking” cooking challenge with things like pretzel sticks, mini marshmallows, fruit, etc. It isn’t always bad to play with your food.
5. Build a Fort
This classic indoor activity can lead to a whole day of fun. Have your kids draw a picture of their dream fort as a brainstorming session and then get them creating with pillows, blankets, chairs, etc. When it’s done they have an awesome fort to play, watch movies, and read in!
6. Write Letters to Healthcare Workers
This is a great activity to give your kids space to be creative and teach them about giving back to the community. Have your kids decorate and write letters to the healthcare workers that are on the front lines during this pandemic. Your kids will get to share their kind words and artwork and put a smile on someone’s face who may really need it.
7. Become A Scientist
This educational activity is great for keeping kids occupied and supplementing their home school lessons. Talk to your kids about how the most important part of being a scientist is being a good observer. Then, give them time outside in the neighborhood or backyard to draw pictures and record observations of the things they find. This could be a butterfly, or a cool rock, or an unusual looking leaf, or really anything they find interesting. This can become a regular activity during outside playtime or neighborhood walks as your kids discover more and more of the world around them.
8. Create an Obstacle Course
The best boredom busters are games that you get to create yourself before you play. Creating an obstacle course allows your kids to challenge themselves indoors or outdoors. Inside it can be made with toys, pillows, chairs, or any other creative materials they can gather. Outside obstacles courses can be made with only sidewalk chalk depicting directions for you to spin around, jump in a box, jump over a hungry alligator, or any other creative illustrations your kids come up with. Chalk courses can also be a gift for the whole neighborhood to enjoy as their walk takes them down your street!
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