Just as we were congratulating ourselves for making it at-home with our kids all winter, it looks like we might be stuck inside for a few more weeks. With that in mind, I put together a list of 50 at-home activities for kids! Hopefully this will help you get through the days, which are feeling pretty long.
If you have any ideas, please send them my way!
UPDATE: Here is a list of education companies who are offering FREE subscriptions due to school being out/staying at home. Also, these 12 famous museums offer virtual video tours you can take on your couch.
- Turn on music and have a dance party.
- Get out the sheets and blankets and build a fort.
- Play with ice cubes.
- Burn some energy with one of these 25 indoor exercise games.
- Make playdough using these household ingredients.
- Get out paper and scissors to work on cutting skills.
- Get all dressed up and host your own fancy tea party.
- Put on a play with stuffed animals.
- Play “I Spy”
- Set-up indoor hopskotch with tape.
- Listen to an audio book .
- Fill the kitchen sink with bath toys, give them a bottle of soap, and let them clean the toys. Win, win.
- Put pillows all over the ground and snuggle or have a pillow-fight! Two ends of the spectrum. ๐
- Use your library card and check out a new movie or digital book at Hoopla.
- Get out your board games.
- Go on bear hunt in back yard or in your house. Here is a great video/song from YouTube.
- Daydream about warmer weather and plan summer adventures.
- Get your cards out and teach your kids classic games like solitaire and rummy.
- Turn your living room into a drive-in theatre and watch a new movie.
- Create a scavenger hunt indoors or outdoors.
- Have an indoor picnic with all of your favorite snacks.
- Become a scientist and create a volcano with vinegar and baking soda.
- Set up and indoor (or outdoor) obstacle course.
- Watch the clouds and see if any look like shapes or animals.
- Make bird feeders with bird seed and peanut butter. Check out instructions here.
- Turn your cardboard boxes into forts/cars/doll houses/anything.
- Look and see what is in your fridge/cabinets and bake something together. Check out The Beard and The Baker’s post on Five Tips for Baking with a Toddler.
- Create pasta bead jewelry.
- Make music with kitchen utensils and bowls.
- Get paper plates and balloons to play balloon ping pong.
- make sock puppets
- Create a DIY escape room.
- FaceTime with family and BFFs.
- Window watch and count the cars that go by.
- Build blocks.
- Play hide n’ seek.
- Create oil and water sensory bags.
- Get a muffin pan and balls out. Have your kiddos put the balls in the pans and then take out. Great fine motor activity for little ones. My girls love it.
- Play “Simon Says”.
- Get a whisk and have little ones put cotton balls in and take out.
- Do the magic milk experiment.
- Put glow sticks in bathtub and turn lights out.
- Whip up a batch of slime.
- Let the kids raid your closet and put on a fashion show.
- Make paper airplanes. If you forget how, check out How to Make the Worldโs Best Paper Airplanes from The Art of Manliness.
- Sticky Spider Web with painterโs tape. Check out Hands On As We Grow for the details.
- Create a shaving cream project.
- Check out this great list of Indoor Activities for Toddlers for our local Blogger, The Lean Green Bean.
- Sorting toys by Color via I Can Teach My Child.
- Create collages from old magazines.
Hopefully this list will get you through a few days at home! Also, let’s keep in mind how this might affect small businesses around Columbus. If you are able, maybe shop online websites for our local shops, buy gift cards for future visits or send a few encouraging “likes and comments” on social media.
