With current events in mind, we thought it was a good time to share some ideas for fun and easy things that you can do with kids indoors, or even in your garden.
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Enjoy, please share your favourites – and let us know if you have any ideas too! I’ll be sharing more useful blogs over the next few weeks and don’t forget, you can also share ideas and inspiration with other parents in the South Leeds Mumbler parents chat group.
And if all else fails, don’t forget CBeebies!
- Make playdough
- Grab a torch and make shadow puppets on the walls
- Fold a piece of paper accordion-style, cut out paper dolls holding hands then colour them in after
- Indoor obstacle course (create zig zag laser lines in the hallway with string and get the kids to wriggle underneath or hop in-between them. )
- Make a den under the kitchen table, take in torches, cushions and snacks
- Think of five things beginning with a letter
- Glow stick bath
- Have an empty chocolate box? Make pretend chocolates out of plasticine to go in it
- Build a spaghetti and marshmallow tower
- Put on a show!
- Line a baking tray with foil, fill it with water and freeze – it’s an ice rink for toys, or a science experiment to see which items have the most traction when you slide them around
- Finger painting – draw faces onto your prints afterwards to create bugs, people and more
- Make flower perfume with water and flowers in the garden
- Gather leaves, paint them and press them onto paper
- Have a dance party! Glow sticks add extra fun.
- Play hide and seek
- Set a Lego challenge (can you build me a dinosaur? A spaceship?)
- Build something with clean recycling
- Learn how to tie shoe laces
- Teach them how to knit or sew
- Write funny sentences onto slips of paper, fold them up and put them into a hat then pull them out one at a time, reading aloud to hear your hilarious story unfold!
- Use up any old craft kits/colouring books
- Make paper bag puppets
- Bake something using simple ingredients (look out for our baking blog soon!)
- Make faces using bits and pieces from the garden
- Choose a fairytale (or any book), and have each person pretend to be a character with one of you as an interviewer/journalist to ask you all questions. Make sure you answer them in character!
- Do a simple science experiment such as a volcano, or pour lukewarm water over Skittles sweets on a plate to make a rainbow
- Make invisible ink
- Do a jigsaw puzzle
- Make origami flowers and spritz with a tiny bit of perfume
- Create a sock puppet
- Make up a story by each taking it in turns to write/say a line
Make something out of a cardboard box! Pic credit: Vivian Fung
- Repurpose cardboard boxes into a dolls house, hospital, vet, parking garage – anything you like!
- Make a peg dolly (wooden pegs are best)
- Put on a fashion show
- Play I Spy
- Do yoga (Cosmic Kids is great)
- Learn finger knitting
- Make a time capsule
- Cut out pictures from a magazine then glue and stick
- Create a “Favorite Memories” or “Thankful” jar
- Make bookmarks
- Build a cardboard castle and paint it
- Make a paper boat then float it in the bath
- Paint rocks from your garden
- Make a suncatcher or a dream catcher
- Draw a self portrait
- Have a treasure hunt
- Plant cress heads (the McDonalds Happy Meal Mr Men cups are great for this!)
- Let the kids do your hair (if you dare!!!) and makeup
- Have a “Virtual Bake Off” contest with your friends – post your pics (or videos) online in a Whatsapp group and have a bonus prize for the messiest!
- Do a blind taste test (blindfold the kids and feed them a range of sweet, salty, sour flavours and let them guess what they’re eating)
- Decorate biscuits (any cheap biscuit will do if you don’t want to bake your own, make up some icing and use sprinkles)
- Have a movie day with popcorn
- Do a chore together
- Plant some veggies in the garden
- Write letters to grandparents
- Create a secret code
- Start your own newspaper and have the kids write about what is happening. They could interview relatives and friends over the phone for quotes
- Request a song over the radio – challenge friends to do the same and see who gets theirs on first!
- Make a bug hotel with things from the garden
- Ask the kids to make a reward chart – for the parents!
- Dig out old board games
- Do a limbo!
- Have a pillow fight
- Write a journal
- Play Simon Says
- Learn some card games
- Play charades
- Pick a country and learn all about it
- Read a book together
- Do a mini history project; choose a person/event, research it and write about it or make a poster/cartoon
- Play hangman
- Learn a few words of a new language
- Play skittles (use action figures or tin cans and a ball)
- Have a World Book Day – dig into the dressing up box and do crafts themed around a book
- Make up a quiz
- Have a tea party
- Make friendship bracelets
- Play hopscotch
- Make chalk drawings on the patio or garden wall
- Take a “virtual tour” of a museum
- Make homemade pizzas
- Host a mini Olympics (wheelbarrow race, etc). Friends can take part online!
- Play marbles
- Make a party hat/crown
- Create your own board game
- Have a bubble bath and take some toys in
- Explore the garden with a magnifying glass
- Make paper planes and see whose flies the highest!
- Do the Conga around the house
- Make paper outfits for dolls and action figures
- Record your own podcast
- Play musical bumps and musical statues
- Make saltdough ornaments/shapes
- Dig out scraps of coloured icing/baking supplies and let the kids decorate a sponge cake
- Who can build the tallest tower?
- Make fluffy paint
- Create masks using paper plates
- Download a movie-making app and make movies with your toys
- Make musical instruments – it could be as simple as a drum kit with kitchen pans and spoons! Or you could use elastic bands as guitar strings, or dried rice for shakers.
That’s it! We hope you have lots of fun exploring these ideas and can’t wait to hear your favourites!
