Things To Do With Kids At Home
Being at home with your kids for an extended period of time can seem a little daunting when you start thinking about how you’re going to keep them entertained. We all know that children have short attention spans and many of them disregard their favourite toys after very little time. It’s time to get creative with your kids by using what you’ve got at home to have some quality time and family fun. Here are our favourite things to do with kids at home:
1. Make your own play dough
We know children love to bake but why not make your own play dough so you have all the fun of baking with something to play with at the end of it? It’s easy. This recipe is simple and requires no cooking but is messy enough to be fun for everyone!
Easy play dough recipe:
Ingredients:
2 cups of plain flour
1/2 cup of salt,
2 two teaspoons of cream of tartar
2 tablespoons of cooking oil
2 cups of boiled water
Food colouring
Optional: add some glitter for that extra sparkle
Method:
1. Mix all the dry ingredients together in a bowl, make a hollow in the centre and add the oil.
2. Next add the food colouring to boiling water, then pour into the hollow.
3. Mix until it comes together and then turn out on to table and knead it well.
4. If using glitter, add to the dough towards the end of kneading.
5. Repeat the recipe with different food colourings so you have a few colours to play with.
Store each colour in an airtight container and they should last for a few days of play.
2. Complete a Science Experiment at home
Play Dough Volcano Experiment:
The best kind of learning is when it’s fun. Why not try a simple experiment (using the playdough that you made earlier) with other household ingredients to entertain and educate your kids.
Ingredients:
- Play dough (you may not be able to play with it after this)
- White vinegar
- Baking soda
- Red food colouring
- A tray/container to stop the ‘lava’
Method:
1. Mould the play dough into a mountain shape with a crater at the tip to hold the vinegar
2. Place the play dough volcano in the tray
3. Add the white vinegar and 2-3 drops of red food colouring into the crater
4. Add the baking soda and watch what happens…
Why does that happen you ask? Well, when the vinegar and baking soda are mixed they form carbon dioxide gas. This gas rises to the top of the mixture in the same way that bubbles rise to the top in fizzy drinks which are also carbonated.
3. Do some arts and crafts at home
Unleash your creative side with this kids’ activity by gathering anything and everything you can from around the house. Here are some suggestions:
- Empty plastic bottles
- Toilet roll inserts
- Shoe boxes
- Paper plates
- Plastic cups
- Cotton wool
- Ribbon
- Wool
- Spare buttons
- Old wrapping paper
- Dried pasta shapes
Cover your kitchen table in newspaper and lay out all of the materials along with colouring pencils, paints, paper and glue and see where their imagination takes them. If they need a little encouragement, try making any of these:
- Paint butterfly
- A plastic bottle spaceship
- Cardboard box rabbit
- Loo roll sheep
- Paper plate masks
- A friendly monster
- Pasta necklace
Once everyone is having fun – anything goes!
4. Learn a dance routine from TikTok
TikTok is the latest social media craze to sweep the nation. Though originally aimed at children, many families have taken to learning and performing moves from TikTok as a group. There are lots of routines to learn and enjoy. Remember to protect your children with internet safety.
Do your kids enjoy podcasts? Find the best podcasts for children here.
5. Complete a home workout
Youtube is filled with family friendly workouts to follow with your kids. Working up a sweat is good for mental health releasing feel good hormones and will help to burn up some of that extra energy inside. Kids are usually very active in their normal day-to-day lives so try to keep them moving as much as you can. Watch out Ireland’s Fittest Family!
6. Have a family games night
It’s time to root out the board games, puzzles, playing cards and everything else to have a family games night. If you don’t have any of these to hand you can create your own family quiz or play party games like musical chairs, musical statues, charades etc that don’t need any equipment. You can also download games on to your phone or tablet such as Heads Up and House Party.
7. Baking
Now is the perfect time to teach your child how to bake and cook and if you’re not a confident chef yourself you can learn together. Google easy baking recipes to get started and allow yourselves to get messy in the kitchen. Keep your children involved by letting them mix, stir, pour and decorate your baked treats.
8. Have a movie night
Have your children seen the classic movies from your youth? Do they know who Gizmo, ET, Sloth and Matilda are? Search through your streaming services and make a list of movies to watch as a family. Make an event of it: turn off the lights, grab comfy blankets, pop some popcorn and enjoy.
9. Organise their rooms
We know – this doesn’t sound too fun but hear us out. With this extra time at home you could encourage your children to sort through their rooms to find clothes, toys and other items that they no longer use and could be donated to a local organisation. This might not be the most fun activity, but it is enlightening and good for the soul.
Tip: Find 10 easy ways to declutter your home here.
10. Treasure Hunt
This ought to keep the kids busy for a little while to give you some time to work on other things. When the children are sleeping, prepare some clues to hide around your home or garden. Each clue should lead them to next one and should require a little brain power to figure out. Let the final clue lead to a prize – chocolate usually does the trick.
Looking for more inspiration? Check out the best Irish parenting blogs and best parenting podcasts here.
Family time is precious, let us help you make the most of yours. These are only some of the suggestions we had for things to do with kids at home. What kid’s activities are most popular in your house? Let us know in the comments!
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*We recommend all activities are supervised by an adult.
This blog is for marketing purposes only and does not constitute advice.