Hey y’all! It seems we are all facing an unprecedented change to our regular day-to-day life with schools and daycares across the DFW metroplex closing in order to contain the spread of the coronavirus. For those who have not seen, I’ve shared my updated heath policy here on the blog, but that’s not why I’m writing here today. While there are many more qualified sources for up-to-date information on the COVID-19 pandemic (here, here and here), today I’m writing as a mom of three who is excited to share a GIANT list of ideas for you as you may be considering (or have already started) social distancing for the upcoming weeks. As schools close, we’ll all be spending A LOT of time trapped indoors with our little ones.
While this comes with a lot of love, everyone knows that the days are long with little ones at home (and while the years are short, I will suspect that these next few weeks will feel VERY LONG). So here is a list of 30+ fun ideas for activities at home with your young children!
Picture book challenge ideas:
See if you can read every picture book in the house - let the kids take turns selecting books.
Let your preschooler “read” the stories to you, dictating the story based on the pictures.
Act out the stories of your favorite children’s books, dressing up in dress up clothes and using silly voices.
Create a craft or cooking project inspired by your favorite story.
Build a fort and read with flash lights under the blankets.
Have the kids color pictures and dictate their “story” for you, so you can create a book together.
Craft ideas:
Use those Amazon boxes to build a rocketship, a house, a boat or anything your kids can imagine.
Use large boxes, cut up, as canvases for painting, for tracing and decorating an outline of their body, for using washi tape, duct tape or markers to create a race track to drive toy trains and cars.
Use empty toilet paper rolls to make and decorate binoculars and go for a treasure hunt in your house or in the backyard.
Practice stringing Cheerios or Fruit Loops onto pipe cleaners - it’s a great fine motor activity that makes for fun, edible creations.
Use tupperware or empty water bottles to make musical instruments with dry pasta or beans. Start a family band.
Try a kitchen science experiment! My kids absolutely loved this cool crafty experiment that just uses milk, food coloring and dish soap, and a kids volcano experiment is another classic hit at our house.
Create paper snowflakes and pretend you’re snowed in! Using kids scissors is great for fine motor development!
My kids, beginning at age four, fell in LOVE with perler beads. I had forgotten how much I loved them as a child until we bought our first set, and now everyone is hooked!
Make homemade cards with any fun craft supplies you have at home and mail them to relatives who are also stuck at home!
Now is the time to bust out the messy art project that you might not love doing on a day-to-day basis! My favorite mom hack for this is doing the projects IN THE BATHTUB. It keeps the mess contained and allows for easy clean up! Play doh, kinetic sand, making slime, foam stickers, paint, etc! If the rain subsides, take the art party out to the back yard!
If ever there was a time to be baking cookies with your kids, this is the time! This is my favorite tried and true chocolate chip cookie recipe!
Toys, Games and More:
Set up a cash wash station in your bathtub for your kids to wash their cars, and use the opportunity to sanitize any toys that you think could use a good scrubbing.
Have your kids create a picnic or tea party for their favorite stuffed animals or action figures.
Set up building challenges using legos, magnatiles or megablocks (who can build the coolest car, the tallest tower, the best house for your Barbie, etc.). Magnatiles in our house have been known to build race tracks, apartment buildings for action figures, space ships and more.
Don’t be afraid to try board games with your really young kids. My three year old can already play Candy Land, Chutes and Ladders, Sorry, Uno and she’s learning how to play the card game War. You can always modify/streamline the rules to make games a bit faster and more little kid friendly.
Embrace your bathtub! Using regular toys as non-traditional bath toys, you can make bath time fun happen anytime! Just be sure to take everything out after to lay on a towel to dry. My kids also LOVE turning their bath water crazy colors with these Color My Bath tablets.
Make an indoor relay race! Set up stations and time your kiddo with how long it takes them to do each step (throw a ball into a hamper, jump ten times, crawl through a tunnel, anything you can imagine!).
INTERACTIVE Screen Time Ideas:
Look up hand washing videos on YouTube. Watch them together & vote on your favorite. Discuss why each one is good, helpful, funny.
Try a photo scavenger hunt for your little ones. Using your photo app on your phone or iPad, ask them to find and photograph something red. The yellow. Make your way through the colors, or do this activity with the alphabet “take a picture of three things that start with A”.
Check out the app: Go Noodle! There are all sorts of interactive dances, movement activities, and DIY activities on there with step-by-step instructions.
Look up childrens yoga videos on YouTube - our favorite is Cosmic Kids!
YouTube kid-friendly karaoke songs and rock out with a family sing along or dance party.
For kids in pre-K and up, try a kids podcast - popular ones include Smash Boom Best and Wow in the World.
Let Alexa entertain your children for a while - here’s a link to an amazing comprehensive list of cool things Alexa can do with your kids :)
Make FaceTime dates with family!
And of course, when all else fails:
It’s okay to turn on Netflix or Disney+. I promise I won’t judge (and I can guarantee that a couple of weeks of increased screen time won’t have lasting developmental effects!).
My three littles will be home for the next couple of weeks too, so from one mom to another, I wish you luck! Please feel free to comment below or on social media with all of your best ideas and tips for keeping little ones happy and occupied at home!
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Rachel is a premier newborn and family photographer in Plano serving the Dallas Forth Worth metroplex. For more information about sessions, please visit this page, contact her through this link or email her directly at rachelfriedman1@gmail.com