Keep them entertained
Make a cardboard fort
Take a hint from Kim K. and put those empty Amazon boxes out in the garage to good use!
Set up a treasure hunt
Treasure hunts are pretty easy and depending on how many items there are, could last a while. Hide anywhere from 10 to 20 items around the house or outside to keep kids occupied for a few hours.
Read-at-home bingo
As your kids accomplish each reading task, they should cross off each bingo square.
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Bake together
Cookies, cakes, brownies. Anything! Baking is a great lesson in measuring, ingredients, and of course, making delicious goodies.
Have an indoor picnic
Grab a sheet, whatever food you have, and enjoy a living room picnic (without the ants). You can even play that memory game at the same time: “I’m going to a picnic and I’m bringing…” Each person takes turns remembering (in order) what everyone is bringing and then adds one thing each turn.
Make a sensory bin
Fill it with anything and everything, give the kids some shovels, and they’ll be excavating for hours.
Do give them recess
Setting a schedule and focusing on educational tasks is awesome, but you should take time to focus on recess, too. After a few educational tasks, make sure to focus on playtime, too.
Face Time family members
Face Time is another meaningful way to connect with family and friends while practicing “social distancing.” Use it to check in on family members and to socialize, even if over the phone.
Break out the board games
Scrabble, Monopoly, Candy Land, Chutes and Ladders…
Break out the board games
Scrabble, Monopoly, Candy Land, Chutes and Ladders…
Put a puzzle together
Break out the jigsaw puzzle!
Play checkers
Kids will love learning the ins and outs of checkers. And if they’re already pros? Challenge them to a checkers Olympics!
Teach your kids chess
Every kid could benefit from learning the strategies of chess.
Go for a walk
It costs nothing!
Play charades
No talking. Just you and your family acting something out. It’s a classic boredom-saver.
Make a pizza
It’s miscellaneous toppings night. Whatever you have laying around the house, that’s what’s going on your homemade pizza!
Practice mindfulness
You can practice mindfulness using an app, sitting quietly.
Set up indoor hopscotch
With painters tape!
Break out the flashcards
Got any old vocabulary or math flashcards laying around? If not, no worries. Make your own!
Practice opposites
Playing the opposites game is an educational exercise for toddlers. You say “in,” they say, “out.” You say, “on,” they say, “off.”
Set up outdoor gym class
Obstacle course, anyone?
Practice cutting with scissors
Another good occupational therapy exercise for toddlers is practicing scissors. If you have safety scissors at home, watch and help children learn how to cut up old scrap paper. They can even practice by trying to cut along a traced line.
Play dress-up
It never gets old.
Create an animal fact sheet
Have your child pick an animal. Can they make a fact sheet, listing everything they know about that animal? Now, do some research. After learning a little bit more about that animal, have your child add new facts to the sheet about what they learned
Make your own board game
Is your family up to the challenge of creating your own board game? Use the DIY board game instructions.
Interview each other
Interviewing is an important skill. You and your child can start interviewing each other face-to-face by asking each other questions and taking notes. If your child shows interest, they can take it to another level by calling a grandparent or family member and interviewing them over the phone.
Listen to Story Pirates
Arg, matey. Pirates tell stories, too.
Start a book club
Reading is a big one during these quarantined days.
Make a list of the animals that live in your neighborhood
What kinds of animals live near you? Maybe squirrels, maybe alligators, maybe chipmunks… Make a list of all the animals you observe while looking out the window.
Make a sticker book
Paper? Check. Stickers? Check. Staples? Check. Make a sticker book, then decorate it.
Study the weather
Staying home all day is a great opportunity to report on the weather. You could even do a study on the weather, using the Smithsonian Science Education Center. Learn about currents, air masses, and more.
Do chores bingo
Squares can include “put away your clothes,” “brush your teeth,” “put the dishes in the sink,” etc.
Craft your own hand soap
There’s never been a more relevant DIY project than making your own hand soap.
Play with felt boards
Felt boards are great for imaginative play, learning the alphabet, math, and so much more.
Make a vision board
Print out pictures from Pinterest or Google and adhere them to a poster board or computer paper. Fill it with images of what you want this year to be, then hang it on the fridge or somewhere where everyone in the family will see it often.
Practice spelling
Ready for the next national spelling bee? Make practicing spelling fun by computing your child’s vocabularly words to Spellingcity, where you can turn vocab words into spelling lessons.
Take Dr. Seuss’s Word Challenge
Log onto Suesville and you can join Dr. Seuss’s Word Challenge. The challenge is to read as many books as you can. If reading challenges aren’t your speed, still poke around on Seussville where there’s Dr. Seuss-themed games and videos.
Try sensory sorting
This is an activity best for younger kids who are learning colors and shapes. You can use almost anything for sensory sorting. By grouping different colors or shapes together, challenge your toddler to group all the reds together, all the blues together, and so on. If you’re doing it with shapes, try different items. Can you separate the sort the straws from the magnets?
Set up an Easter egg hunt
Sure, it’s a little early, but it’s time-relevant and you can even make it educational by hiding letters inside the eggs instead of candy. Hide the plastic eggs around the house and see if your child can find the entire alphabet!
Play with a sensory rice bin
Dye rice all the different colors of the rainbow, then let your child dive in with scoopers. You can even hide other small toys or prizes inside the rice and she has to dig out.
Play tic-tac-toe
It’s a classic game most of us remember from our own childhoods, but how often do you play with your kids now? If they know the game well, have a tic-tac-toe-off; if they’re newbies, teach them the ins and outs.
Make a sensory bag
Fill a Ziploc with hair gel, glitter, pom-poms, and other small items that won’t pierce the bag. Your child will love this sensory play!
Make a self-portrait
If you want to keep things simple, the self-portrait can be made with crayons or markers. But if you want to take things up a notch, switch to a more unconventional medium: candy, pasta, buttons, or anything else you can find!
Naptime? Try a sleep meditation
It may just get kids to sleep quicker. And you.
