3 Mins Read
Half a billion children are now being kept at home and away from schools in order to maintain social distance with others and help curb the spread of the coronavirus. Just like adults, many young children, tweens and teens have resorted to staring at our digital screens to pass time at home. As wonderful technology is to keep in touch with others remotely, spending too much time on screens is never a good thing – here are 10 activities to keep the young ones busy at home without any screens!
1. Indoor bear hunt
In New Zealand, teddy bears have been appearing across the country as a part of a nationwide hunt to help parents keep their little ones busy during the lockdown. You can recreate one at home, just hide random toys or objects (Easter eggs, perhaps?) around the house and get your kids to find all of them!
2. Write a story
Another great activity to get your child’s creativity flowing is a story writing activity. Sitting together as a family to create a short fairytale, for example, is not only educative but also loads of fun.
3. Make some cards for friends
Good old arts and crafts should keep kids busy. Grab some paper, pens and whatever materials you have at home and make some funky cards that can be sent to school friends that they haven’t been able to see in a while- it’s time to re-embrace thank you cards and snail mail.
4. Try some easy baking / cooking
Now’s the time to try out some simple baking recipes with your kids. For older ones, challenge them to whip up dinner for the grown-ups one evening. For younger ones, basic cakes can work well- they can stir and add ingredients with minimal mess.
5. Play a board game
Get those board games, puzzles and card games out of the cabinet for an afternoon of fun.
6. Draw portraits of each other
This is something all kids can do, toddlers and teens alike!
7. Go indoor “camping”
Set up an indoor campsite at home using blankets, sheets, pillows. Prepare some vegan s’mores and tell each other stories around a candle in place of a campfire.
8. Make puppets out of old fabrics
Time to repurpose some items at home. Grab some old pillowcases, socks, T-shirts or towels and turn them into puppets using buttons, thread, yarn, etc.
9. Host a family fitness competition
Get everyone involved in a fun exercise competition. Who can do the most jumping jacks in a minute? Or who can balance on one leg for the longest?
10. At home musical concert
Hold a musical concert at home – sing or use instruments if you have them. Practice harmonising, playing and singing together until you get the song just right. Bonus: why not stage a play en famille?
Bonus: Check out Enrichment Activities
Enrichment Activities is a website recently created to help parents who are staying at home with their kids. It is a useful guide tool collating all kinds of activities for kids to do at home while you’re working, and you can search by age, time, how much parent involvement it requires and indoors/outdoors. There is an additional option to look through non-screen activities too – so make sure you check it out for ideas!
Lead image courtesy of Stephen Welstead / Getty Images.
Author
