These are great activities for kids at home to do. If they must stay home for any length of time whether it’s being quarantined, rainy days, or a snow day, these will keep them busy.
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Minute to Win it Games – marshmallow toss, pick up with a straw, pick up with chopsticks. Be sure to add marshmallows to the grocery list! You can find more about them in this article here.
Games & Activities
Board Games – Clue, Life, Checkers, Jenga, playing cards
Build a fort with chairs with sheets and blankets – this was always an old-time favorite of my childhood.
Popcorn and movies on TV. Make it more exciting by having a PJ party and pallets on the floor to watch it. Have them bring their blankets and pillows and any stuffed animals. Make it special.
Hide & Seek
I Spy game
Science fun – this kit (My First Mind Blowing Science Kit) is so neat. You can check out my 8-year-old grandson doing one of the experiments here.
Go through old photographs or home videos
Write letters to someone away from their family like military men and women, etc.
Craft projects
Pick up their room – make it fun (as it can be) – see how much they can do within 4 songs. Take a picture before and after.
Home spa day – do your hair, makeup, nails, or a combination of just a few.
Make paper airplanes & find a safe place to fly them
Build with legos or building blocks
Build with a deck of playing cards
DIY recipe book (read more about it here)– let the kids type in the recipes in an online template. You’ll still need to proofread it, but it’s easier to proofread than to start from scratch. They’ll be excited to help with something. Once they are typed in and proofread, you can print out as many as you want…think gifts for others. Think about how proud the kids will be to have helped with this project.
Write poems or short stories and make a book with them for your coffee table. You can keep it simple or make it fancy.
Scavenger Hunt -find something green, red, etc., paperclips, pictures, books, etc. Look around the house to see what you have available and give them a bag to put their items in. Have them find an exact item or give a clue and have them use their imagination to determine what to get. It will be fun to hear their explanation of what they choose to get in response to a clue.
Read books – They can read their own books or read to their brothers and sisters. If they like to write, have them start writing a book.
Turn up the radio and have a dance party.
Play video games
Do word searches
Crossword puzzles
Do a jigsaw puzzle
Draw pictures – Let them use their imagination or have them draw something they saw in the zoo webcams, etc.
Color pictures
Make something with play dough or clay
Make cookies and decorate them. You can also make cupcakes too and have them decorate them. They’ll have fun as an activity and a snack.
Practice and do a play or show
Design your own T-shirt – take a plain T-shirt and draw, paint, etc. to make it their creation
Gratitude Conversation Starter and M&M Game – this is a great way to get various conversations going.
Webcams
Scholastic Learn at Home – free projects day by day for kids with stories, videos, fun challenges, including virtual field trips. It’s divided into 4 categories of age groups: PreK-Kindergarten, Grades 1-2, Grades 3-5, Grades 6+. This is such a great resource and they’ll be learning in addition to having fun.
San Diego Zoo for Kids – discover animals with videos, games, activities, and more. Kids love animals and what a fun way for them to learn too.
Georgia Aquarium – look at webcams of the Beluga Whale, Indo-Pacific Barrier Reef, California Sea Lion, African Penguin and more. Be sure to look back at different times of the day to see what they are doing.
Zoo Atlanta – from the panda webcam to learning more about many of the animals.
Access Mars – For those that love the information about space-related topics, they can learn more about Mars here.
Smithsonian’s National Zoo & Conservation Biology Institute – check out the panda, elephant and more.
With the webcams, watch an animal and then learn more about it. You can check back at different times of the day to see what they’re doing.
Make a plan to do something special each day you intend to be home. Another option is to have the kids write down the things that they’re interested in doing and put them in a jar. Have them pull out of the jar when they’re ready for another activity. It gets them involved in the planning.
