It’s hard to know what to do or say during a moment like this. There is no doubt, things are getting a bit crazy with everything regarding the virus (COVID – 19). Here are the
Top 10 Activities To Do with Kids
If you’re in the Houston-Katy area you are likely in the same shoes as my family right now. We’ve been told to Stay Home, Work Safe so that’s what we are trying our hardest to do. This week we started online school with the kids. The first day was like starting over in kindergarten but it has improved each day a little more and more.
With schools shutting down and some job sites doing the same, I know all us parents are probably battling with the kids over excessive screen time more than usual… (I know for me at least. And if I’m being honest with you guys, I’ve been struggling to find a better solution for my boys than for them to just keep playing their X-box. So, I’m putting my foot down, and finding those solutions! I know I can’t just tell them not to play on the screens when they’re not guided to do anything else while school is out, and they can’t leave the house.
With that said, I know for us we needed something else to do in the afternoons other than our usual go to activities, some of them more fun than others. I’ve done some research on activities to do with my kids at home during this whole hibernation, and I wanted to share with you some of the things I found! I believe our overall favorite was #3 POUR PAINTING.
As a mom of two boys at different ages, we had to find things that would work for both and make some compromises. But, while we were doing these, I thought it would be great to share them with you all. You may have already added these to your list as well, if not, I’d love for you to take a few minutes to try a new activity with the kiddos.
The Ultimate List of Top 10 Activities To Do with Kids
1. Bean Bag Bucketz
A fun little game to keep the kids active and outside! We originally bought this on when we went to Florida to the beach for vacation. It was a great game for the sand. You can purchase it here from Amazon.
2. Baking
Especially since it seems that bread is the most popular quarantine grocery item on shelves now right now, some recipes out there are so
stinking easy, it’d almost better altogether to just make your own bread at home! And if you’re not as big into bread making, you can always find recipes for muffins, cookies, breakfast bars, etc. Kids love getting involved with cooking, so it’s such a great way to have family time while also getting a treat at the end! This is hands-down my favorite banana recipe. Something you may not know, my youngest son has celiacs disease so we practice all gluten free diet in our house. This recipe is for Pamela’s Gluten Free Banana bread but you would never know it. I challenge you to try it and not tell anyone is gluten free banana bread. You can grab the recipe here on their site.
We also made these amazing chocolate chocolate chip cookies one afternoon. https://glutenfreeonashoestring.com/gluten-free-chocolate-chocolate-chip-cookies/
3. Pour Painting
NOT JUST ANY KIND OF PAINTING, Acrylic Pour Paintings – Something that is more likely to interest to teenage crowd. You can buy small canvas packages, acrylic paints, and pouring mediums on Amazon for cheaper than other online stores. Watch some YouTube tutorials on how to create ‘acrylic pour paintings’ and watch everyone surprise themselves with the art that they create! FOREWARNING, it gets messy, so make sure to do it on a well-protected surface. This is fun for all ages but may be less stressful for school age kiddos. Here is a link to the resource that I used to start the project. Also, so you know, we didn’t have all of the best things to use, we ended up using regular acyrlic paint that we had here at the house and Elmers Glue All glue. I will say the key to it was the Silicone Oil. I purchased ours at Home Depot because that’s the only place I could find it locally but the resource above list all of their items from Amazon. Right now, that might be the best place to find any of these.
Here are some of the examples that we did.
4. Mosaic Chalk Art
This one has been circulation around social media so I thought, why not give it a try!! Creating mosaic chalk art is really easy, and only requires two supplies. It’s such a great creative outlet. It’s also very relaxing (which is something we all need right now in the world.)
This would be a great way to add some notes of love and kindness to share with your neighbors.
What You’ll Need:
This is a pretty straight-forward art project that won’t require many supplies, and likely you already have them in your home.
Here’s what you’ll need to get started:
- Painter’s tape (a 1.88 inch painter’s tape gives you smaller lines, a 3-inch painter’s tape was used in the picture shown so your lines are bigger and spaced out more.) Don’t worry, this won’t remove paint or leave a mess on your painted surfaces.
- Sidewalk chalk in a handful of colors. You can order this on Amazon or maybe you have some at your house already.
- Elbow grease (I told my age by using this term with my youngest son).
5. Minimal Science Experiments
Since grocery stores are on the scarce side of supply, I wanted to find some interesting crafts to do at home that didn’t involve a paragraph of ingredients. Here is a link to an easy at home experiment. https://toddleratplay.com/2018/09/21/fizzingicecubesactivity/
6. Kan Jam
My oldest son got us started on this game and now we play it every night. It becomes one of those games you just want to play so you can try to get it in the can.
- Kan Jam is a fast-paced 2-on-2 flying disc game!!!!!!!!!!!!!
- The Perfect game to play with your family in the backyard
- Kan Jam is easy to pack and easier to set-up, making it a great camping and tailgating game
- Score points by throwing the disc toward the goal and having your partner deflect it. This could be one of the most fun Top 10 Activities To Do with Kids.
We purchased ours at Academy but you can also go to their website to check it out. Kan Jam
7. Picnic
Next time y’all get together for lunch, bring it outside in the backyard! Spring is finally here, so the weather is getting much nicer. We have plenty of days ahead perfect for an outdoor family picnic.
8. Wash Cars
I think this one is pretty self-explanatory LOL. With this much free time, and all of the pollen in the air, it’s good to get a nice clean on the car. My kids were like, what, wash the car?? But, it turned into being a really fun group activity. It get the kids involved so they can move around, be outside, and help you out with having a clean car! And, with this warm weather, it’s nice to be outside with the water going. This one of the Top 10 Activities To Do with Kids helped me be motivated to clean out the inside of my car as well!!
9. Indoor Obstacle Course/ Relay Race
Use some things around the house to set up a racing course. Get creative with laundry baskets, play balls, blankets, pillows, stacked books, large plastic storage lids, etc.
10. Make Your Own Popcorn
Buy in bulk (depending on however many people are in your family) popcorn kernels. Use videos on Youtube or recipes on Pinterest to make the popcorn. Then create a popcorn flavoring station. This link shows 30 recipes for homemade popcorn flavorings https://www.diyncrafts.com/34533/food/30-delicious-homemade-flavored-popcorn-recipes-definitely-want-try . Get inspired or try some of these out!
I hope these help you encourage your children to spend a little more time being creative and getting off their devices for a little while!
If you try any of these Top 10 Activities To Do with Kids, take pictures and send them to me, post them below in the comments or tag Lifetime of Clicks Photography if you post them on social media! I’d love to see and hear about your experience!
Thank you so much for reading through and I hope you and your family stay happy and healthy during these unsettling times. My heart goes out to any of you who have been hit by the virus or have family suffering from this situation as well.
I wish everyone happy, healthy, and protected times.
I’ll talk to y’all soon!
XOXO
Kelly
If you have more questions or are interested in a family session once this craziness passes, please take a look through all of my galleries here.
