From building the ultimate fort to turning your kitchen into a restaurant, we have 8 creative ways to entertain the kids for at least an hour - we promise!
Keeping the kids amused can be challenging at the best of times. You may feel that you have limited resources at home during the coronavirus lockdown in between any designated schoolwork, especially if you wish to limit your child’s screen time.
We’re here to help with a guide on getting creative and making the most of spending time together as a family!
How to Entertain the Kids During Lockdown1. Building a Fort
Building forts is a classic way to kill a few hours and really encourages children to be resourceful and use their imagination.
- Gather any safe household items that you can find, such as blankets, sheets, chairs, curtain rods and cushions and begin with building a fort frame.
- Next close off your fort to the ‘outside world’ by draping blankets, sheets or duvets over the frame.
- Add pillows and blankets inside for added comfort, for a fun afternoon of reading, drawing, watching movies, or even an afternoon nap!
2. Making a Costume
The best thing about DIY home costumes for kids is that they can let their imagination run wild – bonus points for not having to be a dab hand with the sewing machine!
Imaginative, ‘make believe’ play is essential for children’s social, emotional, and cognitive development. For hours of fun together, why not get the whole family involved?
- Ask your children about their favourite characters/costumes – whether it’s Elsa from Frozen, Spiderman, a mermaid, a dinosaur, an animal, a car or a robot!
- If you already have costumes in the house, these can be the perfect starting point – however if not, get creative with an arts and crafts session with your children where they can draw or paint on paper, cardboard, boxes and make their dream costume come to life!
- Alternatively get together a box full of your old hats, shoes and accessories for the kids to make their own costumes and characters
3. Playing Restaurant
Is anyone else missing going to their favourite restaurant during lockdown? No doubt your kids are too so why not turn your kitchen into a restaurant for the evening. You and your budding little restauranteurs can play act as chefs, servers, receptionists, or even guests!
- Let your kids design a menu for the evening with their craft supplies, they could even come up with a great name for the restaurant
- Let them get involved with the cooking or setting the table to make it look restaurant ready
- This activity can also be used as a great way to teach your kids about the concept of money as they can explore how much items cist and how a bill is paid at the end of a meal.
4. Educational Virtual Activities and Online Resources
Although you may want to limit screen time, there are plenty of educational activities for housebound children online that come in handy when parents need some quiet time while working from home or simply an hour to relax.
- CBeebies have a great range of online games, puzzles and quizzes for kids of all ages
- For the animal lovers - while zoos are closed to the general public, some are showing virtual tours and educational live segments with zoologists caring for the animals
- Fitness - P.E with Joe Wicks will get your children moving and make exercising fun!
- For football mad kids - The Irish Football Association post Shooting Stars Home Football Challenges every Tuesday – if your kids are up for a challenge, share your videos using #GameChangersNI on Facebook, Instagram or Twitter
- For creative children - The Irish Football Association also have downloadable colouring in sheets, including one from ni4kids – enter our colouring in sheet competition for a chance to win an Amazon Fire HD 10 tablet and a Northern Ireland Football kit!
5. Baking Together
We shared some Easter baking ideas earlier in April but baking with the kids is a great activity that children can get really immersed in. Baking is a great way to integrate some simple maths learning into their day while you measure out quantities of ingredients and divide portions.
- Check out some easy recipes and match these to ingredients that you may have in your cupboard – like Rice Krispie buns or Marshmallow Krispie Squares
- Let your children get involved with your supervision – their reward can be eating a little treat that they helped to make!
6. Helping out with Household Duties
It’s a great idea to have some little helpers with your day to day cleaning and household duties.
- Make household tasks fun with rewards for tidying their room, helping to do the dishes or even a little sticker chart for younger children to reward helpful behaviour
- Look at our guide on how to introduce household chores for more information
7. Old School Games
Forgotten games will be just as much fun for you, as they will for your little ones!
- Have a rummage for old boardgames such as Jenga, Connect 4, Guess Who? And Hungry Hippos you can play together as a family
- Treasure hunts around the house with a simple prize are a great way to get kids enthusiastic about the game
8. Video Calling Family and Friends
While your child is unable to attend nursery or school or see friends or other family members from different households, they may be missing their close connections.
- There are plenty of great apps to video call friends and family like Skype and Facetime, giving you all an opportunity to virtually connect and catch up
- Your children can show their family and friends all of the fun activities they have been up to!
Have any other activities to entertain the children at home?
Have you and your family taken on any creative ways to keep the children entertained in the house? Share your ideas on our Facebook and Twitter pages using #SmarterLiving