As parents, we know how challenging it is trying to keep children entertained when indoors, so we’ve pulled together our Top 10 activities to keep the children entertained which we hope you find useful.
Obviously depending on the age/gender of your children some may be more or less appropriate but all are aimed at giving you additional ideas so we hope you enjoy.
1. Children’s Come Dine With Me or Toy’s Tea Party
Children like nothing better than acting like grown ups so why not let them decide on a menu (which needn’t necessarily involve cooking) allow them to lay the table and invite guests (teddy bears, siblings or play dates) to sample and rate their delights. They can also get creative as to how they will entertain their guests and if they have siblings they can take it in turns to “cook” with the winner receiving a special treat. Alternatively they can have a traditional tea party with their favourite toys as guests.
2. Spa Pamper Day
This activity can be great fun as your little ones experiment with having or giving you a range of treatments. Look around the home and you’re sure to find ingredients that you could use to make a great natural face mask (avocado and lemon juice are one of our favourites) and they will enjoy giving you a manicure and pedicure. Treat them to a calming head massage and this relaxing activity will leave you all refreshed.
3. Make An Indoor Den or Tent
You may be surprised at how creative children can be with a few bed sheets and chairs so leave them alone to create their own den as if they were camping outdoors – ensure the necessary props are on hand such as a torch and snacks and their imagination may keep them entertained for hours.
4. Traditional Letter Writing
In this age of all things technology this may seem a little outdated but traditional letter writing can be great fun and teach children a core skill in the process. They may opt to write a letter to a friend or a poem to a relative and can be as creative as they like with the content. They will experience all stages involved from writing, enveloping, affixing stamps and posting and just imagine their joy when a response arrives!
5. Craft Activities
From painting and play doh to clay modelling and jewellery making there are many activities that kids love to do that demonstrate their creativity. Childrens jewellery making kits such as the bracelet above allow budding designers to create their own set by following simple instructions with minimal fuss and mess. If they are feeling adventurous, they can use a bead roller (such as the one below which comes with FREE Fimo polymer clay) to make their own beads which can be baked in the oven and made into unique creations.
6. Playing Shop
Even if you do not have a toy cash register, children’s imagination will make up for it as they set up shop and take items from around the home which they can display and offer for sale. Giving them real money and applying prices to items also helps their mental arithmetic as you can encourage them to add up ,calculate the cost and give the correct change.
7. Memory Lane Montage
Do you have photos kept in boxes or albums that are rarely looked at? if this resonates, then why not blow the dust off, and create a picture montage? Children love looking at photos so whether it’s their parents having a bad hair day or them as babies, time spent looking through photos together could be great fun. An idea could be to create a photo family tree by sticking photos onto card of family members and their relation to the children or even a montage of a previous event such as a holiday or day out.
8. Treat Treasure Hunt
Now this might take a bit of planning but the results should be worth it! Choose items to hide around the house (sweet treats always provide that added incentive but they can be mixed with healthy options too) then draw a simple map of the house highlighting their location. If your child has siblings you could create two maps and see who can find the most amount of items within a set time. Kids love it as it improves their map reading skills with the added bonus of findings their rewards.
9. Create A Cardboard Car
It may appear to be a simple box, but show anyone under 3ft and they will see something quite different. If you have, or can lay your hands on some large cardboard boxes, with your help, your little one can cut out wheels and decorate to create their own wonderful car which may provide hours of fun.
10. Story time Comes To Life
Choose their favourite book and decide on which characters will be acted out so that you bring the story to life. Have fun swapping roles or even taking on multiple roles this activity will be sure to keep them entertained.
11. Traditional Board Games
Ok so we went over 10 but we wanted to include this as there’s nothing like playing a traditional board game together; snakes and ladders, dominoes, monopoly and cluedo, the list goes on and games that are now regarded as retro can last for hours – just beware as they have a tendency to bring out the competitive in everyone!
We hope you’ve enjoyed this article.
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