Stuck at home with kids? 12 easy ways to connect and have fun
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Inside: Stuck at home with kids? Try these easy and fun family activities that will help you connect and have fun together!
Three weeks with no school. This is what our school district announced in an email, with the recommendation to stay inside as much as possible to protect ourselves during this virus outbreak.
With a very active boy and a baby who needs my attention all the time, being stuck at home for three weeks seemed challenging to handle. But the more I thought about it, I started the change my perspective.
The truth is that we rarely get the chance to slow down and hit “pause” on our busy schedule.
Most days are filled with plenty of things to do: from getting to school on time in the morning to soccer practices in the weekend, from playdates to doctor appointments, from school projects and events to big piles of laundry that never seem to end.
Now there is nothing left on our family calendar for the next three weeks. And even the piles of laundry will certainly get smaller as we only stay at home all day.
These days are full of worrying news, panic, and uncertainty, but in the middle of all this chaos, there is one thing we can do: use the time we get to spend at home with the kids as an opportunity to connect with them and have fun as a family.
We need positive things in our lives right now, and spending quality time with our kids is such a wonderful way to fill our hearts with joy and optimism.
This is what we plan to do in the next weeks, and I hope that the list of ideas I’ve gathered below will inspire you as well!
Easy and fun family activities at home: 12 ideas to try with your kids
Here are some of our favorite family activities. They are very easy to put into practice and perfect for connecting with the little ones!
1. Fun family nights (+40 ideas)
Take advantage of the time you spend at home with the kids to plan more family nights than usual! You can set two evenings every week for special family nights – Your kids will love this, and you’ll have plenty of fun too!
Here is a list of 40 family night ideas to inspire you.
2. Movie nights with a twist
Movie nights are always fun, so make a list of nice movies and documentaries to watch with your kids.
If you need some inspiration, here is a list of 32 movie night ideas that are great for little ones!
You can also find a lot of interesting documentaries for kids on Netflix, Hulu, or Prime Video.
Another great idea is to get a Disney+ subscription that will give you access not only to many Disney movies but also to plenty of National Geographic documentaries.
After watching a movie or documentary, use it as inspiration for more activities:
- invite the kids to draw a picture of the main character or their favorite scene
- invite the kids to build something inspired by the movie
- invite the kids to come up with a story where the main character from the movie comes to their house (or a story where they get to visit a place they liked from the documentary)
- invite the kids to make a craft inspired by the movie.
3. Disney dance parties
When kids spend too much time indoors, it’s important to get them active to prevent their energy levels from getting completely out of control.
An easy way to do this while connecting and having fun together is to prepare a family dance party. We use Amazon Music to play our favorite Disney soundtracks, and they are perfect for burning off energy!
4. Special days
Avoid boredom by breaking the routine and planning a special day. Here are some ideas to try:
- a pajama day when everyone stays in their pajamas all day long
- a “lazy” day with no schedule or planned activities (you just enjoy each other and relax)
- a technology-free day (for both parents and kids).
5. Board game championships
To be honest, many board games for kids are totally boring for adults, and this makes playing them feel more like a task than a fun activity.
But it doesn’t have to be like this!
There are plenty of great games that are fun for grown-ups as well! Our favorite one right now is Ticket to Ride – we play both Ticket to Ride First Journey and Ticket to Ride Europe.
More inspiration here: board games for toddlers and board games for preschoolers.
6. Art gallery at home
Every day invite the kids to create an artwork using crayons, markers, paint, or any other art supplies they have at home. Ask them to sign their creations and add the date on the back.
After you gather enough artworks, you and the kids can create a nice art gallery on one wall of your house and display all of their creations.
The kids will be very proud to see all their artworks displayed in their home!
7. Book club
Depending on your child’s age, you can create the book club in different ways:
- For young kids, put together a list of nice picture books and read one every day. Create a list with all the titles and ask the child to rank each of them by giving them a rating from one to five stars.
- For older kids, choose a few chapter books and invite them to read (at least) a chapter every day. Then every evening ask them to share with you what they read or start a journal to record one nice thing they liked in every chapter.
- For kids all ages, you can create a daily story time and read to them. Use the book as an inspiration to talk about different topics, or invite them to create artworks inspired by the book.
8. Redecorate
Invite the kids to help you redecorate their room. This is the perfect opportunity to make clean up fun and also put their creativity to work.
9. Messages for loved ones
Invite the kids to write letters, make drawings, or record video messages for close friends or relatives. If you cannot send the letters or drawings to them, take a picture of them and just send the photo.
This activity will not only help you connect with your kids but will also bring joy to your loved ones when they receive the messages!
10. “How to” night
Invite the whole family to a “how to” night. Here is how it works: Each family member teaches the others how to do something new (e.g., how to make pizza dough, how to build a paper boat, how to do certain dance moves, etc).
You would be surprised how creative kids can be when they have the chance to teach you something!
11. Playful “birthday party”
To bring some additional fun to any day, try organizing a “birthday party” for your child’s favorite stuffed animal. Prepare tasty snacks, use party decorations (if you have any decorations left from past parties), sing, dance, and even make a pretend cake (out of playdough).
12. Scavenger hunt
Plan an indoor scavenger hunt. You can make a list of items for the kids to find, or you can invite them to a color hunt (find items of each color on the list) or an alphabet hunt (find items that start with each letter on the list).
Family activities at home: The easiest way to make connection a priority
No matter what family activities you decide to try with your kids, making connection a priority will help you sneak in more happy moments into every day you spend at home with the kids.
The easiest way to do this is to start a Family Fun Challenge.
Here is how to do this:
- Create a list of fun family activities for you and your kids to do together. (You can use the ideas on the list below or come up with your own ideas. You can find a printable Family Fun Challenge here.)
- Display the list in your home (e.g., on the fridge), and challenge your family to complete as many ideas on the list as possible. (You can even come up with a way to celebrate when you complete the challenge to add an additional motivation for everyone to get involved.)
- Put the ideas into practice and have fun together!
Bonus idea: Make a family time capsule
This is a very fun idea, and your kids will certainly love it! Also, it will help you preserve precious family memories for years to come.
Here are all the details about how to create a family time capsule, plus a printable set you can use with your kids.
I hope you’ll enjoy these ideas and that they will help you connect with your kids and have fun together even when you are stuck at home!
photos from depositphotos.com