12 things to do with the children at home
Do an indoor treasure hunt
This is great fun; it doesn’t take long to do, and you can build a treasure hunt that will keep them occupied for a good hour or so. Here’s some great ideas to keep it simple; https://www.thespruce.com/indoor-treasure-hunt-for-children-1695332
2. Bake and decorate cookies and cake or make pizza
Baking is always popular and my personal favourite is cookie decorating, as you can have some many different types that keeps the little ones occupied for hours. BBC good food is always our go to place for all baking and cooking ideas;
https://www.bbcgoodfood.com/recipes/collection/kids-cookies
https://www.bbcgoodfood.com/recipes/toddler-recipe-easy-homemade-pizza-veggie-faces
3. Clear out their bedroom to make way for new toys and clothes
This can be really useful… time for a spring clean. This can always be negotiated with a new toy and / or outfit. It gives the children incentive to do a job that you really don’t want to. This is also a great opportunity to resell old toys or donate to your chosen charity.
4. Easter Egg painting
Easter is not far away, and these lovely decorations look good around the house. It’s great fun for the children to blow the eggs out of the shells then spend the time painting to make them look pretty.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jamgAJ52kck
5. Make occasion cards for upcoming events
Mother’s Day, Easter, Father’s Day and hopefully some birthdays are coming up, so why not ask the children to make their own cards instead of buy them. The parents can always join in and do some with them. Saves money on buying cards and allow the children to get creative.
6. Make an indoor den
My ultimate favourite when I was a child… taking all the duvets and pillows from around the house and making a humongous den in our living room. My brother and I would make our own fun by bringing all our toys in and playing games in the den.
7. Have a picnic… indoor or in the garden
Living in the UK often means outdoor plans are ruined by weather but if it’s raining, don’t let it stop you. Put some great films on and a picnic blanket in the middle of the floor and have a picnic indoors. It just breaks away from the normal routine of sitting at the dinner table and injects a bit of fun into lunch/dinner.
8. Create fun activities to improve their learning
Maths – a great place to encourage improvement of their times table, which most children will be familiar with is: https://ttrockstars.com
English – this website has great ideas for home fun children games, from word searches and word scramble to scategories - https://bilingualkidspot.com/2018/11/03/english-word-games-for-kids/
Science – This YouTube video gives great ideas for home experiments; https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=McVpXiSttnU
9. Do a thumb print family tree
Spend the time to teach the children about your family tree, explain the different generations and ask them to put thumb prints in different colours for each family member. Pinterest have some great ideas and templates to do this; https://www.pinterest.co.uk/pin/AWyNhF8NTsfPDPhV5JKEF3oZP2qa1oYry7cXm4SnBlKxtwvAjXOB-Jc/?lp=true
10. Play charades
A great game that gets everyone excited, but even better with the free app ‘heads up’ you can play one another or go into teams and put your acting skills to the test. This app films the experience too.
11. Create an assault course in the garden
This can be done with lots of different things, you can improvise with items from home such as; balloons, chairs, skipping ropes, balls, hoops etc, or if you have lots of other items or pop onto amazon prime and order some, here’s a link that gives you an idea on how to do this; http://myfourps.blogspot.com/2011/07/backyard-obstacle-course.html
12. Request chores for pocket money
This is great if you need a hand around the house and you want to give the children a great understanding of earning money. Once again Pinterest has some fantastic charts which can be tailor-made to suit you all.
https://www.pinterest.co.uk/emmaderrick82/pocket-money-and-chores/
If you’re worried at what age children should become more independent and do more for themselves, we read a great article that lays it out quite nicely; https://www.focusonthefamily.com/parenting/age-appropriate-chores/