Entertaining kids inside can be a tricky task, especially if it’s for an unexpected reason like a rainy day. Disruptions to daily routines can be tough for the entire family – Parents might need to work from their home offices and tend to other responsibilities, making it difficult to ensure that little ones are fully occupied. So how can you entertain kids when everyone is stuck inside? It might not be so tricky after all, with some handy suggestions.
Plan a Virtual Field Trip
Many of the world’s most beloved attractions, including the J. Paul Getty Museum and the Van Gogh Museum, provide digital visitors with the opportunity to embark on virtual field trips. Older children can learn a lot during these “journeys” that take them through museums, teaches them new facts and subjects and encourage them to explore the world on a deeper level.
Many popular zoos, like the Smithsonian’s National Zoo & Conservation Biology Institute and the Houston Zoo, have live or pre-recorded webcams that provide visitors with close-up views of animals. You can leave the kids to enjoy the videos on their own or watch along with them to answer questions they might have. After you’ve watched the videos, ask them a few things they learned, which animals were their favorites or what sound each animal makes. Arrange for different zoo “trips” every few days to keep their interest going.
Start a Craft Session
Craft time is a great way to encourage kids to be creative and indulge in their right brain. Fill a plastic bin with crayons, markers, construction paper, paints, stickers, clay, and anything else that’s age-appropriate.
If you want your kids to stay focused so that you can focus on what you have to do, you might consider assigning a specific project so they can create one particular thing. For example, you could ask your kids to draw different types of dinosaurs or to create a portrait of your home with your family in front of it.
Breathe, Laugh, and Play Together
Sesame Street is here to make staying at home a little more fun! Their site is filled with content you can use all day long to spark playful learning and offer children comfort. Plus, look out for new messages featuring your furry friends from Sesame Street!
Prepare a Family Meal Together
Being stuck at home means you need to zero in even more on making home-cooked meals. While you might normally grab takeout or quickly whip up something that everyone loves, now is a good time to involve the kids so they feel like they are a part of the cooking. It also happens to be a fun thing to do inside with kids, especially because it adds a few helping hands to the equation!
Before beginning any cooking, be sure that your kids’ participation area is safe. Keep sharp items out of the way and have them help with simpler tasks, like mixing ingredients, measuring ingredients for recipes and washing fruits and vegetables. Older kids can stand with you at the stove and help stir or prepare. You can also use this opportunity to teach them how to use different tools, like garlic presses and can openers. Cooking together is a great activity when you’re stuck at home, but it’s also an opportunity to start teaching your kids how to cook on their own.
Play Some Classic Games
When it doubt, go back to the basics! Bust out your Monopoly board, puzzles, Jenga and playing cards for a technology-free game night. To add another layer of fun, let your kids pick the game to play. If you have more than one kid in the house, let them each pick a game to that everyone enjoys the game night equally.
Begin a Book Club
Part of being stuck at home for an undetermined amount of time is making peace with the fact that it can be a little isolating. When the kids start to get stir crazy, don’t underestimate the value of bonding with other kids. But how do you do that if everyone’s inside? Start a book club! Connect with fellow parents and introduce the idea. You can arrange virtual video meetings on a predetermined day of the week after everyone has had a chance to read the book of choice. If kids don’t have the book already, many libraries have electronic books available for free that can be downloaded online.
Older kids can discuss the content of the book and what they thought of it. To spur conversation, look online for others who have posted discussion questions that you can reuse. This also allows them a fun way to catch up with one another and feel a little bit more connected during a time when they might otherwise get bored and distracted.
Keep Learning Alive
Peanuts Worldwide is here to help parents keep their children engaged in learning while stuck at home! On their site students can partner with Charlie Brown’s baseball teammates to sharpen their math skills; celebrate spring with the Peanuts gang while completing science, language arts, and math exercises; and learn about persistence—and enhance their own—through lessons from Charlie Brown, who never gave up trying to kick that football!
There are quite a few ways to ensure that the kids stay busy, even when you’re hard at work or trying to get other things done. And, of course, there are countless ways to involve the entire family when you want to spend some quality time together. Staying home might seem like a drag, but in some scenarios is a great way to bond and to make new memories with each other.
Erika focuses on email marketing, copywriting and merchandising at Zazzle, but she has a secret obsession with all things wedding! During the week you can find her writing punny subject lines while also pinning the latest wedding trends, and outside of the 9-5, she is usually cheering on the San Jose Sharks, reading a good murder mystery, or hunting for the best Philly Cheesesteak in the Bay Area.
