As we’re unable to spend time out and about at the moment, I thought it’d be helpful to make a wee list of activities to keep the kids entertained. I know how hard it is to keep my almost 3 year old entertained so I feel for all the parents out there. I’ve put together a weeks’ worth of ideas that are cheap and cheerful and don’t require a lot of equipment. Enjoy!
- Make some treats
Baking is a great way to entertain kids. It’s simple, fun to do and there’s a tasty treat at the end, perfect! If your kid is anything like mine and has a very short attention span, why not try making something super easy together- like chocolate nests with mini eggs, yum.
You’ll need the following ingredients:
200 g milk chocolate, 80 g shredded wheat or similar type of cereal, mini eggs for decoration
Melt the chocolate and mix with the shredded wheat. Put the mixture into cupcakes cases and leave in the fridge to harden. Decorate with the mini eggs and you’re done! You can also mix the melted chocolate with rice crispies, corn flakes or similar and add extras such a mini marshmallows or sprinkles.
2. Indoor Treasure Hunt
It’s so simple BUT sooo much fun for little ones. I used to love playing detective and looking for treasure when I was wee. You can make it any theme you want and the clues can be easier or trickier depending on the age of the kids.
The idea is to create a series of clues that the child needs to solve to get the next one and so on, and at the end they get the treasure- some chocolate coins, a toy or another prize relevant to the theme.
Check out this article by Persil for tips on preparing a treasure hunt: https://www.persil.com/uk/dirt-is-good/games/plan-treasure-hunt-kids.html
3. Have an Indoor Picnic
Grab a big blanket, set up a picnic area on the floor and gather all your favourite treats- sandwiches, cakes, crisps, dips, fruit…the list is endless. A super easy and fun way for the family to enjoy some food and quality time together. Kids will love it. Why not get them involved in preparing the food too?
4. Dressing Up
It’s a great idea to have a box to chuck some old clothes and dressing up bits in. Whether it’s an skirt, dress or shirt that doesn’t quite fit you anymore, Grandad’s hat or your auntie’s old feather boa, the kids will love to play dress up with these ‘vintage’ clothes. Necklaces and bracelets add even more colour and detail to those amazing homemade looks- just make sure they are safe to play with. You may even want to add in some face paints for maximum silliness.
5. Indoor Olympics
The Tokyo Olympics are now postponed until 2021 and many people will be disappointed, so why not recreate the excitement and spark the competitive spirit in your own home? The ‘sports’ can be anything you like- egg and spoon races, sprints, hula-hooping, trampolining- whatever you can set up indoors or the garden (if you’re luckier than me and have one). See how many stairs the kids can run up and down in 3 minutes- that will surely tire them out, right?! Chocolate coins make great medals for the winners ceremony.
6. Make your own toys
This one again can be as simple or detailed as you like. Grab a couple of loo roll tubes, string them together and make a snake. Get some paint out and make a family tree- paint a trunk and use fingerprints to make the leaves. Make some balloon animals. If you’re not feeling too crafty or you’re low on time, then why not try a kids artsy subscription box? I recently started getting the toucanBox for my almost 3 year old (see my previous blog post about it here).
7. Plant some flowers
My lovely parents picked up a few of the Little Garden seedling pots from Marks & Spencers for my eldest daughter. They come in little compostable pots and are ideal for putting on the windowsill if you don’t have any outdoor space for plants. The micro-cress and lettuce have made an appearance and we are patiently waiting for the forget-me-nots to sprout.
If you have a garden then get the kids involved. Weeding, planting seeds and watering the plants are all helpful tasks but also teach the children how to care for living things. It also helps them to learn about fruit and veg.
Please let me know in the comments what you and your family have been doing to keep busy during lockdown, I’m always looking for ideas. Keep safe x
Bonnie Wee Babees 