Children need a lot of entertainment, stimulation and sometimes, on certain days, are a tough audience to impress. Here are 8 fresh and creative ways to entertain kids at home.
1: Have a body art competition
Get large pieces of paper (you can buy rolls of cheap paper in various colors at most stationary stores) and let them trace each other’s bodies onto the paper. This is fun for them and takes some time. Next put them in separate rooms and let them label as many body parts as they can in 10 or 20 minutes. Then the winner, the one with the most corrected labeled body parts, is announced. For the next step they each can add in the body parts they missed. Later, maybe the following day, you can introduce new body parts to make it even more educational. And to keep the fun rolling for a final step, they can decorate their art creations. This body art competition can be stretched out to days of entertainment.
2: Dig out the kiddie aprons and get busy in the kitchen
Make cookies with colorful icing, bake chocolate mud pies and get deliciously creative with rainbow pizzas by hiding the vegetables under the cheese. Cooking and baking can be really rewarding for young ones. You might be surprised how fussy eaters will eat certain foods that they don’t usually like just due to the fact that they were the master chefs.
3: Recycle old favorite story books
Kids grow out of everything so quickly, including their books. Recycle them by pulling out the pages with the best illustrations and framing them to make funky wall art. It’s also a great gift for them to give to a younger sibling for their birthday or Christmas.
4: Make bright and colorful pot plant holders
Kids love painting and also getting dirty. Sit in the garden and paint some old containers. Clean food tins turn out rustic and don’t cost a cent. Let their creative minds run wild and paint whatever they want. Next, after they are dried, let them put their own plants into the planters and make a corner in the garden that is especially their own. Remind them to water and tend to their plants every day. Your little green thumb artists will be so proud of their art garden spaces.
5: Make handmade cards with your kids
There always seems to be an occasion coming up. The possibilities are endless from Christmas cards, love you cards, birthday cards, thank you teacher cards, Happy Easter cards and more. Explain to your kids how handmade and DIY gifts are treasured by people, especially grandparents and teachers. You might even get a birthday card this year.
6: Make a treasure hunt with exciting clues along the way.
While they are sleeping you can hide pieces of paper with the clues. The next day you can send them around the house and garden for at least an hour while they search for the hidden treasure. If they have fun they can even make their own treasure hunt for the parents to do another day.
7: Teach them a new skill
Share your hobbies with them such as photography, meditation, sewing or yoga. Kids love to copy what they see adults doing. Whatever your hobby is, you can be sure their is a child-friendly way to teach it in a simple form. This will give them a sense of pride to know they can accomplish what a parent can do and also open their minds to new interests.
8: Sing it loud
Kids love to make noise. Go onto the computer and search for kids’ karaoke to find their favorite tunes with the lyrics included. If you have musical instruments at home, grab those too and make beautiful music together.
We hope these ideas to keep the little angels entertained are fun and exciting for you and them. Children grow up so fast, and the creative time you spend with them will hopefully be fondly remembered by all in the years to come.