11 THINGS TO DO WITH THE KIDS
KEEPING young children amused without the help of shows, museums, libraries and play cafes, let alone childcare or school, can be a daunting task. Luckily, there are plenty of simple, fun activities for families struggling with inspiration to get away from the screens and into action.
Try some of these exciting and educational ideas you can incorporate into your routine:
1. TREASURE HUNT
Once the kids have gone to bed for the night, have some fun creating a treasure hunt and hide clues for them to find in the morning.
You can make the clues as hard or as difficult as you like depending on your children’s ages.
Clues can be simple riddles, word scrambles, pictures or you can hand them a clue after they perform a task.
For an even simpler version, hide all the pieces to one of their puzzles around the house and have them find them all and assemble them.
2.MINI NATURE WALK
Whether you’re in a house with a tiny yard or living on sprawling acreage, you can still go on a nature walk.
Come up with a list of natural items to go searching for, send the kids out and once they’ve collected their items they can bring them back in and do some scientific drawings and even try looking up what they are.
If you have a tree, all you need is a piece of paper and some chalk or crayon to do a bark rubbing, or collect a few dry leaves, sticks and flowers to make an artwork.
Once you’ve figured out what kinds of rocks are in your yard, you can even paint a few to make pet rocks.
Raising Children Network has a fantastic short video full of ideas to make a journey to the back yard interesting.
Visit raisingchildren.net.au/ babies/videos/nature-walkplay-ideas
3. CREATE A MAZE
Grab anything you have lying around and lay it out on the floor to create a maze.
You can use books, toys, cushions, skipping ropes and blankets to build your maze. You can start out with a mapped plan or just wing it – as long as you have a safe path through and a few dead ends your little ones will have a ball.
4. BUILD A FORT
The novelty will never wear off cubby houses and blanket forts. Kids will build them anyway, but with a bit of parental supervision and assistance you can turn your whole loungeroom into a magical kingdom.
It will be the perfect place for a few rounds of board games or some spooky stories. Search the internet if you’re lacking design inspiration.
If you already have a cubby house, this might be the perfect opportunity to do a little redecorating and giving it the love it deserves.
5. KEEPY-UPPY
If you’ve got a bag of leftover balloons from the last birthday party, start a game of Keepy Uppy.
Punt the balloon into the air and tell the kids it’s not allowed to hit the ground.
If you have an older child playing with littlies challenge them to do it with one hand behind their back.
6. THROWING GAMES
If you have some juggling bean bags, ping pong balls or even Beanie Baby-type toys, you can have some safe and highenergy fun indoors or in the back yard.
Put out targets on the floor or even using sticky notes on the wall, get the kids to stand behind a line and practice their aim trying to hit different spots or colours.
While they’ve got their ping pong balls out, give them a plastic cup and tell them to throw and catch it between each other without using hands for another 20 minutes of amusement while you catch up on the news or the housework. By the time they’ve run back and forth picking up their projectile they’ll be ready for a calm afternoon.
7. THE FLOOR IS LAVA
Another timeless classic.
Put out some pillows or other items on the floor as islands and declare the carpet, tiles or floorboards to be deadly lava. Watch them do some impressive acrobatics to keep from touching the floor.