8 IDEAS SCREEN- family
The COVID-19 pandemic forced many people to stay at home and seek ‘shelter in place’. As well as an important public health measure, it was a reminder to the world how important our homes are. The home should be an area for rest and relaxation, but it also needs to be a place for entertainment and creativity. Staying at home shouldn’t be a punishment or something that induces boredom, it should be a place where everyone can have some fun.
‘Creativity within confines’ is a term I use to inspire people to be creative within the boundaries of zero-waste living, and this principle can also be applied to areas of the home. It’s about being creative within a limited budget. It’s about consuming less, but creating more. These are budget-friendly family activity ideas to inspire you to do more in your home – without having to buy more stuff !
FRIDAY NIGHT DISCO
Create a disco playlist with your family’s favourite dance hits, string up some decorations – like a disco ball and some rotating coloured lights – that can be sourced second hand, and create a Friday night disco! Turn off the lights and dance the night away. Your children will love it, and it’s also a great sleepover activity.
GO GREEN
Start a seedling garden with your kids using egg cartons, plastic fruit and vegetable punnets, and some seeds. There are some helpful video tutorials online that can teach you how to grow new plants from parts of fruits and vegetables you would normally compost. A fun way to start a small garden is to grow some microgreens, which are young vegetable greens that are quick to grow and are packed full of nutrients. Some examples include radish greens, kale and baby spinach. The upcycled plastic punnets act as mini-greenhouses, and you can harvest edible microgreens in just one to three weeks, depending on which variety you choose.
ART ATTACK
Have arts and crafts days using the dry waste from your recycling bin. Magazines and newspapers make great collage and decoupage material with which to cover cardboard boxes or plastic containers. Get some craft glue and ask your children to redecorate old containers to organise things in their rooms.
DRESS-UPS
Have themed dress-up parties using items in your wardrobe, or outfits designed from cut-out newspaper. Some theme ideas are superheroes, villains, witches and warlocks, 1960s hippies, or robots.
TALENT QUEST
One of my favourite childhood activities was the talent shows my dad held. He would make up competitions like singing, dancing or gymnastics, and my brother and I would compete against each other for the grand prize. The grand prize was usually something simple like who would get to choose the movie for the next movie night, or choosing a destination to visit on the weekend. Why not hold your own talent quest and get the kids involved?