It’s been 43 days since our family has been on lockdown (but who’s counting) and the kids have been out of school. Sometimes I still can’t believe that this is going on, but for the past week I’ve been thinking about how there will truly be a new normal in the foreseeable future and how I’m going to deal with that and what the new normal is going to look like for my entire family. While pondering all this, I’ve started collecting and organizing my favorite ideas and activities to do with the kids during quarantine.
I went to business school, I’m not a teacher. But ultimately I want them to have fun still and do different things. I’ve come to realize that they love doing activities and are probably missing them since school ended. This situation is not like summer where we get to go on various outings. That’s me, I’m the outing mom that will take them anywhere for a fun little adventure. Trying to figure out what to do while we’re confined to our home has me 🙄🙄🙄.
Some things are just way too complicated for me to fathom and some just maybe aren’t my style. Here are some of the ideas that I love though and are EASY EASY EASY activities for kids to do. As I find new ones I’ll be sure to update this list.
Alphabet Scavenger Hunt
I saw this idea on Raising Dragons a great website with different ideas from a engineer mom who isn’t particularly crafty. I think that’s why I love the projects she has because they are quick and easy, completely my style. In this activity, you use sticky notes, a marker and objects from around the house. You have the kids find things around the house that begin with each letter of the alphabet. Perfect for a rainy day and super easy! It also takes up a good bit of time which is helpful during these times of what seem to be never ending quarantine.
Meditation & Drawing Time
So on one of the early days I did this and it was a really great morning actually and a great way to start our day…for ALL OF US. I’ve never been able to consistently get in to the habit of meditating, but maybe I can start getting my kids in to it.
The guided meditation we did was from “New Horizon Meditation & Sleep Stories”, Your Secret Treehouse. It’s about 15 minutes of meditation that we did together and then after the boys drew their dream treehouse. My oldest drew his dream treehouse as blueprints which I loved because it was a different approach he thought of himself.
Egg Hunt
I know Easter is over with, but if you have some eggs still lying around, hide them in the yard if it’s nice out or inside the house if it’s a rainy day. If you have more than 1 child have them take turns hiding them while the other(s) look for the eggs. That keeps them entertained by themselves for a decent amount of time!
Have a Karaoke Night
If you have an Apple TV it’s super easy to set this up, but otherwise you can pretty much google search music lyrics if not. The iTunes app on the Apple TV though will automatically play and scroll through the music lyrics so you can host your own Karaoke Night. This is definitely one of our favorite activities where everyone gets to choose their song and perform for the rest of us. We also have a signing machine as well, but if you don’t have one of those a hairbrush can be just as effective.
Make a Vision Board
I ask my kids a lot about what they want to do or where they want to go once restrictions are lifted. It gets them excited and lifts their spirits up a little bit so I think creating a vision board together is a great way to get everyone excited about the future rather than getting down about being on hold right now. Cut out pictures of vacations you may want to take. Movies you want to see. Summer activities they want to do. Put all the pictures on a large piece of poster board and hang it somewhere the family can see so everyone can stay focused and excited about the fun times ahead.
Make Movie Night at Home Extra Special
Now when we all sit down to watch a movie we make it a special event since we can’t go to theaters right now. We make popcorn in individual brown bags, everyone picks out their candy boxes, we put sleeping bags on the floor with a bunch of pillows. You can have the kids make up tickets to the movie, you can make cotton candy, or do an ice cream sundae bar. Lots of movies are being watched right now so when it comes to the new releases, make it a little bit more of a special time.