I know LOTS of kiddos are home from school this, and into the foreseeable future. My own kids are home this week, and the rest is to be determined. Whether you’re staying home with your kids or you have older siblings or baby sitters watching the kids, I have a list to share with you that can help occupy the time in a productive way. This is a list of activities that are so easy the kids can do most of them on their own or with any baby sitter they may have. I want to share with you 50 easy activities to do when your kids are home from school.
Many of the activities on this list are common knowledge and don’t need much explanation, but to make it even easier and a little more fun, I’ve included links on many that include free printables, instructions, websites and more. Pick one or two of these to add to your plans for each day.
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50 Easy Activities To Do When Your Kids Are Home From School
Educational Activities
- Free Educational Subscriptions
- 150+ Educational Shows on Netflix
- 12 Famous Museums offering virtual tours
- Over 30 Virtual Field Trips
- Reading Bingo – free printable or create your own
- Free stories online (read to you by actors)
- Switcheroo Zoo (animal learning website)
- Nat Geo for Kids
- Fun Brain (math and reading for pre-K – 8)
- PBS Kids (website or app)
- Write a letter to someone in the nursing home
- Play store with items from around the house (put real prices on items)
- Exercise
- Write and act out a play
Outdoor Activities
- Go on a walk/hike
- Go on a bike ride
- Blow bubbles (make it fun with kitchen utensils for bubble wands)
- Create an obstacle course
- Play with sidewalk chalk
- Nature scavenger hunt (free printables)
- Collect rocks (to paint indoors later)
- Prep the garden
- Make mud pies or mud sculptures
- Wash the car
- Play a favorite sport/toss a ball (soccer, football, basketball, baseball, even gymnastics in our home)
- Play outdoor games (Bocce, Cornhole, hopscotch, four-square)
- Free play outside
Indoor Activities
- Baking (here’s a simple one the kids could even do on their own)
- Indoor obstacle course
- Build a fort
- Photo session – give the kids a camera or phone and let their creativity run wild
- Play board games
- Play BINGO with fun prizes (sweet treat, homemade certificates, etc)
- Read a chapter book to your kids (one chapter per day)
- Mario Kart or video game tournament
- Play Charades
- Put on a Talent Show
- Play Simon Says
- Junk Modeling – put those toilet paper rolls and other recyclables to good use and see what they can come up with
- Play dough (make your own if you have the ingredients)
- Craft Kits – pull out those kits the kids got for Christmas/birthdays
- Paint the rocks you collected outside
- Spring cleaning – nothing overwhelming, just choose one spot per day
- Make snacks together each day
- Create your own board game
- Complete a 1,000 piece puzzle together
- Decorate a large cardboard box and then play in it
- Spa Day (mani/pedis, sugar scrub, bath bomb, etc)
- Glow baths (glow sticks and bubbles)
- Facetime/Skype a friend or family
- Do something crazy! (mattress down the staircase, indoor skating rink, pillow fight, silly string fight, etc)
*For those having issues finding childcare during the COVID-19 crisis, try checking local Facebook groups as you may be able to find teachers, paras, and stay-at-home moms offering to help or check on websites such as care.com as a place to start.
Would be so great to break these down by age – particularly as mine is just 18 months old! Thanks for sharing though, bookmarking for future reference 🙂
Yes, a lot of these are more for school age kids, but there are still those that work for kids of any age!
This list has a lot of great ideas, especially for times like these where the future is so uncertain.
There are so many options of things to do at home, I don’t think one could ever get bored. lol
I imagine this post is really helpful in finding things to keep the little minds and hands busy right now while they are home.
This post is very good timing. I love how you include all sorts of fun, not just the learning activities, because kids learn from everything they do. Fun post!