During this chaotic time of social distancing and quarantining, many of us are working and taking care of our kids at home. It seems straight-forward, but balancing working, educating, feeding and entertaining your kids all day, every day, is no simple task.
Between online schooling and meal times, there is a lot of free play in which your children need something to keep them occupied. Without the excitement of friends in the school yard, your children need to be putting their energy into something equally as fun that they can do indoors.
Given that many of these COVID-19 rules have come into effect with little notice, it’s difficult for parents to be prepared for their kids inevitable “i’m bored” complaints. That’s why we’ve put together a list of easy at home activities you can do with your kids to keep their minds stimulated.
Slime making
What you’ll need;
- 1 part craft glue
- 1 part shaving cream
- Food colouring
- Eye drops or contact solution
Most of the items in this activity you may already have around the house making it quick, easy and affordable. All you have to do is follow the instructions in this 2 minute YouTube video to give your kids endless hours of slime fun!
iSpy jar
What you’ll need;
- A Jar
- Rice
- Miscellaneous items
Possibly one of the easiest ways to keep your kiddies occupied is to make an iSpy jar. Grab a bunch of odds and ends from your kids rooms or from around the house. Throw them into a jar one by one, covering each item with a layer of rice until it is filled ¾ of the way up. Secure the lid and hand it to your kid! Make sure to make a list of all the items you put into the jar and ask your kids to shake the jar around. Have them make a list of what they can spot and compare lists until they find all of the items!
Rock painting
Anyone can paint a piece of paper, but if you want to really challenge your child’s creativity, use some backyard rocks as their canvas. All you’ll need are some clean pebbles or rocks from your backyard and some craft paint to keep your little ones busy for hours. If you have any other craft supplies laying around, let your kids glue on some extra decorations!
Bubble Painting
What you’ll need;
- Dish soap
- Non-toxic paint
- Cups
- Straws
- Paper
If your kids love blowing bubbles in their milkshakes, they’ll love this craft project.
- Fill your cups halfway with non-toxic craft paint and generously mix in some dish soap.
- Have your kids blow into the cup with a straw to create bright, foamy bubbles.
- Place the paper straight over the bubbles to create a fun, fridge worthy print!
Salad spinner art
What do you get when you throw a bunch of paint in your salad spinner? Abstract art!
- Place a paper plate underneath the strainer part of your salad spinner and then place the strainer back in.
- Pour kid safe paints inside your salad spinner in whichever placement you desire and then SPIN!
The paper plate will become a crazy tie-dye-esque piece of art.
Fireworks in a glass
What you’ll need;
- Olive oil (or any kind of cooking oil)
- Warm water
- Food colouring
If your child is a science enthusiast, they’ll love this experiment.
- Fill a glass ¾ of the way with warm water and add a couple of teaspoons of olive oil.
- Drop in some different food colouring colours and give it a quick stir to watch the colours explode into bright underwater flares.
It’s a great way to show your kids a simple chemical reaction in action!
Laundry basket skee ball
Every kid loves an arcade game of skee ball, so why not bring it into your home!
- All you need are a few laundry baskets (or buckets),
- some makeshift point signs (100, 500, 1000) and a cardboard ramp.
- Cut the bottom of a shoebox ¾ of the way to the top and taping the bottom of the cut piece on a downwards angle, you can create the perfect skee ball ramp.
- You can even go as far as creating DIY arcade tickets that your kids can use to win a prize!
DIY hand soap
During COVID-19 everyone is being encouraged to wash their hands as much as possible. There is no easier way to convince your kids to wash their hands, then to make some cool DIY soap! Simply use white or transparent bars of soap, food colouring and any other additives like glitter or sprinkles to create crazy hand soap!
- Grab a mould of your choice; this can be a muffin tin, cookie moulds or even patty pans.
- Measure how much water will fit into each mould as this will equate to how much water you’ll need to help melt your soap.
- Add the water into a microwave safe measuring cup and proceed to add cut cubes of your choice of soap.
- Zap it in the microwave for 1 minute or until completely melted.
- Add your colours and decorations, pour the mixture into the moulds and then place into the fridge to set!
Be safe!
Staying indoors can be fun too!
The team at Camp Blue wish your family all the best in these trying times. We hope you can enjoy these awesome activities with your children and we’d love to see the result!
Snap a picture of your creations and tag us on Facebook or Instagram at Camp Blue.
