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Top 21 Fun Activities To Do With Your Kids at Home

We have seen how technology can change our children’s view of the fun. As much as we want to keep them happy, we don’t want our kids to be on the screen all day. Many children nowadays have fun watching tv and playing on mobile phones, iPads, etc. This is a new form of entertainment. However, it does not help with family bonding time.

Kids nowadays are hard to entertain. Thus, parents give them gadgets to be entertained. Here are the top 21 fun activities parent can do with their kids at home.

1. Create a snow globe

Homemade globes let kids create their little wonderland straight out of their own imagination. You’ll need a snow globe (or any jam or jelly jar you have at home), figurines, baby oil, glue gun and glitters. I found all the materials at the dollar store for less than 10$.

 

Step 1: Glue the figurines inside the lid of the jar.

Step 2: Fill the globe with baby oil (leave about 2 cm unfilled).

Step 3: Add the glitter and cover the jar.

 

There you go! You and your kids created a wonderland at home. This is one of the fantastic and fun things to do with your kids. As much as kids enjoy making this, parents will also enjoy it.

2. Read books

When you read books to your kids, it’s one of the great ways to stimulate and expand their imagination. Many parents have been doing this, especially before bedtime. They tell stories when their children are about to go to sleep. Reading books to your kids have many benefits:

  • Develop your child’s understanding of sounds, words and language
  • Instill a love for reading
  • Inspire creativity and stimulate curiosity in your child
  • Develop brain concentration abilities, social and communication skills.
  • Ensure your child knows the difference between ‘real’ and ‘make-believe.’
  • Understand how your child feels when faced with new or frightening experiences
  • Provide an opportunity to learn about the world, their own culture and other cultures.

3. Play board games

While playing board games is a fantastic way to bond with family and friends, it’s also a great avenue in developing skills such as planning. There are so many board games available, but I want to emphasize on the Monopoly game.

 

To play Monopoly, it requires two to eight players. This is a game of real estate where the player’s goal is to keep his finances solvent and drive his opponents to bankruptcy by buying and developing properties.

 

One of the most significant benefits and advantages of playing this game is that all ages can play this game so the entire family can play together. Another one is, it promotes bonding and interpersonal skills, boosts confidence and develops decision-making skills. Moreover, it enables spending wisely to avoid debt, and most significantly, it teaches basic money management skills.

 

When you play Monopoly with your kids, you’re not only providing fun to them. But, you also teach them how to handle finances at an early stage.

4. Download academic printables

Who says learning is not fun? Well, there is always fun in learning, especially when parents are making sure kids are not getting bored. Thanks to FREE printable academic worksheets, parents can easily download them without paying anything. Plus, kids will love working with these worksheets because of the fun and artistic designs.

 

Download these free printable worksheets for your kids:

– Daily Math Worksheets for Preschool Kids (10 pages)

– Toddler Workbook 2-4 years old (101 pages)

– Dino games (12 pages)

– Space games (25 pages)

5. Make a volcano science experiment

Creating a science experiment with a volcano is another fun and exciting activity to do with your kids at home. Did you know you can make a volcano with tape? Here’s what you need and how to do it.

 

To create a tape volcano, you’ll need vinegar, baking soda, acrylic paints, a plastic plate and tape. Start by taping the top of the tall plastic container to the plastic plate. This will serve as the volcano’s base. Continually tape the container around and then paint your volcano with acrylic paint. After the paint has dried, add the baking soda and vinegar to the volcano and watch it erupt! A volcano can look even more realistic by adding red food coloring to make red lava.

6. Put together a puzzle

Puzzles are not only for fun, but also an important learning tool to enhance your kid’s learning development. Psychologists believe that allowing a child to manipulate the world around them improves their cognitive development. Puzzles allow this to happen. You’ll be surprised at how quickly they “outgrow” their age if you try to engage them in puzzles.

 

Playing puzzles with your kids provides the following benefits:

1. Good hand-eye coordination
2. Ability to handle fine motor tasks
3. Memory and thinking skills
4. Self-correction skills and the ability to solve problems
5. Improves their ability to concentrate and be patient
6. Creates objectives and goals
7. Recognition of shapes
8. Trying new things
9. Ability to interact socially and respect oneself

7. Do maze solving

Maze solving is another fun and exciting game to play with your kids. This is because the game consists of a collection of mazes intersecting paths intersected by dead ends. The maze player must move in one direction or to one given location like the center to play this fantastic game. The player can usually choose either one or more paths to have a chance to win.

 

Besides providing fun for the whole family, this game teaches children patience, persistence and problem-solving skills. Maze games challenge players to navigate through a maze while using their spatial skills and ability to assess whether their current path is clear visually. On top of that, you can also teach fine motor skills and hand-eye coordination using mazes without writing out letters or words.

 

A wide variety of maze games can be downloaded online and printed for free.

8. Listen to music & dance

Listening to music, grabbing the microphone and dancing is another fun thing for the parents and kids. Music and dance are not only fun, but they also provide many benefits:

 

1. Stimulate the brain

2. Help develop communication skills

3. Kids can express themselves through music and dance

4. Promote physical fitness

5. Stimulate creativity and imagination

 

As children spend more time watching screens rather than playing physically, music and dance encourage them to be curious and imaginative. Through this creative avenue, kids can also gain insight into other cultures in the world.

9. Make a craft with recycled materials

Making crafts out of recycled materials is one way of reducing waste. As a result, not only you’re having fun with family, but you’re also keeping the environment clean and teaching your kids how to protect the earth.

 

This activity is about using supposedly thrown items but because you can still make other things from them. You’re going to repurpose it. So, in this activity, you’re not spending anything.

 

Craft projects using recycled or upcycled materials can benefit children since it instructs them to conserve and reuse resources. By transforming one useful object into another valuable thing, they also learn to think creatively and not be afraid of making mistakes. Making crafts with your children also helps you bond as a family and teaches them to follow through on tasks.

10. Make an indoor picnic

Who says you can’t have an indoor picnic with family? Sounds exciting as this fun activity excites not only children but parents too! To have this indoor picnic, you’ll need to choose a spot inside the house to hold the picnic. Then you’ll need some items like:

  • Food, such as sandwiches, chips, biscuits, drinks, etc.
  • Blanket
  • Books
  • Board games

 

In preparing the setting, you can ask your kids to help you. First, you’ll need to prepare snacks like sandwiches, chips, cookies and drinks. Then, you’ll lay the blanket on the floor, sit with the family and voilà! An instant indoor picnic for the whole family!

 

If you want it to be more creative, everyone can wear a costume and play. That way, you’re making the indoor picnic more fun and interesting.

11. Build some Lego

Building LEGO delights the hearts of both children and parents. For parents who grew up with LEGO, they want to pass that joy onto their children. Aside from the enjoyment, there are numerous benefits one can embrace when playing with LEGO. These benefits are:

 

1. Enhance the ability to focus and concentrate

2. Develop fine motor skills

3. Develop organization skills and patience by testing them

4. Enhance spatial awareness

5. Develop creative problem-solving skills and help students think laterally

6. Provide an environment where experimentation and adventure can flourish

7. Enhanced communication and collaboration

12. Drawing

Everyone, especially the young kids, enjoys drawing. The most common mediums they can draw are paper pens, crayons, chalk or paints. Children love creating art but don’t like cleaning up after that. This doesn’t sound good, but it doesn’t hinder them from expressing themselves. This is because drawing, it’s an avenue for children to expand and explore their imagination and creativity. Plus, it’s a great activity to create a strong bond with the whole family.

 

The benefits that drawing provides are:

  • Develops fine motor skills
  • Allows your child to analyze visually
  • Improves concentration
  • Enhances eye and hand coordination
  • Improves self-confidence
  • Develops problem-solving skills
  • Encourages kids to become more expressive
  • Let your child be more imaginative

13. Do mommy’s hair and makeup

Securing a solid connection with a mother provides a great sense of safety and confidence as they grow up. Additionally, research proves that when a child has a strong connection with his/her mother, it enables the child to develop self-confidence, social competence, emotional stability and relationships with others.

 

Other benefits with mother and child bonding are:

  • Maternal bonds play an essential role in a child’s confidence and success at school.
  • A mother’s bond with her child is more likely to encourage independence and require fewer promptings from teachers.
  • Children who have secure relationships with their mothers are better equipped to handle change, and their social skills are better.
  • Children who have close bonds with their mothers are more likely to recognize other children’s emotions.

14. Blow some balloons

Playing with balloons builds resilience! So, let your kids play tennis without breaking things or just hang the balloons on the ceiling.

 

In the face of setbacks and adversity, resilience allows one to keep going and keep moving forward. This is vital to your kid’s emotional development and coping skills. When a balloon pops, talking it through with your toddler helps build coping skills.

 

The benefits of blowing balloons are:

1. Breathing gets better

2. Improves posture

3. Increases lung capacity

4. Pain relief

5. Raises the quality of life

15. Hide and seek

Playing hide and seek is one of my favorite things to do with my kid. Parents and babies have played peek-a-boo for generations and it has real developmental benefits. In addition to easing separation anxiety, playing peek-a-boo also helps teach the concept of permanence. So, take peek-a-boo to the next level with hide-and-seek.

 

Playing hide-and-seek with your kids provides the following benefits:

1. Minimize separation anxiety and maintain object permanence

2. Develop physical skills and coordination

3. Develop cognitive abilities

4. Become emotionally self-aware and understand impulse control

5. Exercise to tone and strengthen the muscles of the body

6. Integrate mental flexibility and adaptability, as well as good sportsmanship

16. Play a memory game

Memory games improve children’s attention, concentration and focus. Here are 8 awesome memory games you can play with your kids:

 

1. Wonder Forge Disney Classic Characters Matching Game

If your child has seen a couple of Disney movies, then play this fun game featuring the Disney characters while improving your child’s focus and memory abilities. This game has 72 tiles with different versions. Some games are Disney Princesses, Disney Classic, Frozen II, Marvel, Toy Story 4 and more. This game is for kids ages 3 and older.

 

2. Hoyle 6 in 1 Fun Pack

This fun pack contains 6 different games for kids with short attention spans (a.k.a. all kids). Children as young as 3 can play games that will be familiar to them from growing up, such as Memory, Go Fish, Old Maid, Crazy Eights, Slap Jack and Matching.

 

3. Ravensburger 20357 4 Foodie Favorites Memory Game

Play this matching game with your little foodie and see how many pairs you can find of delicious waffles, donuts, avocados, tacos, pineapples, etc. Play it before dinner to get them hungry! The Monsters, Animals and Great Outdoors versions of the game are suitable for children ages 3 and older.

 

4. Melissa & Doug Flip to Win Travel Memory Game

A wooden board is included with this Melissa & Doug Memory Game. There are 7 two-sided cards to prevent cards from going everywhere in your house. Each card has a fun theme like colors, shapes, vehicles, etc. Each player opens the door to match pairs and they can track their points on the board. It is suitable for children ages 5 to 7.

 

5. Little Treasures Matching Letter Game

Memory and spelling skills are improved with the Little Treasures Matching Game. There are 30 double-sided cards in this game, with a three-letter word on one side and a four-letter word. The kids match and spell the words using brightly colored letter cubes. 3 years old and up can play this fun game!

 

6. Pressman Lucky Ducks

Besides being cute, these ducks are also educational. To play this game, you’ll place 12 little ducks on the pond-shaped game unit. While the ducks quack and swim, watch your kids match the ducks (they’ve been given stickers of colored shapes to place on the bottom of them) with the colored shapes they’ve selected. Batteries are required and the game is designed for players ages 3 and older.

 

7. Skip Hop Zoo Crew Memory & Matching Game

Playing this game enables your kids to learn about different animals while playing and improving their memory. This matching game has 24 pairs of cards, including bailey bat, luna llama, eureka unicorn and many more. It’s perfect for 3 years old and older.

 

8. Trend Enterprises Uppercase & Lowercase Alphabet Fun-to-Know Puzzles

Learn and practice the ABCs with your little one and teach them to recognize both lowercase and capital letters so they are well on their way to becoming readers. Match the letters of the alphabet using cards with corresponding images in this matching game. You can practice additional skills by playing the math and spelling versions as well.

 

Another way we love to play is the classic memory game. It’s easy to set up! Just find objects you have in your house. Place the things on the table. Let the children study the objects for 30 seconds. Cover the objects with cloth and remove one object. Ask the children what is missing. As you add more items, the game gets harder!

17. Kids Yoga

Many moms are doing yoga to improve holistic being. Why not do yoga with your whole family? Doing yoga with your kids and spouse can be a great bonding to do. It’s not only for adults. It’s an activity where kids can acquire essential life skills to help them succeed in the world.

 

What are the benefits of doing yoga with your kids?

  • Children who practice yoga are more likely to manage their anxiety.
  • Helps children regulate their emotions.
  • Kids are more confident when they practice yoga.
  • In children, yoga increases awareness of their bodies and mindfulness.
  • Yoga enhances children’s memory and concentration.
  • Children’s flexibility and strength are improved.
  • Reduces impulsivity and teaches discipline.

 

In addition, the whole family can learn yoga without leaving the house. Thanks to these yoga channels on Youtube, they have all kinds of yoga for kids, such as:

1. Cosmic Kids Yoga

2. Bari Koral: Kids’ Yoga, Music, & Mindfulness

3. Go With Yoyo—Fitness Fun for Kids

4. KidsYogaStories

18. Cooking

Cooking is another fun time with the kids at home. Just be sure to guide your kids while cooking. Ccooking with kids provides them with so many skills that will benefit them in the future. Cook with your kids and make memories that will last forever. Your kids will treasure them forever.

 

Cooking with kids has so many benefits. These are some of them:

  • It helps develop language.
  • It develops fine motor skills.
  • Teaches kids science.
  • Provides kids with sensory experiences.
  • Builds math skills.
  • Allows kids to focus.
  • In addition to learning cooperation, cooking with a group of kids teaches them to take turns.
  • Children learn to be confident when they cook.
  • The life skills kids learn while cooking is invaluable.
  • Cooking is an excellent way to build closeness with your kids.
 

19. Make your own playdough

Making playdough is a great way to help kids develop the skills they need to foster independence inside and outside your home. There are numerous activities with playdough to develop the motor skills required to succeed when they start preschool. Another benefit of creating playdough at home provides hours of learning and engagement at home.

 

How to make it? You’ll need a cup of corn starch, 1⁄2 cup of liquid glue and food coloring (to make the dough colorful).

 

Add the ingredients in a bowl and mix them until well combined. You can also knead it on a flat surface to make the mixture smooth faster. It should have the same consistency as fondant icing.

 

The playdough can be rolled out, cut using a cookie cutter and air-dried overnight. As a result, it provides a great surface to decorate, and you can use pencils and crayons.

 

20. Play the opposites game

Learning opposites improves a child’s ability to compare two different things. Using picture cards that illustrate opposites gives the child a visual understanding of the words introduced.

 

You can play and teach the opposite through indoor games such as:

  • Opposite puzzles
  • Opposite songs (Piggy Back songs)
  • Reading opposite books
  • Other opposite Games

21. Cutting practice with scissors

As a child uses scissors, his/her hands develop and strengthen the tiny muscles in his hand. In addition, it develops bilateral coordination because the child must hold the paper, turn the paper and cut at the same time. While cutting, hands and eyes must coordinate since visual tracking is needed. On top of that, cutting practice will strengthen the muscles necessary for proper grip and motor control.

 

Here are some tips on how to cut with scissors safely:

1. Have patience. As those tiny hand muscles are developed over time, using scissors requires a lot of practice.

2. You should start by using heavier paper, like cardstock, so that it’s easier to grip and control.

3. It’s better if they participate in less structured cutting activities, such as cutting out coupons, cereal boxes, and magazines. This is because kids may not be ready to cut lines and complex patterns immediately.

4. Have fun cutting with scissors. Always remember to do it safely as scissors are often sharp and might injure those little hands.

 

Download these free printable cutting practice worksheets for your kids (ages 3-5):

– Unicorn scissors skill (30 pages)

– Cutting scenery for kids (3 pages)

– Cutting practice for preschool kids (10 pages)

We have mentioned 21 fun activities to do at home with your kids. We hope everyone will enjoy these activities and that it will strengthen your family’s bond. Please tell us your experience with the activities you have done with your kids by commenting below.

 

Enjoy and have fun with your family!

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