My daughter and her new friend Ella stared up at me, each with a stuffed animal dangling by her side. “We’re done playing house,” my daughter said, giving me a look that said, Help! What else can we do? “Well,” I began, my mind racing for an idea. “There are so many fun things to do.” Glancing out the window at the sun I thought, They should go outside. “Ella,” I said. “Your mom packed your bathing suit, right?” The little girl nodded, and both girls grinned, their feet dancing in place with excitement. Yay! I thought with relief.
I didn’t know my daughter’s new friend very well, but I wanted the girls to have fun and for Ella to tell her mom she wanted to play with my daughter again. So, I needed some creative ideas to keep the kids busy. Have you been in this situation too? From now on, I’m keeping the list below handy. Here are 12 activities for kids to make your house the best place to play.
1. Turn on the hose.
Set up a sprinkler or fill a kiddie pool. Let the kids use Super Soakers, squirt guns, plastic cups, or bath toys.
2. Have a picnic.
Spread a blanket on the grass and invite all the stuffed animals your kid knows. Have lunch or snacks ready to go in a basket or cooler.
3. Bring the chalk.
Trace and color the kids’ bodies as they lie on the driveway. Draw roads for dump trucks or ride-on toys. Use painters’ tape to create and color mosaics. Draw pictures on the sidewalk.
4. Create with mud.
Use a pail of water to soak some dirt. Make faces using stones and wood chips. Create mud pies and serve up “dinner.” Let naked toes squish the mud for some sensory play.
5. Explore nature.
Give the kids iMOM’s Nature Scavenger Hunt and let them search in the back yard. Use binoculars to look for birds (use empty toilet paper rolls in a pinch). Have the kids lie on their backs and stare at the clouds. What “animals” are floating by?
6. Hide it and find it.
Using stuffed animals, plastic dinosaurs, seashells, or other small toys, have one child hide the items around the yard and then have the other child find them. The child who hid them can call out “hot” or “cold” to help the other. Or you can hide the toys for both kids to find!
7. Go for a stroll.
If you have a park nearby, why not walk? Or, if you have a river or pond in the neighborhood, bring bread for the ducks and make the walk part of the adventure by chatting about what you see along the way.
8. Make art.
Unroll some paper and tape it to the floor. Use washable paint and let the kids draw with fingers or bare toes. Another option is to use an easel or wear art smocks at the kitchen table. Have stickers or glue handy for kids to decorate with art scraps. Let the kids get messy!
9. Get crafty.
Glue dried pasta or old buttons to paper to make a face. Turn empty egg cartons into caterpillars with googly eyes or pipe-cleaner antennae. Use paper lunch bags to make puppets. Make sure your child’s friend brings his home with him to show his mom!
10. Dress up.
Let the kids dress up in old costumes: princesses, pirates, ninjas, dogs, lions… Encourage the kids to create a skit and perform for you.
11. Use what you have.
Blankets for forts. Play dough to roll out worms. Kinetic sand for toy dinosaurs to explore. Tea set for high tea with your best-dressed attendees. Music for a dance party. Board games. Cornhole. Badminton. Bikes.
12. Prepare ahead of time.
Using a freezer-safe container, fill it with water and drop in some plastic dinosaurs and other little toys. Let the container freeze overnight. At the playdate, wiggle free the ice block on the driveway and let your kiddos be paleontologists. Have them chip away at the ice with plastic hammers to set the toys free!
What other activities for kids have you tried at your house?
