With so many parents and kids stuck at home during the Covid-19 pandemic, it can be tough coming up with ideas to keep the little ones entertained day after day.
You probably don’t want to plunk your kids down in front of the TV, especially as the weather gets nicer.
You’ll need to dream up some creative diversions that will appeal to your energy-filled youngsters. These DIY activities are the perfect solution.
Treasure Hunting
One reason why you’ll want to devise some activities that will wear your kids out is so they will fall asleep easier at night. You don’t want them getting to bedtime and still having plenty of energy.
Treasure hunting is a fun game you can play that draws on a child’s creativity and imagination. For this, you will need:
- Objects to serve as the “treasure,” like chocolate coins, marbles, or Legos
- A decorative box to put them in
- Costumes can be optional
- Construction paper and crayons
You can set up this pirate-themed activity within minutes, and part of its appeal is how inexpensive it is. Figure out what small objects you can use as the treasure, and then make a chest out of an old box or piece of kitchenware.
You might decorate it with glue, pipe cleaners, glitter, etc. You can have the kids help you with this. Then, you can hide the box outside, or somewhere in the house if the weather isn’t cooperating.
Next, you can have the kids dress up in pirate costumes. Give them a treasure map that you made, and help guide them to the box by giving them silly clues for them to follow.
Pom-Pom Ball Race
Pom-poms are very cheap. You can order them online or get them at a craft store if you’re in a state that has relaxed its pandemic instructions.
Because they are so lightweight, you can set up a racecourse for them, and your kids can have fun racing them. You will need:
- Several brightly-colored pom-pom balls
- Drinking straws
- Painters tape, or another kind of brightly-colored tape
For this game, take the painter’s tape and mark out a racecourse on your floor. Linoleum kitchen floors work well. This activity doesn’t do so well on the carpet.
Once you have your course marked out, have your kids select their pom-pom balls.
See who can blow through the straws and guide their pom-pom to the finish line first. You can make a little trophy or have some other small prize for the winner.
Make a Cheap Bird Feeder
Getting the kids out in nature is always a great idea, too. If you have a backyard, then any kind of outdoor play will be welcome as we head toward summer.
Making an inexpensive birdfeeder is a way for your kids to interact with nature without you driving them to a park. You will need:
- An empty two-liter or empty twenty-ounce plastic bottle
- A few slim twigs
- A sharp knife or scissors
- Birdseed
- Some string or wire
Take the sharp knife or scissors and make several small punctures in the empty plastic bottle. You might have to do this part yourself if your kids aren’t old enough yet for you to trust them not to cut themselves.
Next, find some long, thin twigs. If you have wooden skewers at home for making shish kabob, those will work too. Feed the twigs or skewers through the holes and the bottle’s interior, leaving the ends jutting out.
Take the birdseed, and pour it into the bottle. You can then make two small holes near the top of the bottle and feed the string or wire through.
Now, find a sturdy tree branch and hang up the feeder. The local birds should become aware of it quickly.
You and the kids can spend hours watching the birds and learning how to identify them.
There are also many other DIY arts-and-crafts projects that you can do with the kids while you’re stuck at home. It’s great to assemble a collection of glue, construction paper, safety scissors, glitter, wooden blocks, and other raw materials that you can use to make sculptures or other small items.
Try to be creative and inspire the kids to do the same. A little TV time is fine now and then, but part of childhood joy comes from doing things with your parents.
These are memories that your little one will cherish. The pandemic time doesn’t have to be boring or scary.
