Activity Ideas for Parents: How to Keep Children Entertained at Home
If you’ve recently found yourself juggling work and homeschooling as a result of the current climate, you’ll know it’s not easy. For many people, working from home poses its own challenges, but looking after your children full-time can make it more difficult. Of course, having the opportunity to spend time with your little ones when they would usually be at school or nursery is great; however, trying to keep them entertained can be a battle! To help you out, we’ve created a list of fun and educational activity ideas for nursery children and preschoolers.
Paint a rainbow
To spread positivity and make passersby smile, lots of children are painting beautiful rainbows and displaying them in their living room windows. Getting involved is a great way to occupy your little ones and join in with the UK-wide movement - and doing so doesn’t require lots of materials. Paint, chalk and felt tip pens can each be used to colour in a rainbow, which could be printed from the internet or hand-drawn.
Try finger painting
One great way to keep your children entertained for hours on end is to get stuck into finger painting. Your little ones will love the opportunity to get messy and you’ll have some lovely pictures to keep in a scrapbook or pin to the fridge. All you need to get started is some child-friendly paints and a selection of paper or card - there’s no need for paintbrushes! Consider doing this on a wipe-clean surface or laying a tablecloth down before you begin, as this will make clean-up much easier.
Get gardening
As we move closer and closer to summer, the warmer weather is slowly but surely making an appearance. If you have a garden, take advantage of this and teach your children how to dig and plant seeds. This is a brilliant way to educate your children, help them develop valuable motor skills and give them a sense of responsibility. Whether you love to plant flowers or vegetables, teaching your children how to garden is a great way to keep them entertained.
Seek celebrity help!
Luckily, many well-known faces have put together a timetable of fun activities available via YouTube and other online channels. These are often free and educational, designed to give busy mums and dads a break during the lockdown. One particularly popular activity is PE with Joe Wicks, also known as The Body Coach. He streams live exercise classes for children from Monday-Friday at 9 am from his YouTube channel, giving your little ones the chance to let off some steam!
Bake delicious treats
Baking is a fun activity for parents and guardians to enjoy with children of all ages. It can also be a very educational activity; older children can help with weighing the ingredients, while younger children can help with stirring and sieving. Don’t worry if you don’t have lots of different ingredients or baking equipment; from banana bread to oatmeal cookies, there are lots of treats to make with ingredients you probably already have in the cupboard.
Draw and colour in
This is a classic activity that will keep your little ones’ hands occupied. All you need is paper and a selection of colouring pencils to ignite your child’s imagination. There are many great ways to make this a more interesting activity, too. For instance, you could ask your child to lay on a big piece of card or paper and draw around them. You’ll be left with a lifesize outline of them to be coloured in or decorated with card, feathers and stickers.
Play dress-up
There’s nothing children love more than dressing up! This is a great chance for children of all ages to escape their boredom and step into a new world for a few hours. If you have a dressing-up box, this is the time to get it out! If you don’t, there are ways to make fancy dress costumes with items lying around the house. For instance, cardboard boxes could be wrapped in tinfoil and repurposed as robot costumes. Or, an old white t-shirt could be painted with black dots for a sweet dalmatian costume. Be as creative as you like!
Watch a film or television show
After a busy day of baking, dress-up and doodling, your little one may enjoy a touch of peace and quiet in front of the television. There are lots of educational cartoons and television shows available to keep children entertained and give you a bit of time to get on with work or household chores.
Make musical instruments
Another great way to entertain your little ones at home is to create a band of musical instruments with household goods: one of the simplest to make is a cardboard guitar. To make a cardboard guitar, all you need is an empty tissue box, the inner tube of a kitchen roll and a couple of elastic bands. Cut a hole in the side of the tissue box and push the inner tube through to create the guitar’s neck. Then, wrap elastic bands vertically around the box’s tissue insert to resemble guitar strings. Your little ones will love making this and strumming along to his or her favourite nursery rhymes!
Enjoy a singalong
Singing along to nursery rhymes will keep your little ones entertained and help them recap the lyrics for when it’s time to go back to school! Enjoying a singalong is also a great way to help younger children develop important motor skills; many children learn words and phrases from popular nursery rhymes, so play a couple as they eat breakfast or get dressed for an educational start to the day.
Practise yoga
In recent years, more and more people have introduced their children to yoga as a way to stretch and relax. There are many child-friendly videos to follow on YouTube, so leave your little one to follow the instructor or join in for a morning stretch!
Try your hand at around the world cooking
Teach your children about other countries and cultures through the medium of cooking. This is a great way to keep your little ones occupied while helping them to develop important motor skills and learn more about the world we live in. You could whip up a delicious meal or bake sweet treats while listening to music from your chosen country and looking at pictures of it online. Although you’ll need to take charge of the food preparation and cooking, your little helpers will be able to help with mixing and tasting!
Set up virtual playdates
We can thank technology for keeping us connected during lockdown - for children, this involves virtual playdates! Talking to friends can help little ones stay occupied at home and retain a sense of normalcy, even while schools and nurseries are closed. If you have a computer with a webcam or a tablet with a front-facing camera, setting up a virtual playdate has never been easier.
Build a den
With their very own den, your children will never want to leave the house! Building a den is a great activity for the entire family to get involved in and children of all ages will love it. There are lots of different ways to create a den, depending on how much space you have. For instance, you could put a pop-up tent in the garden and fill it with blankets and floor cushions. Or, you could hang a blanket across the backs of chairs for a makeshift shelter.
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At Sandfield Day Nursery, we’re proud to offer first-rate childcare for children in Nottingham. We work hard to create a stimulating and educational environment for children from six weeks to five years old, with top of the range facilities and dedicated nursery staff. We strive to inspire young minds and create an environment that fosters learning and development. For more information about our range of childcare options in Nottingham, please don’t hesitate to contact us at Sandfield Day Nursery today.
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