I did some thinking, reached out to some parent friends, and pulled together a list (an evolving list) of activities, exercises, crafts, activities and oddities for kids both large and small to consider while sequestered at home. Just threw it up here, on my still-very-nascent blog, for parents and caregivers to use as a resource. Thanks to everyone that provided suggestions, advice and inspiration!
And I can’t help but think, and hope, that a few decades from now we’ll see this spike of particularly talented writers, knitters, programers, painters, book-makers, singers, CAD-designers, linguists and dancers and realize that they all fell in love with their respective crafts when they were kids, sequestered inside because of COVID-19.
In no particular order:
- Cook
- Cooking classes with an available parent, baking, try new recipes, making a meal (cold or hot)
- Or, how about a chef challenge where you set them up with certain ingredients and have them combine them into something interesting
- Make ice cream, try new smoothie recipes
- Exercise
- Walk the dog or play in the yard
- Yoga or workout videos
- Set up an obstacle course inside or in the back yard; a stool to jump/step onto, a mat for burpees/mountain climbers, small weights, an area against the fence for wall sits, etc.
- Movement videos like at https://www.gonoodle.com/
- Hike trails in a neighborhood nature area
- Get a start on the garden by clearing beds, starting planting or plant some trees
- Plant a “pizza” garden with tomatoes, basil, garlic, onions and other veggies to make pizza (or consider other gardens like a “butterfly” one)
- Meet dad in the basement at his new squat rack for some (light, kid-friendly) free weight training (sorry, that one is my own)
- Arts
- Draw, paint, sculpt
Explore new worlds, build a business, construct a fort and more with your old cardboard boxes - Try a progressive drawing where each person draws one part and you take turns
- Make a stop motion animation film (Legos, etc.)
- Type up stories and then illustrate, or make chapter books
- Make a regularly posted on-line tv show for your friends, and have your friends submit segments to add to it
- Learn to crochet, knit or sew
- Take photos, learn to edit them and learn to make online photo albums
- Cardboard boxes (need I say more?)
- Draw, paint, sculpt
- Play
- Purge your old toys. No, wait, rediscover your old toys!
- Build the greatest pillow fort EVER (then build an even BIGGER one)!
- Play airplane by setting up chairs in a room, serve snacks, kids watch a TV show or do activity (thanks to Charles McCool of McCool Travel for this one)
- Two words: LEGO city
Kids stuck at home can attempt new LEGO creations – and submit them to LEGO Inc for consideration - Put together a music trivia contest and have friends/adults play via live stream
- Home scavenger hunt (with real items or taking photos) or ‘bingo’ board of activities
- Create a play for your parents in 30 minutes – then the parents have to create a play for you in response to yours, but they only get 10 minutes
- Good old fashioned dance party – take turns choosing music/music videos
- Good old fashioned games like Scrabble, which teaches spelling and critical thought, and Monopoly, which teaches how to plan your way out of bad luck – and not screw up good luck
- Compute
- Use an online program, like sense-Lang.org, to learn how to type
- Learn to code via sites like Scratch, tynker and tynkerCAD
- Start a podcast
- Learn
- Check out some free online classes
- Use an app like Duolingo to learn a language
- Tour a museum virtually, for free, or check out these 20 virtual field trips
- Search for local attractions (like zoos) doing local Facebook Live sessions daily
- Download Merlin Bird ID and learn how to identify local birds (and make a bird feeder out of old Tupperware to bring them to the window)
- Interview grandparents or parents, even by phone, to really learn and connect (and record the interviews too)
- Get your Rube Goldberg on by emptying a junk drawer and seeing what they can build
- Research the coronavirus, social and environmental issues associated with it, world politics, etc.
- Interview tourism boards, tour operators and travel agents about the crisis and how they’re responding
- Make a map of every destination that you’ve been to yet – and all the ones you want to see in your lifetime
- Adult
- Research and present new options for family tv shows
- Write letters/cards (perhaps one per day) or send artwork to grandparents, deployed military or the elderly in local nursing homes, most of which are closed to visitors (note: please do not actually lick the envelopes, either use a wetted sponge or just tape them shut)
- Have live feeds of kids playing instruments, doing skits, etc. for the same folks noted above
- Scan some stacks of old photos (and ask questions about them too)
- On-line driver’s ed courses
Looking for more great ideas? Then check out some of these great sites too:
- AK on the GO’s suggestions for bored kids stuck at home
- A daily schedule from BIAS Behavioral
- 448 Things to do outside in the Kids Outdoor Adventure Book
- A ‘hunker down’ list from Heydaycreative
- Stuffed Suitcase
- Have an astronaut read you a story via Story Time from Space
- 450 Ivy League courses, online for free
- Listen to kid (and adult) books for free on Audible
- A list of virtual New York City activities
- Imagineering in a Box by Khan Academy
- Austin Adventures’ weekly virtual adventures for kids
- Free photo classes by Nikon
- A virtual trip to the Wizarding World of Harry Potter
- Virtual tours of 12 Frank Lloyd Wright Houses
- Virtual tours of Sweden (with other destinations coming soon too)
- Join Charlie’s Acres Farm Sanctuary on Facebook Live for their Virtual Tour series (every Tuesday and Thursday at 2:00 pm, they’ll introduce you to some of the rescued animal residents of Charlie’s Acres and share their stories)
- Ten outdoor literacy ideas