There is no end to kid’s activities at home, but it can be hard to think them up on the spot. To help combat this brain freeze here are a few of my favorite activities for kids stuck indoors on rainy days or who need incentive to enjoy the outdoors. You may be using them as a break or reward while homeschooling, or they may come in handy if you have a long wait at a doctors office or laundry mat. No matter where you are, these emergency boredom breakers will come in handy on some of your less exciting adventures.
1. Magnifying glasses magnify the fun of kid’s activities at home.
a. It doesn’t matter if you are looking for fun indoor activities for kids or fun outdoor activities for kids; either way a magnifying glass should be in every emergency boredom kit. All you have to do is show how to hold and focus the magnifying glass, they will do the rest. The magnifying glass will open up worlds of exploration for little adventurers. If they need a jump start or run out of steam, make sure to check out woven fabric, hair, an eye, cereal, bread, and of course bugs.
2. Fort building is one of our favorite kid’s activities.
a. Your fort can be as simple as a couch fort or a sheet draped over a few chairs. Either way, one of the greatest activities for kids around the house is fort building. This is a great way to introduce backyard camping and grow an interest in camping adventures. If you want a super cool and free fort, check out this FREE tutorial on how to build a single pole teepee with a sheet, some cordage, and one stick. (Click here) Fair warning, once you build the single pole teepee you may need to come up with some creative ways to get them to come back inside the house. Never overlook the power of creating a unique private place for older adventures too.
3. Pooh Sticks: one of the classic activities for kids outdoors.
As more and more of your neighbors begin watering the grass, you are bound to have a few tiny rivers show up in your front yard gutters. You can also take a quick walk to a local park or green belt with a stream. Any where there is running water there is an opportunity to enjoy this amazing game. Pooh sticks and paper airplanes always remind me that it only takes a moment to make a memory. My family enjoys this game so much that I wrote an in-depth article for anyone who has never played before. (Pooh Sticks Article)
Pooh Sticks Quick guide
At its most basic level to play Pooh Sticks all you need is anything that floats and some moving water.
Face upstream and drop your items into the water.
Ideally you have a bridge for the Pooh Sticks to race under, but that is not a must.
Little adventurers and big adventurers can find great joy in watching the fate and journey of these tiny vessels.
4. Quick indoor activities for kids
It is easy to forget about the board games and puzzles that have accumulated over the years. This quarantine is a great way to bring back the family game nights so often pictured in Norman Rockwell paintings.
Sometimes you don’t have time for a long board game, or you find yourself in a doctor’s office or stuck in a tent on a rainy day. Tic Tac Toe can be an amazing asset in these times, but one of my favorite emergency games is called Dots and it is super easy to play.
How to set up a dots game
All you need is something to write on and something to write with.
Make the rank (this just means to draw a series of dots, evenly spaced in a horizontal line on the paper. Use an even number of dots.
Make the file (like before draw a series of dots, evenly spaced, but this time in a vertical line on the paper. Once again, use an even number.)
Fill in the rest of the ranks and files with dots to give you a game board that looks like the one in the video below.
You can use graph paper, or just eyeball the dots. As long as they are fairly close to evenly spaced you have a board. Make sure to use even numbers so that there can be an uneven number of squares in the end. It is rare that a perfect game is played, but if it ever happens this odd number will ensure one person has more squares then the other.
How to play dots
Player one draws a line from one dot to another.
Now it is player two’s turn to draw a line.
You can make your lines anywhere on the board.
Once a square is completed, whoever made the last line gets to put their initial or color inside the box.
At the end of the game the person who marked the most boxes wins.
This is a super fun way to pass the time at any age, and it is a great way to practice letters or numbers while on a reluctant homeschool adventure. For older kids, have them write a spelling word or math formula instead of their initial. Anything they are having to memorize works.
5. Kid’s kitchen activities.
A great way to have some fun and teach valuable skills is to invite your little adventurers into the kitchen to help. Pass on a secret family recipe or tell a story of how you learned a certain skill. Cooking is also a great way to sneak in math, reading, or science skills to spice up your homeschooling lessons. Here is a super simple bread recipe if you want to get your little adventurer started on the road to self-reliance. There always seems to be a run on bread, milk, and toilet paper.
Easy bread recipe
Put about 2 cups of plain flour in a mixing bowl.
Add 1 teaspoon of salt and 1 teaspoon of sugar.
Add 1 tablespoon of soft butter or soft margarine.
Mix the butter or margarine into the flour with your fingers.
Add 1 packet of dry yeast to the bowl and use your fingers to mix it in thoroughly.
Add ½ cup of warm water (around 100° if you have a thermometer) to the bowl. Special note: you want the water to be warm but not too hot. If it is too hot your bread will not rise.
Stir the mixture with a wooden spoon until it starts to thicken. When mixing the dough with a spoon becomes to hard, knead the dough until it starts coming away from the sides of the bowl, leaving the bowl clean.
Sprinkle flour over a flat work surface and place the dough on it.
Begin to knead the dough and continue until the dough is smooth and stretchy. To knead push the dough away from you with the heal of your hand, then squash it back into a ball with your knuckles. Now turn it over and repeat the process.
Continue to knead for about five minutes.
Lightly brush the dough with vegetable oil then wrap a clean dish towel loosely around it and put the bundle somewhere warm. The warmth will activate the yeast which will make the dough rise and swell.
Wait until the dough doubles in size, then punch your dough to knock the air out of it. This usually takes 1 – 2 hours.
Shape the dough into the form you want your loaf to take.
Loosely cover the bread again, and allow to rise until about double in size. This usually takes about an hour.
Preheat the oven to 450° F
Place the dough on a greased baking tray
Bake for about 25 minutes.
The loaf is done when the bread turns golden brown and you can hear a hollow sound when you tap the bottom.
Take your loaf out of the oven and place it on a wire rack to cool.
Let the bread cool, then enjoy the taste of fresh bread.
For more cooking with kids ideas, check out this website devoted to cooking with kids. (click here)
Kids can play alone or in groups when school is in session. Going over my childhood, it seems hanging out with one or two friends lead to many of my favorite memories. With the current situation it is important to find ways for our little adventurers to still enjoy the stress free and casual camaraderie of playing with friends. While the virus is certainly unfortunate, the quarantine gives us a rare opportunity to step into the role of schoolyard friend with our little adventurers. Hopefully these ideas can help you if you find a few minutes to adventure, but do not have anything planned. I know they may seem simple at first glance, but give them a shot and you may find great memories from your own childhood flooding in. We would love to hear what some of your go-to quick adventures are, or if you come up with any ways to spice up our old favorites. Have a great day and remember, there is no such thing as a small adventure. Stay safe out there, see you on the adventure trail.