35 Things To Do With The Kids At Home During Quarantine

It’s hard to maintain calm amid the growing concerns of the Coronavirus. Being “socially distanced” especially when you have kids in the house makes it even more challenging. I’m sure the idea of calm is a much needed state of mind. You feel like you’re living in a twilight zone. I’m sure the kids are going bonkers, and you’re at your wits end. Here are some boredom buster ideas, many of these are to be done together.

THINGS TO DO DURING QUARANTINE:

When at home, I’m sure you agree that the number one item on our list is to teach responsibility, and make the kids do…CHORES! Use a reward system, make it visual, concise and easy. Make it fun. Make it rewarding and get everyone involved. The goal should be to get the kids to help around the house and train them as early as possible, otherwise, you’ll be stuck cleaning and picking up all the time. Stay tough and stick with a plan, but always make chores age appropriate! For the older kids, step it up with $$$.
Come up with age appropriate chores. Print out and let them know what’s expected.
DIY fun! Find materials in the house and create something amazing. Some of these projects can take minutes if you have all the materials, and others can be a few hours (which you can spread out over the course of a few days).
Bring the Beach inside! Build a sandless beach in the living room and pretend to spend the day by the ocean. Use simple props (beach towel, sand buckets, beach ball, games, cooer with drinks), unless you want to go all out. Dress in swim gear. Easy to do, and without much guidance.
Get the kids to ORGANIZE the house! Take one corner of the house, maybe a corner of their room. Build a table, organize their closet, focus on their toys, or a subset of their toys. Show them how to take care of their stuff, and perhaps they will take pride in caring for their things even more. Don’t stop there, continue around the house.
Organize the backpack room. This will be so important for each and every school day. An organized room will bring less anxiety before the school day begins. You and your child may not forget things in the morning. That may save a return trip to school because of forgotten stuff.
Organize toys. Start with the ones that you have the most of, and display them proudly. Bring a smile to your child and show them you care.
Cook something together each day! With each meal that you’ve completed, snap a photo, and stick it to the fridge. This way you can all see how much you’ve progressed. See if you can cover the fridge with your meals.
Board Games Galore! Dust off the old games and put aside the video games (you may have to reward an extra hour of video games for an hour of board games). Will it be monopoly, chutes and ladders, scrabble, jenga, cards or how about pin the tail on the donkey. Compile 10 and pledge to do one a day.
Start a 1000 piece puzzle (or a 500- or 250- piece depending on the age of the kids). Even if it’s not something they are enthusiastic about, place it on a table and make it a centerpiece, to be worked on for half an hour a day. The goal is not to choose one that you can finish in a day, but over a month. Team work! Remember, the key is to get them away from the video games or phones.
Plant seeds and start a vegetable garden! Spring is here. Buy the 30 or 50 pack assorted heirloom vegetable seeds.
If it’s too cold, start one inside and line up small planters along the kitchen window. Set up about 10-15 indoor herb planters. Nothing livens up your dishes like fresh herbs! Having them handy is great, and these garden planters will make your kitchen look more modern or more rustic, depending on how you display and what pots you use. Try parsley, basil, cilantro, red mint, rosemary, sage, peppermint, lavender, dill. Get the kids involved with the selection of seeds and pots, setting up, planting, and watering. Then use the herbs to cook your dishes. That’s truly from farm to table.
Don’t get left behind. Do some math. Here are some online math sites.
Room Redo! Build a closet, store stuff away!
Paint a room! Even if it’s one wall. You’ll feel like you accomplished something, together.
Bring back some classic movies. Have a movie and popcorn night. Layout blankets, sleeping bags, or pitch a makeshift tent.
Make a great Living Room Obstacle Course. Get in some exercise. Involves crawling, jumping, swinging. Get the kids involved with building it. There are endless creative permutations. Make it challenging, silly and safe of course.
Scavenger hunt!
Reduce stress and make a squishy ball. You’ll be surprised how easy it is to make one. Use colorful small balloons and stuff with sand.
Paint Easter Eggs earlier and start decorating for the holidays. Plan ahead!
Take the coloring books out! Bring out the adult ones too! Place them all on the table with crayons, markers and color your heart out! It’s a major stress reliever. Sample coloring pages:
Set up a few easels and have a paint and sip punch party.
Then color your windows with window markers. Yes, these exist. You can get a set at Michaels. No worries, they wipe off so easily.
Take a walk around the neighborhood. Everyone is home and probably out in their yard. Explore and take a breath. Meet your neighbors if you haven’t done so already, but at a distance.
Map out your garden. Take a section, and plan out a child’s garden. Get the soil ready. Then buy flowers or plant seeds.
Don’t forget to exercise. Youtube has many stretch, yoga, or select exercises based on the part of the body you want to focus on.
Read, Read, Read. Click on the Links!
Write, Write, Write. Start journaling.
Bike anyone? It’s time to pump up the tires and go for a spin. There are some great bike trails around the state, and most likely nearby.
Then take it to the parks (but practice social distancing)
Clean out the garage. It's called Spring cleaning. If you've been a hoarder, you'll find all sorts of things, and maybe get ready for a Spring Garage Sale...when we are all allowed to, of course.
Go see the Cherry Blossoms. They will be blooming soon.
Hide and seek! Great for all ages. You can play this inside and outside your house.
Make the kids pick up the sticks and branches in the yard since no gardener is going to show up to work.
Check your local and national parks for socially distance family hiking.