While we are all home trying to keep ourselves busy & entertained I thought I could share some ideas to hopefully make this time a little easier.

Scavenger Hunts

Whether indoors or outdoors you can do some fun scavenger hunts with the kids to keep them entertained! I’ve designed 3 types of scavenger hunts you can download for free! The first one I shared in an earlier post but I’ve added it to this one as well. All of these are downloadable & free; you can find the download links below.

Ice Painting:

This is a pretty easy activity & it will keep the kiddos busy for awhile. Fill a bowl with ice cubes and put some paint blobs on a paper plate/piece of cardboard. Any kind of paint will do, but if the kiddos are younger then I’d suggest using non-toxic paints if they’re prone to putting things in their mouths. Give your kiddo a dry paint brush and let them paint the ice cubes in the bowl.

You could even get a little extra creative & give them some blank paper to paint on with their “watercolor” paints!

Sounds really simple but it’s a lot of fun to see what color combos your child can make & as the ice melts or gets mixed around the paint colors will blend & erase. Essentially creating an endless canvas.

Paper Chain “Diary”:

Did you ever make a paper chain as a kid!? If not, it’s pretty easy to do- you can find video instructions here: https://bit.ly/3dFO6X5
If you want to get even more creative do one or two strips/links a day per person. You and your kiddos can write something interesting about that day or something they learned on the strip(s) and then connect it (them) to the last loop of your chain. It’s a great way to pass some time each day but also a great way to improve memory & recall. Plus, when all this passes it could be something to look back on.

Use Blankets & Empty Boxes to Build a Fort:

 If it’s a nice day outside you can also do this outdoors!

We used to play a game with the forts we built; after making the fort we’d turn the lights down & someone would hide in the fort and the other person would try to sneak in without getting caught. Again, such a simple thing to do but building a fort is a great way to work on problem solving skills as well creative thinking; and of course they can make a game out of it once the fort is built.

* the kids could also use their fort to play hide & seek *

If you’re especially adventurous & live in an area that’s warm enough you can even camp outside & teach the kiddos some great survival skills.

Create an obstacle course: 

This is another idea that can be done indoors or outdoors. Using old boxes or other odds and ends such as chairs, cushions, blankets (remember when you played The Floor is Lava? If not..you pretend the floor is lava, you can’t touch it. Instead you have to get to your destination by jumping and climbing from one obstacle to the other.) and set up an obstacle course for the kiddos to get their wiggles & giggles out. You could time them, give them various challenges like racing to see who gets to the end first, time limits, etc.

Take a virtual field trip:

Grab a snack and nestle up together while checking out some of these amazing virtual tours right from the comfort of your own home! 

Check out this blog post to see a list I compiled of some virtual field trip ideas!

Driveway/Sidewalk art: 

If you live in an area that gets a lot of foot traffic the kids can make some fun/encouraging artwork for people walking by to see and read. The idea would be to put a smile on someone’s face.You could take this a step further & make yard signs if you wanted!

Bake: 

There are so many recipes online, you could look for recipes based on the ingredients you have at home and use the opportunity to teach the kiddos some math & cooking skills. You could even make some goodies for pups with this recipe.

Have a movie day:

Make some popcorn, let the kiddos pick a movie or you show them a movie you love. Grab anything that will make it cozy & turn off the lights like in a movie theater. 

Order Takeout to Support Local Businesses

You don’t have to leave your home to do this, there are a lot of delivery services that are currently offering free shipping or discount codes to support small business/family-owned restaurants.

DoorDash & Uber Eats offer safe & no-contact delivery services with no delivery fees.

To get $5 off your first 3 orders (totaling $15 off) through Door Dash
you can use this link to sign up: https://drd.sh/jPgw5B/

To get $7 off your first order with Uber Eats use the promo code: eats-alissaw1172ue at sign up.

We’d love to have you join the Cherished Cottage family! You can find us on Facebook and Instagram .

** This post contains some affiliate links. The views expressed in this post are that of those here at Cherished Cottage & not of the companies/links mentioned herein. Any downloadable content was created by Alissa at Cherished Cottage for the sole purpose of providing content & entertainment to the reader & cannot be sold or resold. **