Keeping the Kids Entertained at Home
With many of us spending a lot more time at home with our families, it can be challenging to keep the kids entertained every day, particularly when they tire of the toys they already have. Here at Hotondo Homes we’ve done a bit of brainstorming and drawn on our own personal experiences to come up with a few foolproof and creative ways to keep the kids happy, and more importantly, busy and active within the home!
Getting Creative in the Kitchen
If you love to bake and your kids are a little bit older, this is the perfect time to get creative in the kitchen with them! You can bake a batch of cupcakes or simple sugar cookies the night before, and set up cupcake and cookie decorating stations for them to participate in. All you need are a few batches of icing with a few drops of food colouring to create different colours, some sprinkles, crushed up chocolate biscuit crumbs and chocolate bars, some lollies, and you’ll have a fun family-friendly activity to keep them busy, with the added bonus of having some delicious morning and afternoon tea treats to enjoy in the days to follow.
Indoor Inspiration
As the weather becomes a bit cooler in the mornings, or for those rainy days when everyone’s indoors, a little imagination is often needed. If you have any large carboard boxes ready to recycle, cut the sides and flatten them down, then grab a black marker and draw a series of roads all over the flat cardboard. Your kids can grab their toy cars and assorted small figurines to play on the tracks together in their bedrooms or in the living area as you get on with household chores. Alternatively, you can pop a plastic mat down on the floor and set it up as an art easel or canvas to get their creative juices flowing with some painting. If you have a small camp tent you might also like to set it up in the living area and set the kids up inside with some cosy blankets and pillows, a few books and toys, and some snacks so they can do a bit of indoor camping! No tent? No worries! Just grab your dining chairs, a few big blankets to drape over the top and you’ve got a perfect indoor fort for the kids to enjoy while they’re stuck inside.
Bath Time Fun
A big bottle of bubble bath does wonders to elevate normal bath time to something a lot more fun for kids, but to take things to the next level you might like to order some coloured bath foam and bath crayons so the kids can have some fun and get creative! There’s also the option of using washable paint diluted with a bit of water and some paintbrushes to really let their artistic flair shine through as they paint a few masterpieces for you to admire. With any of these bath products, it’s always a good idea to do a patch test first to ensure it will wash off your bathtub and tiles properly once the activity is finished.
Backyard Fun
If your new home has some outdoor space, now is the perfect time to add a few items that the kids will be able to enjoy for years to come. Many retailers sell sand pit kits that just need some quick DIY assembly and a few bags of sand added to it. Grab the kids’ cars, beach buckets and spades, and they’ll be happy for hours digging in the sand. If you have a covered alfresco, and a baby who’s getting increasingly mobile, you might like to purchase a hanging swing that can be bolted from the beams so your baby can enjoy some fresh air and activity outside with their older siblings. If you have older kids, a larger swing set, while undoubtedly a splurge when it comes to cost, will no doubt be a huge hit and keep them happy for hours on end. For simpler things that toddlers and younger kids can participate in, investing in some bubble wands, sidewalk chalk and a water table will give you a stash of fun activities to encourage outdoor play at home.
Being at home doesn’t have to be a dull or stressful ordeal. By making a plan and having plenty of things on hand to keep the kids entertained, this can become a time that the entire family embraces and enjoys together as we all make the most of this extended time at home.
