How To Keep Children Busy At Home (5 Days of Fun Activities)

Do you have young children at home with you? Whether it’s due to Covid, if it’s the summertime, or even a rainy weekend, I have five full days of activities lined up for you!

When Covid hit Canada in March and everything had to shut down, my online mom groups were desperate to fill their children’s day with fun activities!

When I was working as an ECE during March Break, I came up with a fun theme for every day and created crafts/activities around that theme. Thinking back to those times, I created my “5 Days of Activities” centered around themes your children will hopefully love! I shared them with my groups months ago and a few moms messaged me with pictures of their children enjoying the activities!

Get inspired! With my examples, try and make your own special at-home activities out of your own child’s interests! Here’s my list of how to keep kids busy at home!

Monday (Beach Day)
-Have your kids put on a summer outfit, let them wear floaties, sunglasses, even sun hats inside the home
– Lay out beach towels in the family room and put on some beach music, a summer movie, and make lemonade or iced tea together
– Blow up some smaller pool toys if you have any
– Bring out summer themed plates, cups, even make a “picnic” to bring to your beach
setup and eat lunch on the towels
– Beach crafts can include making fake sand and letting them play in a large plastic container with some plastic toy fish or shells lying around the house (Recipe for sand: 4 cups flour, 1/2 cup baby oil)
–Make jelly-fish sun catchers (picture below)
-Make a DIY jelly-fish in an empty plastic bottle (You’ll need one of those smaller produce plastic bags that you put your onions/veggies in at the store). Fill the bottom of the bag with an inch or two of water and tie this part off with a string or rope. Cut up the bottom part of the bag into strips to make it look like jellyfish tentacles and add the entire bag into a bottle of water. Close and seal the lid!

Tuesday (Jersey Day)

– Have kids wear their favourite jersey at home, it could be for any sport
– If you have some lying around – use face paint in their jersey colours
– If not, let them look for accessories like bracelets, necklaces, or headbands that have the same colours – and if not, make them!
– Crafts can include tracing and cutting out construction paper in the shape of actual jerseys that they can design, or they can print and colour team logos
– For activities, watch a game on tv if one is on, or they can have a tournament by playing their favourite sport if the weather is nicer! Have them make scoreboards with chalk, paper, and they can even construct their own trophies with whatever they can come up with! Kids are so creative!

Wednesday (Treasure Hunt Day/Pirate Day)

– Have the kids pretend to be pirates or treasure hunters
– Activities can include having them make or gather small treasures around the house and take turns hiding and finding them (they can colour and cut out their own doubloons or coins, diamonds, etc). Or, their treasures can be their favourite stuffies/whatever they can think of!
– You can be super creative with this theme – have them make a Fort/Boat/Pirate Ship with pillows and blankets
– Another fun activity: they can draw a treasure map to follow as they navigate on their boats or island looking for treasure
– They can make their own Pirate Hats with construction paper
– Watch Disney’s Peter Pan (Perfect if you have Disney Plus!)

Thursday (Super Hero Day)

– The main activity for this day: kids can create their own Superhero with clothes/costumes and/or
– They can create their own super power(s), draw and colour what their costume would look like, etc
– Fun activities can include watching kid-friendly super hero movies/cartoons
– Make superhero masks with feathers, jewels, construction paper, glitter and glue. Use what you have at home!

Friday (Pizza Day)

– Make your own dough if you have the ingredients, if not you can always put some tomato sauce (sometimes we even use pesto) and cheese or whatever toppings you have lying around on pita/flatbread and broil it in the oven
-Kids can construct their own chefs’ hats
-Have them set the table for lunch with Italian themed or coloured paper plates, tablecloths, napkins (decorate with green and red balloons too if you have them)
-Play “Bella Notte” song from Lady and the Tramp or play the scene from the movie in the background
– Our favourite activity: have a pizza making competition with play-dough! Have your kids construct a small fake oven for the play-dough  and “bake” their pizza creations inside of it!

Good luck and have fun parents!

TKM