Quarantining has come with so many ups and downs. I think we are all trying to make the best of our circumstances and some days are harder than others. It’s okay to cry on your couch, pour a glass of wine at 4:30, or feel like the world is falling in on you. These are such uncertain times and so much to process. If there is a silver lining in any of this, I think it’s the amount of creativity we’ve all found to get through each day and stay connected.
Today I thought I’d share some of the activities we’ve been doing with the kids to keep them entertained! And truly, they are fun for me too :)
PAINT! We buy washable paint (but I’ll warn you it doesn’t necessarily come out of clothes). Usually my kids are just in their diapers and we paint on our back deck or in our back yard! We painted cards a while back to send to nursing homes and I had fun painting McKenna’s feet since she is still too little to use a paintbrush (right in the mouth). I sat her in her highchair to have easy access to her feet!
We also have painted toys in a big bin. That activity was really fun. If you don’t have nice weather and can’t do it outside, a bathtub works just fine! Egg cartons are the perfect thing to pour your paint into.
SHAVING CREAM: This is the best most inexpensive trick. And it’s easy to clean. Win win. Have you ever pour shaving cream into your hands and rubbed them together? It’s such an interesting feeling and the kids love it. We put it on our windows for them to play with and they had a ball ‘painting’… Best part- it cleans the windows!
We have also mixed paint with shaving cream and painted. The only place I felt comfortable doing this was in our bathtub because my kids don’t stay in one place and I wasn’t up for chasing them around or risking the paint coming into the house… again, it’s “washable” but it didn’t come out of Charlie’s clothes!
CHALK. We love sidewalk chalk! Charlie has been learning the alphabet and LOVES dictating what I draw.
Not pictured but also routine in our house:
Freeze toys. We’ve taken small little ones around our house and put them in water to freeze. When they come out, it’s fun to watch the kids chip away and see them melt!
Playdough…
“Mommy Monster” – I chase the kids and threaten many tickles and kisses! They think it’s the funniest thing in the world.
Blocks- Mega Bloks are our favorite. We build towers all the time. For McKenna, it’s all about destroying them. Typical developmental phase for her age. So we build and she takes them down!
Reading parties. We’ll grab books and all sit in Charlie’s bed to read together.
Dance parties… ALL. THE. TIME.
Picnics. We will sit on a blanket and have a snack with our toys. Lately we’ve been able to do this outside with our beautiful weather!
Tinkertotsboxes. Charlie loves when we get to play with his “art”…
Stickers. I’ll write the ABCS on stickers and in a permanent marker on a piece of paper, I’ll also write the ABCS and Char will try to match stickers to correct letters. Other times he’ll just use whatever stickers and peel them all and stick them on paper.
Butterflies– we bought a butterfly kit and have loved watching ours grow! We can’t wait to see them transform!
Outdoor scavenger hunt/nature walks… we talk about all the things we see as we walk. Whether it’s teddy bears in the windows or a snail making its way across the sidewalk, we stop to observe and admire.
Other ideas on our list:
“Stained glass windows” – use masking tape to create a design on an outdoor window. Use washable paint to fill in! Let dry and take off tape!
Letter hunt– write letters on a piece of paper and have your kiddo try and find them all through your house!
Build a Fort– put those Amazon boxes to good use!
