GIANT LIST OF IDEAS FOR BEING HOME WITH KIDS
( for: actual quarantine, school closures, weekend social distancing, anytime!)
- Have each kid pick a topic they'd like to learn about and spend 30 mins each day on that topic
- Spend one day reading every single picture book we have in the house
- Go through all the old mail laying around (ok, that one's not for kids although they do enjoy helping tear stuff up)
- Bake something every day
- Have each kid write a letter and/or emails to a different friend or family member each day
- Use all of our building toys on one giant structure
- Wash our hands!!!!
- Races of various kinds in the backyard (hopping on one foot, crabwalk, walking backwards, etc.)
- Try stop motion animation with playdough
- Facetime grandparents a lot
- watch everything on Disney+
- inventory the plants & wildlife (from bugs on up) in your yard.
- learn the parts of plants/flowers & how they function (bonus if they learn the Latin names).
- if you aren't too squeamish & have a spare clear shoebox size tote or 5-10 gallon tank, catch some pillbugs (rolly pollies, sowbugs) & observe them (if you really do this, i can tell you how to set them up. i have about a thousand of them currently because it's too cold here to thin the herd & they've been reproducing all winter. they're pretty interesting).
- write a short story & illustrate it.
- learn how to do simple book binding.
- make paper (from your old mail!)
- have the kids help with yardwork in between playing games outside. They're little, but they like getting dirty and "working" in the gardens.
- GoNoodle! Great for guided movement, relaxation, etc.
- Board games, card games
- Legos.
- We have some extreme dot to dot books (1400 dots) that the kids love, especially the 5 year old!
- Lots of reading, playing with the dog,
- Working on learning to sew using stuff we have on hand.
- Card making/scrapbooking projects (mostly for me but kids can do it too).
- Getting the garden ready, we need to weed and work the ground. I might get seeds and we'll set up to have our own starts this year.
- Make tents and reading caves : ) flashlights, tidy snacks, books, and pillows!
- Have a shadow show in the reading tent (we used blankets over chairs or a table)
- Get binoculars and learn about the birds near your house, look them up on google and search for their birdcalls on YouTube
- Learn how to make a stuffed animal