Activities Kids Can Do at Home – Fun, Affordable Easy Ideas & Inspiration

Help the kids have fun at home with these easy indoor and outdoor activities using simple household items, pantry staples, recycled materials and a little bit of imagination!

As families stay home to slow the spread of COVID-19, with the cancellation of countless upcoming events and travel at a standstill, we hope these ideas will come in handy for the days and weeks ahead, especially during the school holidays in April.  Keep the boredom at bay with:

♥️ Indoor Play

♥️ Online Adventures

♥️ Arts & Crafts

♥️ Backyard Fun

♥️ Baking & Cooking

BACKYARD FUN

Mud Play

Playing in mud is one of the best activities the kids can do in the backyard. A bucket and spade is all you need but if you have them, old kitchen things and Tonka trucks are fun too. If the weather isn’t too cold the best thing is to wear as few clothes as possible for less laundry, or make sure they wear things you don’t mind getting dirty. 

Plant Seedlings

Grab some pots and some seedlings or off-cuts and enjoy some gardening.  For older kids ask them to research what you should be planting this time of year.

Sandpit Sculptures

If you don’t already have one, use a pool clam or some tough plastic sheeting to make your own sand pit with some sand from the hardware store or garden supply business. It doesn’t have to be very big – just enough to use sand toys to build small castles etc. Decorate them with leaves, flowers and twigs from the garden.

Outdoor (and Indoor) Scavenger Hunt

Make Giant Bubbles

We love this one. It is so easy – you just have to play around with the mixture (see our recipe here) to get the right formula.

Nature Play Station

So much fun can be had with old kitchen utensils, water, dirt, leaves, sticks and other plant material.  Let the kids get messy and creative with their play.

Look for Insects

Spend time out in the backyard (or front yard) to look for insects. Check under leaves, in trees and bushes and on the lawn.  Look out for butterflies, ants, stick insects, bees and bugs (be careful of spiders!).

Plan a Bird count

How many birds visit your yard in the morning, or late in the afternoon?  Set the timer and ask the kids to count how many birds fly into your yard.  Do they know what type of bird they are? You can learn about the annual Aussie Backyard Count here.

Star Gazing

Now that daylight savings has ended, grab an early dinner, put your woolies on and find a comfy spot outside. Download an app like Star Tracker, point your phone to the sky and start naming contellations like a pro.

Make a Flower Picture

Make a flower picture – get the kids to search the garden for different leaves, seed pods and flowers which they can make into a cute flower picture on the ground. Take a photo to keep as a memory.

Create a Ninja Warrior Obstacle Course

Maybe you have a cubby house, balls, trampoline, mud, grass, stepping stones or steps at your place. Whatever you have handy, turn your backyard into an obstacle course and get fit at the same time! Simply map out a path which involves climbing, running jumping, running around posts or clotheslines, crawling, sliding, swinging, shooting hoops and do it to the best of your ability and then get the kids to follow. The kids will have a blast, burn off some energy and you will also have met some of your daily exercise requirements!

Create a COVID-19 Time Capsule

Grab a large plastic container and fill it with small items to remember 2020 by. Kids might like to choose from newspaper clippings, a photo of their pet, one of their drawings or pieces of craft, a letter, a list of their favourite books and tv shows. 

Get messy (but clean!) with Soap Slime

Making soap slime is a lot of fun and a great sensory activity for kids. This soap slime is made with soap flakes, so at least it’s a clean messy play activity! Get the recipe here!

Make Gloop

What could be more sensory fun than this! Get the recipe here.

Dig for Fossils and Rocks

Even if you have a small patch of spare dirt, let the kids go mining, digging and searching for special rocks or fossils. 

Family, Nature & COVID-19 Guide

A free online guide to support families during COVID-19 restrictions has been launched by Nature Play SA. The 85-page e-book contains over 200 ideas for all ages – READ MORE HERE

Check out more ideas here:

♥️ Indoor Play

♥️ Online Adventures

♥️ Arts & Crafts

♥️ Baking & Cooking

 At Play & Go Adelaide we make every effort to provide accurate information to the best of our knowledge at the time of publication. We recommend confirming times, dates and details directly before making any plans as details may be subject to change.

Image Source: Photos by Play & Go / Infographics as specified

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