Ready for some new ideas to keep your kids engaged and entertained? Take a look at the seven activities below that your kids can do at home to exercise their creativity, reach out to others and reflect on what they are thankful for.
1. Have your kids sit in front of a mirror and challenge them to draw a self-portrait.
2. Encourage your kids to write a letter to their grandparents, or people in a local nursing home. Shut in Social Club is an Instagram account that connects people to nursing homes and pen pals.
3. Take some of your old sheets and pillows and ask your kids to build a blanket fort. Once they’ve finished, ask them to build a “campfire” with flashlights or battery powered candles and work together to make up stories or find an audiobook to listen to.
4. Create a theater at home; have your kids work together to use their stuffed animals to put on a play. Record it so they can watch it again after.
5. Start a gratitude jar. Place an empty jar or bowl in a central location in your home, along with pens and paper. Encourage your entire family to take time each day to write down a couple of things they are thankful for.
6. Share grounding exercises with your kids. Grounding is a good tool to use when stress feels overwhelming. Focus first on thinking of five things that you can see around you. Then, listen for four sounds that you can hear. After that, try to smell three different scents. Finally, focus on two things that you can feel. Repeat this as necessary to direct you and your kids to think about the present, rather than worrying about the future.
7. Grow a kitchen scrap garden. Many people miss being outside in nature right now. This is a good time to start an indoor garden with kitchen scraps, like green onions, garlic or celery. Cut the base of the vegetable so it is about an inch to inch and a half tall, then add about ½ inch of water in a container (a plastic take out bowl works well). Make sure to change the water frequently and replant the vegetables into soil after roots emerge.