So this wasn’t the school holidays we were expecting! And many of us will now be juggling work from home and kids at home which is far from an ideal situation! The age group of 3 years to 5 or 6 years is particularly tricky as most tasks require parental involvement. There’s a time for that but you’ll also need ideas for when you HAVE to do some work or when you just need a break.
Of course there’s TV and iPads but let’s face it, at some point we all feel a little guilty about that. So here are some ideas that MAY give you at least 15 minutes space or even more if you’re lucky!
Online exercise and dance
While YouTube might be the death of us, it’s actually a great resource to get kids active. A couple of channels we like to get the kids moving are:
GoNoodle
Cosmic Kids Yoga
Online art
Our kids LOVE the Art Hub for Kids YouTube channel. This channel is great for kids getting closer to 5 and up. Choose something that’s good for their level, let them watch it once, then it is there turn to draw! We get the kids to do it in pencil first rather than going straight in with a marker. If they get into this it can take up hours of their time.
Sticker books
Stickers are a winner! The Usborne Little Sticker books have been a favourite of ours for years. Booktopia sells The Dolly Sticker ones here. For kids who know their numbers the Crayola Creations Sticker by Number is a great one. You can purchase them online from Spotlight here.
And if none of these appeal to your child’s special interests then just head to a website like bigw.com.au and search for sticker books and BOOM! There are heaps to chose from.
Construction
Lego, building things with blu tack and paddle pop sticks, using boxes to make cities. Let your kids go wild with your recycling. Create a tower or any kind of structure. Old cereal boxes, egg cartons, tape, anything really! It doesn’t need to be pretty, it just needs to keep them occupied!
Older kids can get really creative doing something like this.
Source: Pinterest
Play Doh
Good old play doh! Some mums may loathe it but it DOES keep kids entertained! Play Doh in cupcakes cases is fun and includes cooking utensils. Of the same ilk, Slime is another winner too.
Online Storytime and listen apps for kids
Story Online is a whole heap of famous people reading story books to kids. It is FREE! Click here to access their website.
Our kids LOVE the ABC Kids Listen app, an audio platform designed just for kids. There is a mixture of songs and stories. And again it’s FREE! Our 6 year old loves “Story Salad” – Three words, three minutes, one story salad. You can even play it with them afterwards. And “Imagine This” is great for inquisitive minds. You can find out more here or just download the app onto your phone.
Water play
Hopefully we still have quite a few warm days ahead and there’s nothing like water play to keep kids occupied. Here are some ideas including a dolly bath station, laundry day and window art!
Grouping games
You need one dice and then something to group. It could be marbles, a toy car collection, teddy bears, anything really. Get your child to roll the dice and that is the number of groups they need to make. Then roll again and that is the number of items to put in the group. Repeat! So if they roll a 2 first, that is 2 groups they need to make. Then if they roll a 4 they need to put 4 items in each of those 2 groups. Get them to count up the total.
Or set up something like this and they’ll be occupied for ages!
Make a road
Based on the way cases of wine are flying out the door maybe you could make a box road. Or even just use butcher’s paper.
Credit: busytoddler.com
Alternatively you could use tape and make a road on a table.
Source: Pinterest
SHADOW DRAWING
This one has been shared in the Hills District Mums Facebook group over the weekend. We have no idea if it works but it looks like fun!
Source: Facebook
If you have any great ideas for things that are easy to set up and holds a child’s attention please let us know and we can add them to the list! Good luck over the next two weeks.
