When being stuck at home, kids will inevitably end up getting bored, some sooner than others.
When they struggle to find something to do, some kids manage to find opportunities to get into mischief – especially the younger children.
But remember, children do benefit greatly from unstructured play time!
To encourage kids to stay out of trouble, it may help to suggest some fun activities to do at home.
Being home can be a blessing in disguise!
You can fill your day with different fun activities and crafts.
There are many household items that you may have that would be perfect to use in various craft projects.
Children can take these non-craft-related items and transform them into something new.
Read below for some creative ideas that children will love to create and then can play with!
6 Toys Children Can Make Themselves & Then Play With!
Homemade Play-Doh
Making homemade play-doh is a perfect idea for keeping children engaged.
There are so many different recipes, even edible ones!
As a parent, try to be as hands-off as possible.
All kids need is a little direction and a child’s age also needs to be taken into account.
Help them to gather their supplies, instruct them of the steps, and once they are done, they can play with it.
A simple craft, with hours of play!
For this recipe, you will need corn starch, shaving cream, and food coloring – there is no cooking involved.
First, put one cup of shaving cream into a bowl with two cups of corn starch.
Once that is all mixed, add in some drops of food coloring.
From here, it is time to play!
This activity is also a great idea because it enforces independence, and helps to improve hand-eye coordination.
Felt Food
One game that children enjoy playing is pretending to be a chef in a restaurant.
They love using play food and kitchen items to feel and act like a true chef in a kitchen.
Although making real meals is something that young children need a lot of supervision with, pretending to be a chef is a positive way for them to experience the process of cooking without the dangers of a hot stove or sharp knife.
To get creative, have children make their fake food!
Felt is a wonderful crafting medium to use for this because of its versatility.
In fact, there are many ways that children can learn with felt while having fun at the same time!
Although many people don’t typically have bunches of felt at home, you can buy it almost anywhere online.
Once you have the materials, kids can cut the pieces into anything they want.
For example, a red felt circle can be a tomato or an apple.
Tan felt can be cut into a slice of bread, and gray felt can make the utensils!
As an added bonus, using scissors pushes the expansions of their fine motor skills, too!
DIY Tray
To expand on their dreams of being a master chef, the children are going to need something to carry all their delicious food to their restaurant guests.
What does every waiter or waitress need to deliver food? A tray!
Anything flat will do, but one item that most people have in the house are photo frames.
Even if you can’t find any lying around the house, several online stores offer many photo frames in different shapes and sizes to choose from!
Put them to use by letting the kids convert them into a tray for their pretend restaurant. Start by having the kids paint the outside frame.
Then, when reassembling, get the kids to draw on a piece of paper the size of the glass and glue it on top (as an added layer of protection)
Alternatively, you could attach a patterned piece of paper or more felt over the glass.
Last, attach two handles across from each other to finalize the tray.
Cupboard handles work flawlessly, however, using ribbon or twine by gluing the ends to the bottom work just as well.
Hand Puppets
Another fun idea is making hand puppets.
This craft allows children to be creative in many ways.
They can make the puppet to be whatever they want, and then put on a show entirely from their point of view.
Making puppets is an ideal outlet for children to dive into self-expression.
For this craft, you can use several items you probably already have in the house: a brown paper bag, old winter gloves, old socks, or even a rubber dish or medical glove.
Then, your child can use various craft supplies to bring their character to life.
They might use pipe cleaners for hair along with googly eyes, or use markers to show what they have in mind.
Whatever it is, they have the complete creative freedom to explore their imagination.
Toy House
Many kids have heaps of dolls and action figures.
Some children like Barbie dolls, while others prefer Marvel characters.
Allowing children to play with such items is another opportunity for them to be creative and understand themselves through self-expression.
So, to foster and encourage them to play with dolls and action figures, something they can make is a little toy house!
After all, their cherished dolls need a home, too.
Most likely, there is an array of cardboard lying around the house (or in the recycle bin). The more you use the sturdier the house is likely to be!
This craft might need more supervision than others because cutting cardboard can be tough for children.
Also, using a hot glue gun is the easiest way for the pieces to stick together to create a solid construction.
Once the house is built, children can paint it to add their own artistic touches.
Below is one that my daughter made for small characters such as Lego Mini Figures, Shopkins, etc.
A dollhouse, whether made out of cardboard or the real thing is a must have when it comes to language development and learning through play!
Bath Crayons
This last idea is a bit different from the rest.
Does your child love to take baths or showers?
One way to get them excited about it is through making bath crayons.
Just like the homemade play-doh, they only require three simple ingredients that you likely have at home.
The supplies you will need are a bar of soap, food coloring, and warm water.
Start by using a cheese grater to shred the bar of soap into a bowl.
Once that is completed, add about a tablespoon of warm water and some drops of food coloring.
After the water is added, it is easier to mix everything by hand.
The warm water will help the soap to become flexible to form a different shape easily.
Take a cupcake tray or spread the mixture out on a piece of wax paper and use cookie cutters to make different shapes.
Once the figures are made, set aside until they are hard. The kids can take them into the tub or shower to draw on the walls, or themselves, to wash away with no remnants left behind.
A fun and simple way to support proper hygiene!
Have Fun Creating and Playing Together!
Being at home with your children is a positive occurrence that many do not usually have.
Scour the house of items not being used and get the creative juices flowing.
There are endless possibilities that the kids will love to be part of and keep them occupied for hours.
While being bored has many benefits for children, there will be times where adults have to help children get creative.
As you can see it’s not that hard to do!
