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24 Things to Do at Home With Kids of All Ages

From water play to hydroponic gardening

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Whether you’re trying to work from home when your kid has the day off school or simply at a loss for how to keep your spawn entertained on a rainy day, being cooped up at home with a restless brood can be a challenge, particularly if you don’t have some quality indoor activities at the ready. Fortunately, we rounded up quite a few at-home activities for kids that will delight everyone from your tantrum-prone toddler to your too-cool-for-school tween.

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What to Do with Kids Ages 2 to 4

The toddler/preschool set is particularly challenging, since they require eyeballs on them at all times. But there are quite a few activities (indoor and outdoor) that will keep them occupied with minimal effort on your part.

1. Set Up a Tape Escape with Their Toys

What you need: washi tape or painter’s tape. What you do: Tape their fave tiny toys (think Moana figurines) to a wall or table—any place that’s within their reach. (Thanks for the brilliant idea, @themamanotes.) Peeling the tape is a fun challenge that not only promotes dexterity and fine motor skills but also keeps a kid entertained for many minutes.

2. Get Creative with Sorting Bins

Muffin tin? Check. Various pasta shapes? Check, check. Now, encourage your toddler to get to work sorting everything into its own compartment in the tray. (You can also use bowls if you don’t have a muffin tin.) Your job: Sit in close proximity and keep tabs while they develop this math skill, which, BTW, teaches them to analyze data, find relationships between objects and apply rules to groups. (Find loads of ideas for more objects to sort here.)

3. Use Deconstructed Boxes for Large-Scale Art

Depending on your situation, you may have a roll of kraft paper handy for your kids. If not, it’s time to get creative. Grab a box from the recycling and break it down. Then lay it out—and tape it up if you have to—so your kids can color, paint and create. The bigger the canvas, the longer they’re entertained.

things-to-do-at-home-with-kids: a young girl wearing swimming goggles and playing in the bathtub.
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4. Turn the Tub Into a Water Park

Parental supervision required, but the bathtub doesn’t have to be reserved for bath time only. Let your minis wear bathing suits as they hit the “pool” for some water play with their favorite toys. You could even use kitchen items to let them set up some pouring stations.

5. Throw a Puzzle Party

This age-group has a lot of puzzles, and they may have even mastered some. For a fun new (and time-consuming) challenge, take out every single puzzle and mix all the pieces together...then ask your child to put them back together. This task helps toddlers learn shape recognition, concentration and goal setting. And we speak from personal experience when we say it keeps ’em engaged.

6. Hit Up the Actual Park

Playgrounds are an obvious choice, but if they’re not your favorite place to spend an afternoon, it’s A-OK to just let them burn off some energy in a wide-open field. Bring a ball, a Frisbee or a scooter if there's a blacktop area nearby (we love the Micro Mini) and don’t forget the finger foods.

things-to-do-at-home-with-kids: three kids watching tv and eating pizza.
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7. Cue Up ‘Daniel Tiger’s Neighborhood’ or ‘Sesame Street’

Good news: TV for toddlers is OK as long as you are selective with the type of content they’re consuming. For example, both Daniel Tiger and Sesame Street provide loads of interactivity for little ones, whether it’s through question-and-answer segments or vocab and math lessons (all hail the letter of the day!). And if it gives you a much-needed sanity break, that’s incredibly valuable, too,” says Lindsay Powers, author of You Can’t F*ck Up Your Kids: A Judgment-Free Guide to Stress-Free Parenting.

What to Do with Kids Ages 4 to 6

This age-group lives for burning off steam, so being cooped up indoors on a rainy day is going to be a parenting challenge, for sure. But there are still many activities that will keep them busy. (Exercise included.)

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8. Play a Round (or 10) of Freeze Dance

Sometimes entertainment is as simple as cueing up their favorite tunes and encouraging your kiddos to cut a rug. To up the ante, just pause the music, so they have to freeze in zany poses and make their silliest face. Game on.

9. Take a Virtual Kids’ Yoga Class

God bless social media. Can’t make it to your favorite kids’ yoga class? You can still help them “namaste” thanks to the amazing humans of the world who are making their in-person classes virtual. (Shout out to @karmakidsyoga—peep their IG Story feed for class times.)

10. Plan a DIY Self-Portrait Session

Tools required: paper and crayons or markers—whatever you’ve got. Next, set up a mirror and encourage your kids to sketch what they see. This is a great opportunity to teach them about a wide range of facial features—say, their eyelashes or their nostrils. But it’s also important to let them get creative as they sketch their own vision of themselves: “Purple eyes? How cool!”

things-to-do-at-home-with-kids: a mom and daughter on a bike ride.
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11. Go for a Family Bike Ride

Encourage your kids to join you and blow off some steam on a bike ride—even if it is just around and around your cul-de-sac. The exercise will benefit everybody and fresh air is a mood lifter, too.

12. Cue Up an Educational YouTube Channel

Even the most superhuman parents rely on screen time in a pinch. Just try to prioritize educational content over the crap. Our favorites include The Brain Scoop (which features eight- to ten-minute episodes about everything from baby dinosaurs to shark fossils) and TED Ed (your kids will love learning fascinating facts, like how the Brooklyn Bridge was built).

13. Orchestrate a Color Scavenger Hunt

This suggestion comes courtesy of blogger and author of the upcoming book Be Curious Joy Cho. Use paint chips, construction paper, crayons—whatever you have at home—to make a rainbow “map.” Then send your kids all over the house to look for each color on the map. Looking for yellow? Maybe it’s a puzzle piece. Maybe it’s a banana. The sky’s the limit.

What To Do With Kids Ages 7 To 11

Slightly older kids are better at entertaining themselves, but they’re also more prone to languishing around in front of the TV and/or complaining that they’re bored. To avoid this scenario, here are some ideas to engage them without any screen time involved.

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14. Teach Them the Art of Having a Penpal

Encourage them to write to their grandparents. To their bestie from summer camp. To their cousin. No matter the recipient, make it fun by busting out your prettiest paper and pens and supplying a few talking points. (What have they been up to lately? What did they eat for breakfast?) It’s the family version of a penpal and we promise grandma will be pleased.

15. Bust Out the Board Games

Rotate who in the family gets to choose today’s game, then let that person be the “game master”—reciting and keeping tabs on the rules, getting the first turn and announcing the winner at the end. If you’re wondering what games to include in the rotation, we’re fans of Jumanji, Ticket to Ride and Sorry! for this age group.

things to do at home with kids turn on a podcast
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16. Turn On a Great Podcast

So many podcasts are geared toward this age-group, whether your kid is into open-ended questions like “Are unicorns real?” (they’ll love But Why: A Podcast for Curious Kids) or science that explains the history of boogers and farts (try Brains On!).

17. Get Outside to Garden

Again, fresh air = good. Assign each kid a task, whether that’s watering the plants or weeding around them. (You could even have them set up a log where they can take notes on blooms and growth.)

18. Stay Inside and Bake

Stress baking applies to kids as well as adults. Now’s the perfect time to encourage your tween to perfect her recipe for banana bread (or any of these tasty and kid-friendly baking recipes). Once star baker status has been achieved, she can even try her hand at something more ambitious, like these “everything bagel” cauliflower rolls. Yum.

things to do at home with kids family book club
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19. Start a Family Book Club

Pluck a book off the shelf that you’ve been meaning to read forever or head to your nearest local bookstore to pick up a new read for your very own family book club. If you only have one copy, give everyone a chance to read, then plan a time when you’ll discuss over fun snacks. And if a book seems too hard, there are a zillion other options that will lead to great conversation: Maybe it’s a cool article. Or a movie. Heck, it could even be that podcast you just finished listening to. Get creative!

What to Do with Kids Ages 12 to 15

20. Play Minecraft Together

In case you missed it, Minecraft is what all the kids are playing these days, and it’s actually a pretty complex video game that appeals to adults as well. Team up with your kid and work to build anything you can imagine in the Minecraft world while enjoying some QT together in the real one.

21. Test a New Recipe

Teens can easily experiment with cooking on their own food and slightly younger kids who need some assistance in the kitchen will still benefit from the fun and creative activity. Who knows maybe they’ll even discover a passion for the culinary arts?

things-to-do-at-home-with-kids: a mom and kids tending to an indoor garden.
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22. Start a Hydroponic Garden

Indoor gardening is a seriously neat and very rewarding hobby. Encourage your kid to start a hydroponic herb garden and you’ll both be amazed by how quickly it starts to grow. (Psst: We highly recommend this compact and very effective model from Idoo.)

23. Make a Bucket List

One easy way to beat boredom is simply by doing a little daydreaming about things you wish you could do. Have your kid draft up a bucket list just for fun…and cross your fingers that there’s nothing too crazy on there. (Base jumping? I think not!)

things-to-do-at-home-with-kids: an old scrapbook.
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24. Start a Scrapbook

Crafty kids will be able to spend hours on this creative, hands-on project. Swing by the craft store to pick up some supplies and leave the decorating to your child. The end result will be a treasured keepsake that inspires pride and brings joy for years to come.



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Senior Director, Special Projects and Royals

  • Writes and produces family, fashion, wellness, relationships, money and royals content
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