175+ Fun Activities for Kids at Home

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If your family life has been turned upside down as schools close for weeks on end, we hope this resource offers you a lifeline.

While we’re “all in this together,” our situations differ widely. That’s why we’ve included ideas for both easy low-tech activities as well as online adventures. This is a crowd-sourced list with input from many sources, and we are open to adding more!

Make a daily schedule of activities and use our free printable routine charts
Complete a simple science project with things on hand
Take a virtual field trip to visit museums from around the world
Get outside if you have an uncrowded area you can access
Make salt dough (like Play-Doh)
Need to get out? Take a short road trip and play tech-free road trip games
Write a letter to someone in a nursing home. Help the child with writing if needed.
Make a secret code and take turns writing a short note each day
Take a walk or hike with kids, away from others
Have a giant bubble blowing contest to see who can make the biggest bubble outside
Make a tent in the living room and “camp out” over night
Set a time each day to do Facetime, Skype, Whatsapp, or Hangouts with friends and relatives
Order supplies for a felt board and let the kids create different scenes
Buy shaving cream and create art on the kitchen counter or in the shower
Keep track of how many books are being read with free printable reading charts.
Organize a family play to perform.
Dream a little! Plan your next family vacation together—real or imagined
Collect stones outside and paint them (or see this kit that includes rocks and paints)
Check to see what your local library is offering for e-books and audio books without having to go physically
If you have Lego Lovers in the group, do a Lego Challenge
Plan an exercise routine and take turns leading the class
Watch a favorite movie or cartoon, but come up with different endings
Create a band with homemade instruments.
Write stories together
Paint or draw together
Watch cooking videos online for making food from another country, then prepare it.
Make a scrapbook together
Play card games like Old Maid, Go Fish, and Rummy
Write and mail a letter to grandparents, other relatives or friends.
Do word puzzles and word searches
Make your own beaded necklaces
Teach kids a new skill to help around the house.
Do yoga as a group! You can find virtual classes for different ages online
Plan menus for the next 3 days; see what children can help with
Do jigsaw puzzles. Here’s one for young kids and one for older kids.
Do a household scavenger hunt
Make art from stickers and construction paper.
Save delivery packages and let the kids make towers or buildings with the boxes
Play dress-up.
Hide and seek with objects in the home
Have kids make their own list of ideas of what to do when they feel bored.
Plan for at least one board game each day
Have everyone keep a journal and read from it when this “isolation” is over!
Use glitter sidewalk chalk outside
Schedule time to bake together a few times each week
Include music practice in the daily schedule
Build a house of cards.
Teach kids basic sewing or knitting tips
Pick a favorite song and have your child learn the lyrics to it.
Learn to make origami animals
Start an online blog about each day’s activities and experience
Draw a map of your neighborhood together and include street names
Blow bubbles outside
Make up trivia questions about each other and do a guessing game
Pack a “picnic” lunch and eat it on a table cloth or sheet on the floor
Get bikes and strollers and take an outside break
Make popcorn
Create your own mazes or puzzles
Do finger painting
Make homemade mini pizzas
Clean out a closet together
Play freeze tag
Decorate an old pair of jeans
Teach kids to play chess. “No Stress Chess” is a great way to start.
Create a family scrap book and include information about each person
Build paper airplanes and have a paper airplane flying contest
Search through the house to find things you can donate
Have a family dance party at home—crank up the music!
Paint each other’s faces. Here’s an inexpensive face painting kit.
Take pictures of nature and share them
Have a water balloon fight in your own yard. Get this to fill a lot of balloons at once.
Play “school” with a child being the teacher
Take turns saying tongue twisters. Here’s 20 of them!
Have a karaoke night
Put ideas for building Lego shapes in a jar and pick one
Play video games together (include parent!)
Go on a virtual zoo or aquarium adventure
Bake cupcakes or cookies and decorate
Play Rock-Scissors-Paper
Learn and tell each other jokes; write them down.
Learn to juggle (YouTube has demos)
Do jumping jacks once a day between activities
Let kids play supervised in the bathtub
Watch some classic TV like Sesame Street
Make sandwiches with special cutout shapes
Plan dinner and movie at home; make it special
Play a sport outside if you have a back yard
Play Emoji Uno
Wash the car as a family
Create a playlist and have a dance party
Make a fort with pillows, blankets and sheets; let kids read in the fort with a flashlight
Have children clean and re-organize their room
Learn 25 basic ASL signs for sign language
Put on an art show
Have a staring contest to see who laughs first
Set a timer and play hot potato
Learn the art of making hand shadows
Create a gratitude board and add to it each day
Make a time capsule
Play “Simon Says”
Write a letter to a soldier Details here
Search on Google for “How to draw…” adding special interest (Spiderman, Princess, etc.)
Make special cards for friends, teachers, relatives
Go to a local park
Create a picture book and staple pages together
Make a collage from old magazines
Jump rope outside
Tidy up toys and select some to give away
Make tie-dye clothes with old white t-shirts (directions on YouTube)
Set up a little play store with items and prices
Play dominoes
Get some butcher paper and tape it to the kitchen table for painting
Find age appropriate chores to keep kids busy
Decorate place mats using construction paper
Keep the balloon in the air—try to see how long kids can keep it in the air with their hands or make a “paddle” with a paper plate.
Customize a chore chart for each child and print it
Build a city – Flatten out a box and sketch a road with marker or crayons. Add elements to the city using little toys. Make trees with paper.
Wash toys in a big bin. Let kids do this outside or in the bathtub; they will love playing with the water
Have a stash of crafts in a box that you can pull out to let the kids get creative. Check Michael’s for inexpensive items.
Break out the board games! Find your old favorites or explore some of the newer ones
Go for a neighborhood walk
Have an arm wrestling or thumb war contest
Fly a kite. Make your own kite or purchase a kite.
Do a little yard work. Most kids will enjoy being outside and can learn to help.
Find a task related to laundry and teach new skills
Make holiday ornaments any time of the year!
Do watercolor painting
On a clear night search for constellations/stars
Have a family barbecue with no outside guests
Teach kids social manners they might not be aware of
Play a game of would you rather
Create a family tree on paper
Make a “favorites” recipe book
Introduce child to some basic home repair skills
Watch a movie or cartoon and critique it like professional critics
Play laser tag outside
Watch reruns of old shows
Play hide-and-seek
Clip pictures of a dream home and describe what you like
Learn some beginner magic tricks or purchase a magic kit with over 350 tricks
Collect leaves or other items in nature
Start a flower or herb garden
Have water fun outdoors with an inflatable pool or a slip-n-slide.
Have kids pretend you are having a formal dinner and set a fancy table
Snow outside? Teach how to shovel a driveway
Sock toss: Arrange baskets or buckets in a room and keep score tossing wadded up socks in!
Play cards with a regular deck. Look up the rules to games like Rummy, War, and Solitaire
Feed the birds or ducks
Make snowflakes from coffee filters that have a circular bottom. Fold 2 or more times then cut out little circles and triangles
Play classic board games like Scrabble, Candy Land, Trouble, Sorry, or Monopoly
Keep to a schedule and include a few “recess” breaks
Play checkers or backgammon—lots of kids haven’t been taught these games
Write in a diary
Set up indoor hopscotch with masking or painter’s tape
Use flashcards as a quick 5-minute learning period during the day
Play charades
Play “opposites and synonyms” for a word list you develop
Practice cutting with safety scissors to strengthen fine motor skills
Take a virtual tour of a farm
Interview each other for a pretend job
Play freeze tag
Start an online book club with children’s friends
Listen to Wow in the World for interesting info
Make a sticker book with paper, stickers and staples, then decorate it.
Study clouds—learn about different types and draw pics of them
Set up an obstacle course
Practice spelling using fun words
Take a virtual glider around the world from the Smithsonian
Try sensory sorting of objects, like colors and texture
Set up an Easter egg hunt any time of the year with plastic eggs (avoid candy)
Teach your kids morse code
Play tic-tac-toe
Make slime from glue
Solve a maze
Plan races in the yard (sack race, hop on one foot, walk backwards, etc)
Check out free educational websites
Turn on Zumba or Dances on YouTube

Have any other fun activities that we should add to the list? Feel free to let us know by leaving a comment below.

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