15 Home Kid Activity Ideas

In this article, I will provide 15 Home Kid Activity Ideas.  Due to the Coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic and the guidance for social distancing, these ideas may come in handy for you now and for the foreseeable future.

Disruption to our Life

It was recently announced that my kid’s school would be closing for the next 3 weeks (and possibly longer) due to COVID-19.  Mentally, we had been preparing for this as other schools in the country had shut down already.

Our normal jam-packed weekends of birthdays, social activities, sports, shopping and church have all come to a screeching halt.

In addition, our upcoming spring break plan of a Caribbean cruise has been cancelled.  We had been looking forward to our first family cruise. However, we feel fortunate to not be part of the recent cruise chaos (see multiple cruise ships stranded article).

Our goal is to not use TV as the primary babysitter during this extended stay at home with the kids. 

With this in mind, I am providing you with 15 Home Kid Activity Ideas. It is a good mix of free and not free activities.

The Free Home Kid Activity Ideas

1. Outdoor Activities

Although this is technically not a home activity, make sure you and your kids spend plenty of time outside.   

With warmer weather right around the corner, come out of hibernation and enjoy Spring.

2. Teach them how to cook

During school nights, it’s a race for us to get food on the table to feed our kids after work.

Now that we have extra time to prep, consider incorporating your kids in the dinner routine. For ideas on meals, check out my Top 5 Quick Meals.

3. Bring out the board games

If you are like me, you may have tons of games and toys barely played with or not even opened yet.

Now is a perfect time to break them out.

4. Reading is good for the brain

The Readbrightly website lists off many positives of reading such as teaching language, creativity, concentration and improving parent-child relationship. Sign me up!

Now may also be a good time to visit the library and stock up on books.

5. Hide N’ Seek and Fort Building

These are classics that everyone loves.  My kids and I have spent countless hours in the basement building awesome forts and finding all the good nooks to play Hide N’ Seek.

6. Coloring and Doodling

This is my oldest kid’s favorite activity.  He enjoys creating artwork not only for himself but for his grandparents, aunts and uncles, and cousins.

Recently, we tasked him to do a drawing for the Doodle for Google contest.  It is fun to see what your kids create.

7. Unleash your child’s creativity

This is my personal favorite activity.  The best and most fun ones originate from my kid’s imagination.  Encourage them to invent their own games.

The Not-Free Home Kid Activity Ideas

8. SmartGames

I am a big fan of strategy games to help our kids learn and problem solve.  SmartGames offer this challenge for kids of all ages and with a fun theme.

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Our favorite one is Little Red Riding Hood.

9. Legos

Legos have done well to evolve with the times.  I love helping my kids build things like spaceships, the Batmobile and firetrucks.  

10. Puzzles and workbooks

Recently, my kids have been interested in puzzles and workbooks.  There are many good ones out there.

Our last one purchased was Highlights workbook. This provides many hours of fun as well as incorporates educational material.

Scholastic is offering 20 free days of articles, stories, videos and fun learning during this time. Visit their Scholastic Learn at Home site for details.

11. Arts and Crafts

Over the weekend, I gave the greenlight to buy anything at Michael’s Arts and Crafts store.  This was very shocking to my wife who knows how frugal I am.

Update: Due to the shelter-at-home order across nearly 40% of the country, this necessitates the need to purchase arts and crafts online.

Like Christmas day, my kids ended up with a treasure trove of activities to last them for the upcoming weeks.

12. Osmo Genius Kits

The Osmo Genius Kits are the closest thing to video games that we have in our household.  Both my kids enjoy playing Osmo games and the educational value is a major perk.

Over the last couple of years, we have collected the following Osmo sets:

• Starter Set – Games centered around alphabet, numbers, and shapes.

• Creative drawing set – Game incorporating kid’s drawings

• Coding set – Your kid sends ‘instructions’ like walk left/right or jump to move the character through the game. Not quite C++ or Java, but a good start.

• Hot Wheels Mindracers – Race your Hot Wheel car through many different challenges.

13. Bounce House

The Bounce house is quick to inflate and awesome way for kids to burn off energy. We love using it whether for a short 10 minute session or a long hour of jumping fun.

Although this is the most expensive activity on this list, it is a life saver when the kids need a place to bounce off the walls (literally).

14. Amazon Music 

Our kids enjoy listening and singing to music from our Alexa devices. 

We use the ‘free’ Amazon Music package as part of Amazon Prime.  Get ready to blast your favorites like Frozen 2, Mulan, Moana and other hits that your kids love.

15. Disney Plus Subscription

This is a ‘grey’ area and almost didn’t make the list as it involves TV.

If you do need to resort to TV, I have found Disney Plus to be a good choice over normal TV, YouTube or Netflix.

Summary

The COVID-19 pandemic has dramatically changed our life forcing us to be homebodies for the foreseeable future.  Thus, I have provided Home Kid Activity Ideas that will keep your kids entertained.

Personally, I hope this extended stay at home also gives me a jolt for my 2020 New Years Resolution Goals. In particular, it’s time for me to hit the home gym and lose some weight.

Please feel free to share your home kid activity ideas with this audience.

UPDATE: As a follow-up, I have dedicated an article to 15 Home ideas for Parents for those that are at home and need ideas to keep active.

About DadMBA: Through his schooling (he does have a MBA) & more importantly being a Dad, he has provided practical advice to family & friends on finances & other life topics.  He loves helping others thus the creation of DadMBA.