As parents of young kids, it’s safe to say we’re all frantically Pinterest-ing and surfing Insta for ideas on how to occupy our precious attention-span-of-a-goldfish children right now. Here are some of our favorite activities so far. These are the activities that we’ve come back to at least a handful of times, not a list of all hundred plus activities we’ve probably done, some of which only capture kids’ attention for a minute or two or were total failures. Also make sure to check out our master list of resources/activities for all things “operation occupy children and survive each day.”

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Our favorite activities:

Water beads - Throw some plastic animals in a bowl with water beads, make water bead soup, pour them from bucket to bucket, anything goes. Plus there’s a certain stress relief, tactical element as well so these are fun for parents and kids alike.

Kinetic sand (and Mad Matter) - Same as with water beads, there are a million different ways to play with these products. My daughter likes to bury things like buttons or coins in the sand and go on a treasure hunt.

Playdough - We’ve been playing with our Colorama playdough and making our own. We’ve been using this recipe from Mama Notes to make our custom batches and it lasts more than two weeks. We’ve thrown in different essential oils and glitter to jazz them up and make them different. Give your kid some cookie cutters or other random toys and this activity can keep them engaged for quite some time.

Sensory Bins - take some of the items listed above and any other knickknacks you can find around your house (straws, plastic figures, pipe cleaners, stones, toy cars, etc) and you’ve got yourself a sensory bin! Sensory bins usually buy us a long chunk of independent play time. I often get asked how my daughter plays with things for so long and I usually kick it off with some type of story, like it’s rainbow day and you have to help the Care Bear figures build a rainbow to get home or Peppa and her friends got stuck in the playdough you have to help them escape.

Matching Games - I bought a few colored bowls in the Target dollar section a while back and they work great for matching. I usually pull a bunch of random toys and craft supplies like pom poms and feathers from around the house that are orange, pink, blue and yellow and have her organize them. We’ve done it frequently enough that she asks if we can play the “organizing game.” I also impulse-purchased this garden veggie game a few weeks ago that continues the organizing fun.

DIY Moon Sand Ice Cream Play - We used this recipe from Mama Notes (although I added an extra tablespoon of oil) and it was a huge hit! I pulled out the same colorful bowls again, pom poms and beads for “toppings” and an ice cream scooper.

Basic crafts - We’ve done all the crafts on Instagram and Pinterest and while I love a good project, often times just pulling out beads and piper cleaners or markers and coloring for a while is just as fun and less work for me.

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Nature walks (in the neighborhood) - We’ve been doing a lot of walking and collecting leaves and petals. The time outside is nice for everyone but try not to walk past friends’ houses. I’ve learned this the hard way.

FaceTime with friends and their kids - FaceTime can be hit or miss for us, but usually if it’s with good friends it’s a total hit. We’ve attempted some FaceTime playdates with friends we don’t see as often and they usually end up with the kids shouting over each other to look at this or that. it’s often chaos but always worth it.

FaceTime story hour with grandparents - I had no idea what a huge hit this would be! Our little one is definitely missing her grandparents so she’s loving having them read stories to her over the phone. It also buys me a little time so it’s basically like quarantine babysitting!

Chalk - It’s pretty much a given that kids love chalk, but we’ve really upped our game over the last few weeks. We made an obstacle course outside and a huge stained glass-style chalk mural with painter’s tape.

Book parties - We call it a party and grab dozens of books, cushions and blankets and have a very long reading party. One of her favorite activities and our go-to when she is upset.

Changing location - Take your Duplos, blocks, Peppas, etc to a new location and they will instantly be more fun for your kids. Put a blanket out and take your toys to the yard, the front porch, the bathtub or just an area you don’t usually play in for something new and exciting.

Playing in the car - I’m not sure what it is about cars, but kids seem to love playing in them! It’s definitely not my favorite activity but it gives me some downtime to just sit in the car while my daughter climbs over the seats and buckles her stuffed animals in.

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Painting nails - This is a fairly new activity for us, but it’s quickly become my daughters favorite. I let her paint her own nails outside and it’s messy and often results in her doing my nails (i currently have one purple nail, one green hand and a few pink nails) but it occupies her and she loves having her independence to do it herself. If you’re looking for some nail polish recs, check out yesterdays post on kid-friendly nail products.

Cosmic Yoga - I had never heard of this pre-quarantine and would have honestly never used it before, but now it’s become an almost daily practice. It gives my daughter a chance to get her wiggles out (especially since it’s been raining here so much) and it gives me a chance to either participate and do something silly and mindless or sit and surf the internet on my phone while she does it.

Screen time - I was one of those parents that did not let my kid watch any screens before she was two and after that made a big deal of “family movie time” and not using screen time as a babysitter. All I can really say now is… that has changed. We’ve had some kind of screen time almost every day (we’ve done movies, Sesame Street and watching the live feed from various zoos and the Monterey Bay Aquariaum) and I’m trying to not feel too guilty about it. This is technically her school’s spring break so I tell her since we’re on vacation we’re allowed to watch movies so she still thinks it’s something special and not a given for everyday.

-Callie

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