Pooling ideas for keeping kids entertained at home

[HebeMumsnet]

Afternoon, everyone. Our Content team are working (very fast!) on some pages of ideas for games, crafts and more to keep children of all ages busy in the event of self isolation.

We'd love it if everyone could share their best ideas here - anything from great board games for teenagers to crafts for pre-schoolers, books, activities, made-up family games. It would be a lovely resource for everyone in Chat but our writers will try and incorporate some of them into our own pages so they're all really easy to find at a later date and we can share them far and wide.

Thanks in advance.

I did start a thread for the same thing earlier and posted these, not kid specific ideas but some :)

hyperallergic.com/547919/2500-virtual-museum-tours-google-arts-culture/

popsugar.com/family/virtual-field-trips-to-take-with-kids-47315476/amp

www.virtualvisittours.com/

metopera.queue-it.net/?c=metopera&e=testevent&ver=v3-aspnet-3.6.1&cver=7&man=Production%20Queue&t=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.metopera.org%2Fabout%2Fpress-releases%2Fmet-to-launch-nightly-met-opera-streams-a-free-series-of-encore-live-in-hd-presentations-streamed-on-the-company-website-during-the-coronavirus-closure%2F

amp.usatoday.com/amp/5062122002

www.marieclaire.com/celebrity/amp31693186/john-legend-free-concert-instagram-live-stream-home/

techcrunch.com/2020/03/16/varsity-tutors-launches-virtual-school-day-for-free-amid-covid-19-school-closures/amp/

webroom.net/ - Might be useful for a book club or something? Download books on maybe kindle?

Exploding Kittens is a great card game.

I've bought my kids two of those Gym balls they are having great fun bouncing on them, sitting on them, rolling on them, good lounge exercise while watching telly!

If you have a dog we are teaching our dogs more tricks, I can recommend joining this www.facebook.com/groups/536535283199377/ facebook group if you fancy learning how to teach your dog some tricks - to do it just for fun or working towards trick titles with DMWYD. Super helpful group, and keeps dogs and kids entertained.

For when tensions are running high, I’d recommend breaking out Twister: instant movement, stretching and lots of much needed laughter!

Saw this on FB

I've got all the stuff ready to make a go kart! We live rural and are surrounded by fields..

Also the school do a morning routine in the playground.. wake up and shake up! I'm going to be working with them to get the routine recorded and onto the learning portal for the kids. It's a little keep fit start to the day and really works wonders for them.

Cahoot.multiple users play quiz together can do schoolwork or general topic content
Someone logs on computer to "host"
Everyone else search cahoot or gets app(which is better) on phones,everyone needs be able see computer if not together video call so everyone can see the questions.person on computer finds game and sets up classic mode.game pin pops up
Every one enters the pin then laptop user starts the game
Then question comes up on computer and you then answer via the phones

I'm doing a box filled with different coloured folded slips of paper. Different colours for: Can do alone/Minimal involvement of one parent only/More resource heavy activities. Ideas so far include

Lego
Consequences
Various crafts
Learn to play poker from YouTube
Den building
Design a quiz for both parents

Thanks for these, everyone. We're loving your ideas. Do keep them coming.

Not necessarily a fun activity, but educational- Seneca has free resources for every age group from KS2 upwards. You can sign up as an individual and your children can do some revision/home learning! It does need access to a smart phone, but might work for some who don't have laptops at home?

Also lots of home yoga/workout videos on youtube which could replace PE lessons!

If you are up for some mess or have craft equipment available then here are a few simple science experiments that could be done in the kitchen/at home:

1. Refraction of light- fill a glass up half full, put in a pencil, draw what happens from different angles and then research to find out why.

2. Density jars (warning, messy) Add Oil, Washing up liquid, Water and food colouring to a small glass. They should settle in order of density and you can drop objects in- the further they sink, the more dense they are.

3. Lollipop stick catapults: www.science-sparks.com/how-to-make-a-catapult/ (does need some craft materials) If you're able to make them, then you can do a proper science experiment to see how changing the design (e.g. by changing the number of sticks in the middle) affects how far you can throw an object.

4. Fill a glass half full with water- see which kitchen substances will dissolve and which won't.

5. Adaptation on the above- have the water at different temperatures and see how this affects the numbers of spoonfuls of sugar that will dissolve in each one.

6. If you have a magnet and a compass, you can plot the magnet's magnetic field.

I'll be back if I think of any more!

Kiddie yoga, someone mentioned cosmic kids on YouTube
Also some subscription learning apps are making content free given the circumstances.
Rope them in to do chores with rewards (boring I know but its an essential part of “all being in it together” and it can be made fun)
Put on a Britains got talent show (maybe for bigger families!)
Pancake toss competition

@Stilllivinginazoo there are loads of quiz apps I love em where people can get quiz questions from. Also sporcle site

I said on another post check out scouting and guiding websites for ideas.

Also Wikipedia - search "parlour games" "table top games"

And it will throw up things like charades, I spy, hangman, dominoes, 20 questions...

Saw a post on Facebook which I agreed with - now is also a good time to teach the dc life skills.

Cooking and baking - from choosing ingredients to getting the best value to knife skills, how to use utensils and then onto how to prep and cook/bake - basic knowledge on how to make savoury sauces from scratch, how to make a basic sponge cake, pastry etc

Sewing, knitting, crochet, basic mending skills - even quite young ones can quite enjoy this

DIY - How to hang a picture, change a fuse in a plug, build flat pack (wish someone taught me this!)

Basic decorating skills - a fair few of my Facebook people are using this time to redecorate, lay flooring etc

Gardening - if you have a space you could grow some food or even just herbs, right time of year for many plants too.

Basic housekeeping skills - cleaning, polishing, laundry, ironing

Basic budgeting skills - creating and running a household budget, shopping savvy, meal planning, choosing a bank account, why a credit card is good to use for large purchases in this country

Everyday IT skills (this seems to be something schools don't do too well in my opinion) - how to use a spreadsheet, inc the shortcuts and how to create a working equation. How to use Word or similar PROPERLY drives me nuts what I see these days with poor formatting and randomly inserted tables, images etc, how to do an effective search on the internet and how to work out if a source of info is RELIABLE - people believe ANYTHING on the internet now. How to shop quickly and efficiently online.

For those of you with dc late teens and heading off to live on their own, go to uni etc now would be a great time to cover things like this to prepare them if you're stuck in the house anyway

My DS (11) created a brilliant website, the Random Idea Generator. It gives you a random activity to do at home when you press the button! He’s programmed over 200 and it’s growing all the time. You can sunlit your own ideas for him to add! So proud of him he’s worked so hard on it. He’s had over 15000 hits from all over the world! It’s at :

Www.whatshallwedo.co.uk

We're planning on doing:

Forest School - we're very rural so can easily hide out in the woods for a few hours

Window Art - to cheer up the neighbours, a different theme each week

Planet Earth and similar is on Netflix for an easy but educational fix

I'm hoping to teach them to play the keyboard...? Hopefully there are YouTube tutorials...?

If the weather is good we can transform our garden into dens, tunnels, plant veg and really make it wonderful. I'm going to insist on outdoor play as much as I can though our garden is teeny.

Cooking and planning meals

I'll be asking them to design and make my birthday cake!

And school will send home loads but hoping to do an hour in the morning and an hour in the afternoon... it depends how much they send...!

I'm hoping they can regularly Skype or video message friends and family.

When I homeschooled we used Red Ted Art a lot. I found it on Pinterest, but I think she's on YouTube.

Brilliant craft ideas - usually just using stuff you already have in the house.

Also, BBC Bitesize is brilliant.

The first thing I taught my son to do was soft-boil an egg. He was so proud of himself!

Glasgow Science Centre are going to be doing some online science at 10am every day.

For young kids: indoor beach party!

Dress code:
swimming gear & cover-ups (bonus points for adding goggles/armbands etc).

Paddling pool 'sea'
(for foot dipping, not full-on immersion and splashing.
Protection plastic sheeting down first, obviously).

Yellow t-shirts/ towels etc laid out as 'sand'.
Any shells/ sea creature toys etc.

Ocean waves sound effects (free on YouTube).
Calypso/reggae/steel band music.

Mocktails.
Assemble their own ice cream sundaes.

Who can perform best Hawaiian dance? (Watch online demos)

Most Important:
Deckchair and well-deserved proper cocktail for by then stir-crazy, cabin-feverish supervising adult...

“Glasgow Science Centre are going to be doing some online science at 10am every day.“ brilliant good on em I’d not seen that but then Facebook crazy at moment

Also remember singing exercises and strengthens lungs AND boosts endorphins. Whether along to the radio (I’m an absolute radio girl myself either 80’s or rock) or action songs to amuse the dc or hymns for spiritual uplift (even if you’re not religious, I love singing hymns from my childhood)

MNHQ - would it be possible to do a split between ages ie, pre-teen and teen?

I have two teens and, whilst I’m fairly laid back on screen time, there’s no way I’m having screen time all day every day for the next 3-6months😮. Of course there will be obligatory chores (which they will be informed of from the get go) but non screen entertainment I’m struggling with. Any ideas gratefully received.

@StormzyinaTCup see my life skills post but also

Quizzes

Even teens can (perhaps under duress ) play games like charades, card games (poker would be good as you could incorporate the psychology elements which can't be replicated online), board games, dominoes.

Puzzle magazines/apps rather than the more mindless stuff - crosswords, sudoku, word search. As well as adult colouring you can now get adult dot to dot books and apps. I taught mine to do logic puzzles which are a great way of becoming an expert at problem solving and advanced reading comprehension (a comma can literally make the difference between solving the puzzle or not!)

Crafts - perfect age to do more advanced knitting/crochet once they've mastered basics.

Good time to redecorate their rooms? At the very least very easy to waste time planning and "sourcing" what needs bought. My dd (age 19) can spend hours choosing paint colours and duvet sets

If they're old enough maybe they can master cocktail making? Or home brewing?

More advanced cooking/baking. Soufflé, Choux pastry etc

If they learn and perfect skills it's a massive boost to their confidence

Thanks Graphista, I will go back and look at your life skills post.

I defo think quizzes could be a winner (might do a different themed quiz weekly or something) as would mocktails. My DD had her room decorated last year so will put that on the 'I've exhausted everything else' list but it might be an idea for DS though. We might try jigsaws again (wasn't hugely successful last time I tried but we are in unusual times😉). Poker was a winner when we were on holiday last year which I had forgotten about so that's going on the list

I do need to plan now as I would think I will need to get relevant supplies in ie. paint for DS. Mocktail ingredients etc. etc.

Nightmare
I feel sick reading all this

Glad to help. Jigsaws are a good call I forgot them! Will steal that for similar threads/sm

Place mark

Scrabble.
We're also going to work through all the craft/ game gifts he's had in the last year that weren't nearly so interesting as xbox - til now. In particular the coding wand.