By Thomas Jackson

 

It is not always easy to find ideas that will keep your kids busy, especially if you’re trying to let them have as less screen time as possible. As a busy parent, there are times in which you simply feel like you need some time to focus on yourself or other tasks you might have.

There are, however, a few different activities that you can try, that will, for sure, keep your kids entertained and engaged all day long. Either that, or you can try to include them into the daily activities and tasks that you have to do, which will have a very positive impact on them.

Here is a list of creative and fun ways in which they can spend their days:

 

Organize Play Dates

If you have the possibility to do this, organizing a play date would be a great way to get your kids to socialize with other ones as well. Not only this will give you some off time, while they will be playing for a few hours, but you will also be glad that your children will start developing various social skills.

The great thing about it is that you can find two or three neighbors that you can trust and that have kids of similar ages. You can then take turns and host the play dates one at a time, and this way you will also get some more time to focus on yourself, when it is not your turn to be the host.

 

Clay Sculpture Contest

Print out a picture of a sculpture, gather your kids around a table and give them a certain amount of time for them to recreate the sculpture. You can let them do the sculptures out of clay, and you can buy the type that is nontoxic and doesn’t stick to surfaces, so that you don’t have to worry about the clay staining your furniture or walls in case things get messy.

This activity will be super fun for the kids, and it will leave them with their own pieces of art at the end, for them to show around to their friends.

 

Include Them in the House Chores

The next idea is to include them in your house chores. Yes, this might sound good just for you, as a parent, but believe me when I say that children love to be included in what their parents do.

For example, when cleaning up, let them wipe the dust. If you’re doing the dishes, ask them to towel dry them. If you are cooking, you can tell them to prepare the ingredients, wash the fruit and vegetable, or even take out the trash.

It will make them feel important, acknowledged, and it will also teach them one or two things about how everything works. It is also helpful if you give them one big task and make a huge deal out of it. This will have them focus on that task and they will try to do it as well as they can, so that they don’t disappoint you.

 

Create Treasure Hunts

This activity will require some time and effort from your behalf but, once it’s done and the children can start, they will absolutely love it!

There are plenty of treasure hunt ideas online that you can look up, and the best part about it is that you can choose the level of difficulty for it, meaning that you can choose the approximate amount of time for the treasure hunt to last.

You can hide an object around your house (or outside, if you have a yard), and hide clues all around. This will have your little detectives scatter their minds in order to solve the mystery and find the hidden treasure.

 

Build a Fort

This is every kid’s dream – hiding around in a cozy, nicely built fort. All you have to do is get all of your pillows and blankets and throw them on top of each other until you have a perfect little fort. For the more advanced version, you can even throw some fairy lights in there, and maybe some healthy snacks.

The kids will have a great time playing inside the fort, and they will remember it for the longest time. If you don’t mind them watching television, you can even choose a magical kids movie for them to watch inside the fort.

 

Play Dress Up

Another way in which the kids can express their creativity is by playing dress-up. You can give them ideas of all sorts of characters and get them to mix and match their clothes in order to look like that certain character. Don’t forget to take pictures, this will be something you will for sure want to remember!

 

Create an Idea Jar

Your kids may have some crazy ideas when it comes to what they want to do when it’s play time – but some of them might not be as crazy as you think. You can gather the kids around a table, get an empty jar and some pieces of paper and start brainstorming.

Ask them for ideas of activities they would want to do when they are bored, put them all in the jar and give it a big shake. Then, whenever you run out of ideas, simply have the kids pick one or more ideas out of the jar and do them.

 

Draw Cartoons

Drawing can easily become boring for children, but you can make this activity challenging, as well. You can ask them to start drawing cartoons, with characters and a plot line. You only need to hand them some paper and crayons and maybe make up a main character/hero and a bad guy. From there on, let their minds get as creative as they can.

 

Author Bio:

Thomas Jackson a professional writer and a member of several writing clubs in New York*.* He has been writing his own songs since he was a child. Young author gets inspiration from live concerts in front of his loved ones. As a writer, besides his songs he often writes papers for an australian essay writer service.