15 Brilliant Ways To Entertain The Kids!

How to create some life-long memories while never leaving your home

- Annabelle Lee

The prospect of an extended period at home with their children is understandably worrying for a lot of parents. Kids need stimulation and an outlet to burn off energy, which is tricky if you can’t readily get out and about. Planning some easy activities to do at home, and in the garden, can really help keep their brains and bodies active.

1 BUILD A DEN

Younger children will love this activity. The easiest way to make a den is by covering four chairs with a bedsheet and placing cushions on the floor, but let your kids experiment with different options: a pillow fort or pushing sofas or armchairs together to make a giant “bed” are both fun ideas!

2 HUNT FOR TREASURE

Create a map of your home and garden, then hide small items around it. Mark each piece of hidden treasure on the map. Depending on your children’s ages, explain the map to them and offer to help with hunting if they need it. You could also do a written clue hunt for older kids.

3 CONSTRUCT LIFE-SIZE DRAWINGS

Stick several sheets of paper together (or use a paper roll) and get your children to lie down on it while you outline their bodies with a pen. They can get creative and colour in their outline, or use stamps, stickers and pieces of material to decorate it.

4 INVENT A STORY

Capture their imagination with a game of chain stories. Each person takes it in turn to write a paragraph of a story and then shows only the last line to the next writer, folding the rest of the paper over to hide it. Once the final person has written their section, read the whole story out loud. You should get some laughs!

5 PLAY A BOARD GAME