Things to do when the kids are stuck at home

With Coronavirus concerns shutting down school, you may be looking for a way to occupy the kids AND spend some quality time with them.

Here’s a list of some ideas with things you probably already have in your home.

Bake Cookies – Got flour, sugar, baking powder, milk and eggs? Then you have cookies. It’s a great opportunity to show your kids how to bake and help with the process. Check out recipes here.

Personal Pizzas – Grab some pizza dough or flatbread or even wraps. Break out some toppings, sauce and cheese and let the kids create their own personal pizzas.

Science Experiments – There are plenty of experiments you can do around the house – and your kid will learn something too. Click here for some ideas.

Make Slime – What kid doesn’t like playing with slime? You can make your own at home. Click here to learn how.

Make Modeling Dough & Clay – These are great for letting kids explore their imaginations and work on fine motor skills. Making it at home has the added benefit of teaching them something and following instructions. You can learn how to make these at home here.

Play a Game – Does your kid know how to play Charades? How about card games like Hearts or Go Fish?

Pull out the photo album – If you are going to be spending more time with the family – why not pull out the old photo albums and tell your family history and show them photos of you when you were their age and what it was like for you growing up.

Play a Drawing Game – Each person comes up with with a person, animal, object or phrase and draws it. Then everyone has to guess what it is.

Origami & Paper Airplanes – break out the paper and some online tutorials and make something. There are plenty of easy tutorials out there for kids. Challenge them to come up with an airplane that can fly the furthest or the longest.

Puzzles – Fun, challenging, requires teamwork and motor skills – and takes a lot of time. It’s a perfect time you play some music and break out a puzzle and spend some time with the kids.

Tour a Museum Online – There are a lot of free virtual tours of all kinds of museums including the Smithsonian Natural History Museum. Best of all your can do them from your computer. It’s fun and you may just learn something.  Click Here to find tours

Cincinnati Zoo Safari Featuring Fiona the Hippo – The zoo is closed, but they are doing a safari on Facebook. Click here for information.

Animal Livestreams – There are several websites that show livestreams of animals. Earthcam offers a lot of choices. Check it out.

Family Movie Night – Cuddle up on the couch with some popcorn and a movie. If you can’t agree on one – take turns choosing which to watch. You probably don’t want to watch THAT movie that your kids play on a loop – so make a rule that it’s a movie no one has seen yet.

Treasure Hunt – Hide trinkets around the house and challenge your kids to find them. Make sure to set ground rules like the object can only be in certain rooms – AND NO TRASHING THE HOUSE!

Cardboard Box Craft Time – You probably have a bunch of cardboard boxes around the house. Give the kids some markers and let them go nuts. Challenge them to create a car or house.

Arts & Crafts – Here are a ton of arts and crafts ideas.

Pillow & Blanket Forts – This one shouldn’t require any explanation.