Here are some ideas to bring a little fun to your home-bound family.
Indoor Games
- Indoor camping: Enjoy a picnic in the living room or set up a tent in the basement for a special sleepover.
- Build a fort: Find all the pillows, blankets, and couch cushions to build the most elaborate fort possible.
- Indoor scavenger hunt: You can use the letters of the alphabet for this hunt. Make a column on a board for each participant and add rows down the side starting with the letter A-Z and then go around the house looking for the letters or words or items that start with these letters. Then check off the row coordinating with the letter.
- Jump the river: An easy game, using just a ruler and a couple of pieces of string: Spread the strings just one inch apart (using the ruler to measure). Encourage each kid to “jump over the river.” Now widen the river by an inch each time. Explain the concepts of narrow and wide. See how far each kid can jump.
- Perform: Encourage kids to write a play or perform a movie they have watched hundreds of times before.
- Dance! You could have a Silent Disco where everyone puts on head phones and dances to the music of their choice.
Outdoor Games
- Measure the rain: Set out a cup in an unsheltered location and monitor how much rain has fallen, and next thing you know you’ll be cheering for more rain.
- Hunt for worms: When the ground is soaked, the worms need to surface to get air. Kids love examining these creatures and transporting them out of harm’s way.
- Play Alligator: Your front walkway or sidewalk is the river and one person is the Alligator that lives in it. Everybody else has to try to cross the river without getting caught. When caught, they become Alligators until only one person is left. This is the new Alligator.
- Make a masterpiece: Grab the sidewalk chalk and let the creativity flow! Mom and dad can award specific accolades for each drawing.
- Build a fort: Find fallen sticks and branches to lean together and have a fun outdoor hideaway.
- Go for a hike: Find a walking stick and pick a trail! Make sure to stay 6 feet from people you might encounter on the trail.
Do you have any other ideas? We’d love to hear them:
