Admin
May 5, 2020

Thinking of activities for kids so they’ve got things to do in quarantine? I was inspired to write this article when I saw a video my friend had recently shared. It was a video of her daughter, Martina, narrating her activities during this quarantine.

There’s a ton of things and activities you can enjoy with your kids! So, here’s a list of what my kids and I do as well!

1. Keep to a schedule.

This is what keeps me sane most of the time this quarantine period, and this is what keeps my kids having something to look forward to every day as well. It helps you show the line up of activities you have for them, but it’s better to plan this with them already after a day or two so you’re sure that they’ll like the activities as well. Here’s a sample!

2. Create activity bingo cards.

You can make up rules for every activity card. For example, a one-line strike would have a prize, starting with small ones like a piece of candy, while completing the whole Bingo card would mean getting a bar of chocolate.

• Read at Home Card. Whether it be educational or fictional, this would be a good time to teach your kids how to love reading. You can start with storytelling, and then move forward to teaching them how to read (if they still don’t). It’s good if your kids already have books at home, but you can download or print out online for good reads as well.

• Household Chores Card. This is a win-win for both of you. You can start teaching your kids how to help you do simple to complex chores at home, and reward them after completing the card.

3. Let them tune into their musical side.

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• Play instruments. There are a lot of video tutorials on the internet you and your kids can find. If you’ve already got an instrument at home, stick with that for now and try to learn with that.

• Sing-alongs. A lot of mobile applications can be downloaded for karaoke or sing-alongs in this day and age. You can also try singing along to internet videos of minus-ones or music videos of your and your kids’ favorite songs. Or, you can just go acapella and sing your hearts out!

• Dance crazes. Start simple. You and your kids may even want to try the ones in TikTok! If you all like it, you can take it up a notch and learn a one-minute (or more) dance routine every week.

4. Do arts and crafts.

• Painting. There are a lot of ways your child can enjoy this. There’s ice painting, sponge painting, glass painting, baby blocks painting, and a whole lot more!

• Drawing and coloring. Your child can do the traditional one, wherein just having a clean piece of paper, pencils, and crayons would do the trick. But, if you have the means, you can also print out photos that they can color.

• Origami. This may be a little difficult, and you’d be extra more careful of your children using scissors or getting a papercut, so this is better done if you have older kids.

• Journaling and Scrapbooks. Designing your kids’ journals or scrapbooks could include all three mentioned. But this would also help you teach them to start writing their thoughts and memories every day.

5. Have entertainment.

• Hold a movie marathon. Involve your kids in preparing the snacks for this so you can hold a picnic as well. Get a clean blanket, place it on the floor at your living room, and hold a movie marathon of their favorite movies. If you’ve got more than one child, they may want to watch a different movie from the other. You can hold a game to determine the schedule of which movie would be played first. Have a backup plan though, in case someone gets cranky!

• Play games. Veer them away from technology for now and take out those board games and card games. You can also play charades, play with them and their toys (that could also involve storytelling), or play and dress ups (superhero dress ups for the boys) and role-plays.

6. Create a vision board.

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This is for your kids to have a visual of what they want to be and what they want to have in the future. May it be a news anchor or a football player, have a mansion or a castle, explore the Philippines, or go to another country. No matter how absurd or silly it may be, let them dream. They can cut out these photos from old magazines and newspapers (or if you have the means, you can print too) and paste them on their vision board.

7. Let them meddle in the kitchen.

• Baking. This is a great activity for your kids to learn about measurements and doing things with exactness in such a way that they would enjoy it. Imagine them getting excited and learning how to measure two liters of milk, two spoons of chocolate chips, or a half cup of flour, and so forth.

• Cooking. This may involve measurements as well, but you can view this as better training for their taste buds, such as knowing if the food needs more soy sauce, salt, or water, as well as their sense of time, such as knowing how many minutes an egg should be boiled or fried, etc.

8. Have regular home study.

This may not be as exciting as the other activities, but this is a good way to instill discipline on your kids when it comes to their studies. Prepare homework materials and activities for them and have them do it at least an hour each day. Using flashcards for your younger kids could help make studying easier and entertaining as well. You can involve bribes too, such as getting a prize once they finish their assigned homework.

I’m sure you and your kids have a thing of your own as well. But these suggested activities for kids could help you and your kids have fun bonding and learning moments. Do you have other suggestions for things to do in quarantine? Leave a comment and share the activities you do with your kids!