Creative Ideas to Keep Your Kids Entertained

If you’ve been social distancing for a few weeks now, you may be reaching the point when your kids are beyond the point of being able to entertain themselves. And, if you’re juggling work in addition to childcare, then you’re probably not feeling super creative. Here’s the good news: you don’t have to be. Kids rarely expect anything grandiose—they just want it to feel special. Even the smallest change in the routine can become a lasting memory that they’re eager to repeat. You may just end up discovering a new favorite game.

These ideas don’t require a lot of materials or planning—just enthusiasm.

• Act out a favorite book, assigning parts to different family members.
• Plan an indoor scavenger hunt.
• Use old t-shirts, sheets, or towels to make superhero capes. Decorate them with your superhero’s name, logo, and images or symbols that suggest their special powers.
• Make DIY Play-Dough.
• Decorate plain labels and cut out your own stickers (plain paper and tape works, too).
• Cut out an image from a magazine or select one of your child’s drawings. Paste it to heavier stock paper or cardboard, then cut out interesting shapes to make your own puzzle.
• Turn your empty Thrive Market boxes into spaceships and pretend to experience life on a newly discovered planet.
• Have an indoor picnic.
• Have your child write and illustrate a new book to read at bedtime.
• Enlist your little one’s help in cooking dinner and pretend you’re hosting a cooking show. (Use your phone to record it and watch it after the meal.)
• Plan a themed dinner based on a child’s favorite movie or character.
• Invent a new dessert bar (using this recipe as a base—but swap out the spices and jam for your own combo of flavors) and give it a silly name.