8 Engaging At-Home Activities for Kids

Activity #1: Scissor Practice

Draw different lines on paper and have the kids cut on the lines. If you give them lots of praise and encouragement, it will last longer as they gain confidence. 🙂 Depending on how old your kids are, this could be an activity that keeps them busy for a while!

If you want to get crazy, get some of the cool scrapbook scissors and let them use those, too. Not only is it fun, but you’re also helping them gain fine motor skills. Look at you winning at the parent thing!

At-Home Activities for Kids #2: Notes to Friends.

Bring back the lost art of the letter and have your kids write notes to their friends to send. Kids love getting mail, and they may be missing their friends during school breaks.

Bonus: Going on walks to the mailbox to mail letters is a good opportunity to get outside, even if it is cold.

Activity #3: Paper Hop

This one has many variations you could try. Tape different colored paper down and call out the colors they can hop to. If you don’t have colored paper, just color on white paper, or draw shapes, and have them hop to specific shapes. You can do colors, letters, numbers, and customize it any way you want! We also liked saying things like “sit, “stomp, “kneel,” or “put your hand on” each color. 

Another fun idea is homemade Twister. It teaches kids right from left and balance! Plus, they have so much fun doing it.

At-Home Activities for Kids #4: Paper Airplanes

This one doesn’t need much explanation. You can fold paper airplanes in so many different ways! Just Google it, and you will find hundreds of ideas. I like this tutorial.

Once you have your airplanes, the kids can toss them from different places to see how far they can fly. Maybe even experiment with how to make the airplane fly farther, different ways to fold it, adding paperclips or tape, etc. So fun and so easy!

Activity #5: Paper Helicopters

This one works best if you have a balcony or something you can drop them from. Not only do kids love watching the helicopters fall to the ground, but they also get worn out by running up and down the stairs.

Here is a good tutorial on how to make a helicopter. I also included a picture below with a template. Kids love throwing and dropping these so they can watch them spin!

Activity #6: Toothpicks & Marshmallows

Making fun sculptures with toothpicks and marshmallows is a great way to occupy time and build STEM skills. If you don’t want to use marshmallows, you can also use grapes, cucumbers, or apples! This could also be a good way to get kids to try some new foods.

At-Home Activities for Kids #7: Post-It Numbers

Sticky notes are so great for lots of activities! This activity was adapted for preschoolers and kindergartners, but you can adjust it for any age or level.

For a preschooler, write groups of dots on a piece of paper, then numbers on sticky notes. Have them match the right number to the correct number of dots

For a kindergartner, write groups of dots on a piece of paper, then addition equations on the sticky notes. Have them match the equations to the group of dots that is the answer to the equation. 

Activity #8: Q-tip Painting

This one can get messy. But if you get the washable paint, and pick up a few aprons, or wear an old shirt, clean up is a breeze.

Something about painting with something other than a paintbrush makes the kids think it is a brand new activity that they have never done before, and they love it!