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Easy Activities and Fun Things To Do With Kids at Home During Quarantine

Fun and Easy Activities for Kids to keep them entertained, and let parents keep their sanity at the time when we are all stuck at home. Working from home and need your toddler occupied? Read this!

As the recent global crisis has shown us, parents can find themselves at home with their kids out of school or daycare at any time. What do you do with your kids? While you may need to be working from home with kids around, how do you keep your children occupied and learning? We present to you our own list of at-home fun and easy learning activities for kids (mostly toddlers as our own son is 4yo). Kids activities for both – indoors and outdoors. I hope we can help parents keep their sanity at the time when we are all stuck at home… (p.s. in case the list of activities listed here doesn't help, check out our collection of homeschooling memes!) Stay safe and healthy everyone!

***This post may contain affiliate links and we may earn compensation when you click on the links at no additional cost to you. All product recommendations and feedback are ours and based on personal experience. Please refer to our Disclosure Policy. 

You may also be interested in:

• Thoughtful Eco-Friendly Ideas for Mom – She’ll Absolutely Love
• Cool Rainy Day Activities & Awesome Things To Do With Kids in Vancouver
• Top Children’s Books On Environment: Teach Kids to Reduce, Reuse & Recycle
• Smart Eco-Friendly Family Activities: Teach Kids Sustainability Practices
• Toddler Airplane Activities You’ll Definitely Want to Use On Your Next Flight
• Homeschooling Resources for Families Who Love Travel and Flexibility

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1. Structured Learning & Schoolwork 

If your kids are school age, it is important to continue their assigned schoolwork. Most schools are providing guidance and lessons via the Internet. For toddlers this may mean setting up an hour or two a day (in three 20min intervals to accommodate for their attention span) for basic learning activities: learning letters, words, numbers, days of the week, etc. 

Working from home with kids and needing them to be entertained for a bit so you can finish your conference call? As someone who works from home, I get it – it is extremely hard to concentrate on your work while having a toddler running around. 

Here is what I did: I ended up explaining to my 4yo son that his daily assignments are his “work”. I then helped him set up his own “workspace” equipped with a chair, books, paper, crayon-holder, etc. We then set up an alarm clock to have our “hourly 15-min meetings” – time when I could check on what my son was doing, play a bit, and have a snack.

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Whatever your solution, just like the classroom environment, make this learning time structured and dedicated. Set daily assignments and routines, that would help your kids with their accomplishments. 

There are of course other extra-curricular topics you may want to engage your kids in. For example: teaching kids about sustainable living, environment, recycling concepts is becoming more and more needed these days…

Check out our recent articles:

• Top Children’s Books On Environment: Teach Kids to Reduce, Reuse & Recycle
• Smart Eco-Friendly Family Activities: Teach Kids Sustainability Practices

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2. Arts, Crafts and S-T-E-A-M

Arts and crafts are perfect for developing creativity and learning new skills and a great way to spend time together. There are plenty of artsy and fun things to do with kids at home: play doh, cutting and gluing, colouring, papier-mâché, origami, making crafts out of sticks and nuts, painting, sewing… Many websites and books offer collections of arts and crafts projects. Some of the YouTube art classes are great.

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My 4yo son and I are getting creative with crayons – mostly drawing his cars – he has a large collection. I personally love to knit and cross-stitch and can’t wait to teach him (maybe we could knit a race car one day!) 

We also encourage S-T-E-A-M learning (science, technology, engineering, arts, math). Here is an amazing book we have at home with over 360 science craft projects on topics ranging from chemistry to physics: 101 Great Science Experiments: A Step-by-Step Guide

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If you and your spouse are both working from home, you can plan ahead and take turns playing and experimenting with your kids. Fun for the whole family!

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3. Play Without Electronics

Our family is not overly concerned about limiting screen time for our son, however, we believe it is extremely important to engage in in-person creative play without distractions. 

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From driving around mini car toys to building toy railroads, to pretend-play with toddler dollhouses – there are may ways traditional play can be incorporated in your day-to-day schedule.

At this time we mostly play with Legos and build train-tracks. Legos and building blocks, especially more intricate ones, are amazing indoor kids' activities for developing basic engineering skills. 

Our next best thing for my 4yo son is putting puzzles together – we compete against each other in speed. 

Among other things to do with kids at home are card games and board games. There is a great variety of these kids' activities for 2-4 players, and this is a perfect way to have fun as a family. 

Our personal favourite card game is Spot It! – it helps learning words, and we play it both in English and in Russian (and even tried it in Spanish one time)

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4. Engage with Gadgets

Although many parents are calling to limit kids screen time, we believe it is all about quality and not quantity. Trying to keep kids away from gadgets these days, in our opinion, is like keeping girls from reading books a hundred years ago.

There are many ways in which modern gadgets, computers, iPads, games, internet and YouTube can significantly enhance learning. The key is to carefully choose what your child is engaging with. 

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For example, we absolutely love an iPad game Croco Adventures – it teaches kids as young as 2yo the basics of coding and building algorithms. 

Here are some of the YouTube & Netflix shows that we personally like – those teach kids S-T-E-A-M concepts, important family values, environments awareness and much more from an early age:

• Tree School (English, YouTube)
• Octonauts (English, YouTube)
• Magic School Bus (English, Netflix)
• Fixiki (Фиксики – Russian, YouTube)
• Smeshariki (Смешарики – Russian, YouTube)
• Malyshariki (Малышарики – Russian, YouTube)
• Tri Kota (Три Кота – Russian, YouTube)

Also check out this list of other STEAM YouTube channels recommended for kids of all ages.

After-all, if you are working from home with a toddler or even older kids, sometimes you just need them to be quiet for a bit!  …and there are other times when you and your kids are stuck indoors for a prolonged time, and there is a limit to activities you can come up with before everyone gets tired… for many parents gadgets are a rescue. Don’t let anyone shame you for letting your kids use screens – just be mindful what they are using it for.

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5. Get Outside

Being stuck at home is surely no fun and definitely not healthy. That's why going outside to play in the fresh air every day is, in our opinion, mandatory. Not for just kids – for everyone. 

Go to a local park, on a hike around your neighbourhood or explore wilderness trails. We are blessed in British Columbia there is no lack of the Great Outdoors! 

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We wouldn't have this blog if we didn't have our own online store with homeschooling resources, would we? Check out PerfectDayToPlay online store where you'll find many resources and printables to support learning on the topics of travel, outdoors and environment:

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Here are a few easy entry-level hiking trails collection near Vancouver:

• 10 Crowd-FREE Easy Hiking Trails in Vancouver: Social Distancing Outdoors
• Gorgeous & Easy Winter Hikes Near Vancouver To Absolutely Enjoy

Look for birds, insects, wildlife, flowers, trees – take a photo and then look those up and read about them. Create a virtual collection of local flora and fauna. Another cool way to engage your child on a hike is through little challenges and treasure hunts.

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You can also take this outdoor opportunity to teach your little one to bike! Here are a few easy entry-level [and absolutely gorgeous] biking paths near Vancouver:

• Fort to Fort – Fun & Easy Bike Trail Near Langley Even a Toddler Can Do!
• Pitt Lake: Stunning Kids Biking Trail True Hidden Gem Near Maple Ridge

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There is so much you can do outdoors as a family!

As always, a quick safety reminder:

• Hiking With Kids: 12 Simple Safety Rules Every Parent Should Follow
• 10 Basic Safety Rules When Biking With Kids

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6. Teach Kids Gardening

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Yes, gardening is definitely still on the list of things to do with kids at home!

That’s easy if you are living in a house with a backyard! But what if you are in a condo?

To get this activity started indoors, simply get some planting pots and soil, and create a little home garden of houseplants living in your kids room or on your balcony. You can get houseplants from the store of course, but isn't it so much fun for your kids to do it all “from scratch”? Buy and plant actual seeds and watch them grow through the soil, develop first leaves, becoming stronger!

Our son loves watering houseplants while singing them songs so they grow faster 🙂

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7. Read Books

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Reading is a skill that opens your kids to the world of opportunity. It’s also a skill that needs continuous practice. There are many books, apps, games, and YouTube shows that help kids learn to read in any language imaginable, but none can replace the good old in-person story-time.

We take it as our duty to read to our son every day. Recently, as he is now 4yo, we have also started teaching him the basics of reading, and simple words. 

There are a couple of apps used by schools called EPIC! and Raz-Kids that offer unlimited access to thousands of the best children’s books and learning videos so your kids can read and learn anytime.

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8. Travel the World (Through a World Map)

Who would have thought that World travel could be among things to do with kids at home?! Yet easily accomplished!

There are some special kids-friendly cool large-scale maps sold at Costco and on Amazon. You can also get one of those scratch World maps, or use Google Earth. ..but at the end, it doesn’t matter what you use, as long as you show your little ones the World!

We’ve created a game out of it. Each week we choose a country on the map: we learn its name, its flag, its capital, what language is spoken and how to say “Hello” in that language. We look it up on YouTube and watch some videos about its nature, culture and people. Sometimes we even try cooking one of its local popular recipes – ex. lasagna for Italy or borsch for Ukraine. Then our son decides: does he want to travel there or not. 

So far, the next country on his wish list is… Australia! Cosmos was so fascinated with kangaroos that now his 4yo mind is planning a trip to Australia! That’s incredible! (to compare, back in the days I only learned about Australia and other countries and geography at Grade 6). **By the way, if you are in Canada and want to see Kangaroo, just do a quick road trip to Kangaroo Farm in Kelowna, BC 🙂

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9. Look at Old Photos 

Believe it or not, children are very curious in what life was like in the past. Our son thoroughly enjoys learning about us as parents, grandparents, his aunts, uncles, cousins, and places we have visited before he was born. 

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Our family lives all over the World, some of the family members Cosmos had never met in person. Once we spent a good two hours, just sitting together looking at his own photos from when he was born to when he turned 1yo (I took a LOT of photos..).

It is so much fun laughing at the old photos, the vintage clothing, and hairstyles, telling stories about our travels and road trips, sometimes even looking at places that do not exist anymore. For example, we have plenty of photos from Kathmandu in Nepal just a year before a major earthquake ruined half of the city and some of the temples haven’t been rebuilt.  

Looking at old photos and watching old family videos is a great way to bond.

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10. Call Grandma

Modern era of technology makes communication so easy, yet we completely forget to call the most important people regularly. Pick up the phone, open your Skype, WhatsApp or Viber and video-call grandparents or uncles and aunts. Even if you do it every day, I am sure your grandparents won’t mind 🙂

Our son has regular over-Skype playdates with his grandma. Cosmos already knows how to dial her. And then he picks up his iPad, turns on video and shows her his toys, what is the weather outside, rides his grandma (iPad with the video-call) around the house on a toy truck, even plays Legos with her. This technology-enabled time with grandparents and other extended family is, in our opinion, absolutely invaluable.

Best of all: while your kids are virtually playing with their grandma, you can have a piece of mind and be successful at working from home!

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11. Write a Letter

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Writing is one of the core skills your child must develop. There is a way to make to encourage this (likely for your kids) boring indoor activity is through making it a game. Make them write letters – letters that could be mailed! Letters to grandparents, extended family, strangers, favourite cartoon character, tooth fairy, Santa, anyone… Have you seen Klaus on Netflix yet? Watch it!

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12. Make Music

If you play a musical instrument or sing, this would be a great time to see if your child shares your interest in music. 

Don’t have an instrument? Not to worry! Your cooking pans can very well pass for drums. After all it's not about perfection yet, it is about learning the basics of rhythm. The main idea is to jump in and have some family fun together.

But if you are serious about it: YouTube has endless online lessons for any instrument including vocals (and karaoke!)

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13. Dance Together

Dance is definitely on our list of most fun things to do with kids at home, and it is a great exercise too! What could be more fun than dancing?!!

Turn that music on and rock, jump, swirl, have fun. Wanna get serious about choreography: YouTube to the rescue!

Even better: when working from home with kids and needing your children to occupy themselves – task them with a task to learn a dance and put up a performance for you! Make it a competition with a prize! Watch them disappear and can take that conference call in confidence 🙂

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Our son loves watching opening acts of Dancing with The Stars. …and his most recent favourite is Uno by Little Big – Russia’s submission to Eurovision contest in 2020. Check it out! Cosmos already knows all the moves!

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14. Let Kids Help Cooking

Your family needs to eat even when you are working from home, so why not prepare something for lunch together with your kids?!

Whether you decide to use your own recipe and skills, take a cooking class, use a YouTube video for guidance, or invite your mom to help, cooking with kids is ALWAYS fun! ..and of course, nothing bonds a family better than cleaning a kitchen mess while your cake, cookies, or cupcakes are done! 

One of the awesome things we’ve done not so long ago is we’ve hired a cake-master photographer to bake a birthday cake together with our son via Anna Vay Photo. Anuta sent us a recipe in advance, came in with all the tools and guided us through the cake-baking process AND was taking professional photos of Cosmos and me while we baked! So much fun! Check out Anuta’s Instagram for these awesome kids photo-shoots.

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15. Clean-Sort-Donate

Stuck at home with the whole family for a while? Why not take some time to engage in “spring cleaning”. Who said that things to do with kids at home must only include play?! Although there are many ways you can make the clean-up experience fun and game-like! 

Sort through your stuff, decide what you want to keep and what you’d put aside for donations. Engage your kids in this activity, encourage them to sort through their own toys and clothing. Kids grow fast, and I bet a good third of their wardrobe is probably already too small. Regardless, with enough imagination you could even prepare a “fashion show” for the family, and let the “democratic” voice decide what to keep and what should go. 

Once sorting is over, explain your kids what donation and recycling is all about. Take them with you to donation and recycling facilities. In our opinion, this exercise teaches many important skills: from keeping your things organized, to minimalism, to generosity and compassion, to reduce-reuse-recycle concepts.

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16. BONUS: Start a YouTube Channel

If you feel up to it, here is one amazing indoors activity for your kids – YouTune! YouTube makes it super-easy to start your own channel with little to no experience. All you need is your phone or a camera, maybe a mic, and basic video editing software. Making videos for your own channel is a great way to make personal memories (you can keep the channel private if you wish).

I started our own channel Cosmos Kitchen when Cosmos was only 14 months old – it was a simple cooking show. At the time I was trying to survive maternity leave, and making those little videos ended up super-fun! 

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There are also so many kids channels making tons of money through advertising, toys and baby product reviews, unpacking videos, kids cooking shows and more. 

Here is a great book on how to set up your YouTube for making money – YouTube Secrets: The Ultimate Guide to Growing Your Following and Making Money as a Video Influencer (they also have an audiobook available). 

You can also check out these amazing courses on Udemy:

• Make Epic Videos for the Internet! – YouTube, Facebook, IGTV, etc. They all want one thing from you… Great Content! Let's start creating!
• VidFire: Become a YouTube Kids' Content Pro – From the Owners of Funtastic TV, FAM JAM, and Other Great YouTube Kids' Channels

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Most important: Have Fun!

As parents ourselves, we totally get it! Homeschooling can be taunting, and you do need a lot of patience. So at times when it seems to get too hard, instead of stressing out, let's laugh! Check out our collection of absolutely hilarious homeschooling memes, jokes, funny quotes, & cartoons every parent to enjoy when forced to homeschool!

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We hope our list of things to do with kids at home was helpful. Whether you are a stay-at-home parent, or you need to be working from home for some time while your toddlers are around, there are many fun kids activities – both indoors and outdoors – you can choose from. 

And if you happen to be stuck at home with kids as schools close for extreme heat weather conditions, check out our list of tips and safety advice on how to survive and prepare for facing summer heatwaves.

And of course, stay tuned with our updates by signing-up to our blog's newsletter:

We wish you to stay safe and healthy!

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Enjoy!

Cheerfully yours,

Alexandra, Alex & Cosmos

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