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Not a day goes by where our kids don’t ask for their iPods or to watch a show. Becky and I aren’t “all or nothing” parents when it comes to electronics, but we do like to really limit it. We like when the three boys play Minecraft together (they sit in the same room, each on their own device, and play together… they can see the other people in the same world with them on each device. Its pretty cool). With that being said, that’s about it. We want all four of our kids to spend most of their free time getting creative or reading or just plain old playing. Sometimes we have to give them ideas to get started, so these 10 are perfect for that. It will give them something even more fun to focus on and enjoy!
1. Go get snowcones. We have a new place by our house where they sell snow cones (well, “snowballs”) for $2.00 a cup. The kids love them! If you don’t want to go out, make your own at home. We have this snowcone maker and the kids love it… and yes it is Olaf from Frozen! If you can remember as a kid it is a lot like the Snoopy Snowcone maker. I can still remember the cherry syrup to this day!
2. Play Monsters or Crocodiles – you know… like you played with your Dad when you were little (the carpet is the water and the kids have to try to get through the water without you getting them, because you are the crocodile!) Or if you are like my youngest son Ethan, we play Monsters. It is fun to be silly and chase each other around the home. Who doesn’t like to make funny faces and “monster-like” roars?
3. Make Ice Cream!
We make fruit ice cream with our YoNanas maker (it is literally just frozen fruit that you put in the YoNanas and it comes out as the consistency of ice cream). Other things to make would be some fresh berry sorbet, or make ice cream the old fashioned way:
- Combine half and half, sugar and vanilla extract in the pint-size bag.
- Fill the gallon-size ziplock bag halfway with ice cubes.
- Insert the pint-size bag filled with ingredients into the bag of ice and salt.
- Shake until it becomes ice cream
4. Have a Dance Party – Put on Pandora and turn it to your favorite Kids radio station (we like Kid Bopz and Radio Disney). Or you can jump over to YouTube and find pretty much any one of their favorite songs!
5. Make cards or pictures and mail them to the kid’s grandparents. This is a great craft for the kids… but this one is definitely for all the Grandparents (or all the relatives) out there! How fun is is when you get a special gift in the mail from someone you love?
6. Build a couch fort (or a table fort). I remember building these with my older brother all the time in our living room. Now our kids love doing the same thing. Sometimes they will take over a whole room with a “blanket fort.” If don’t want your kids taking over the whole house (because they can in a hurry), they have great pop-up options or one like this that you just throw over your kitchen table. Either way… this activity will be a hit with your kids!
7. Play a NEW board game– we used to play the old fashioned Monopoly, until we found new ones… Hilton-Head-Opoly, Penn Stateopoly, Monopoly Jr. Puzzles are another great option and you can find a puzzle for just about anything!
8. Play your favorite game from when you were little:
– Kickball, foursquare, capture the flag, hopscotch…
9- Bake! Or make fun pancakes (like this one that I made for our son’s birthday).
10- Play in the water. This one is a little expensive, but I HIGHLY HIGHLY suggest getting this waterslide. Normally I wouldn’t suggest spending so much on a toy, but our kids have spent countless hours on it! They go out on it every day. They even use it without the water, just like a bounce house/slide.
If you want to go cheaper: Water balloon fight (this will fill a TON of balloons all at once), water table, or let the kids take your pots and pans onto the porch and “cook” with water- give them measuring spoons, etc…
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I love this list… And I love how you can see the vacuum lines in the carpet in the kids play room. Your wife is a wonderful person to keep up with all she does!
Amanda,
You are too kind:)