- Plant a tree.
- Bake cookies for the neighbors — or your family..
- Act out your child’s favorite book.
- Visit an interactive museum.
- Have a catch in a local park or the backyard.
- Build an indoor tent or fort with couches and some bed sheets.
- Turn on the radio and dance.
- Play SimonSays — an oldie, but goodie.
- Dress up in last year’s Halloween costumes and have a have a costume parade.
- Put together a jigsaw puzzle.
- Make homemade play dough.
- String together macaroni for jewelry.
- Host a picnic lunch — indoors or outdoors.
- Learn how to tie-dye T-shirts.
- Pull out the dress box, put on funny clothes and have a photo shoot.
- Head outdoors for bird watching.
- Create a time capsule.
- Write letters to soldiers.
- Play balloon volleyball.
- Have a potato-sack race..
- Camp out in the backyard.
- Make up a secret handshake.
- Count how many times you can spin in a circle without getting dizzy.
- Make fruit kabobs.
- Play lily-pad leap with small rugs and towels strategically placed throughout the playroom or living room.
- Construct an indoor obstacle course.
- Choreograph a dance routine.
- Host a movie night. Plan for it by drawing tickets, making popcorn and setting up the room like a theater.
- Make bath fizzies by combining citric acid, baking soda and cornstarch.
- Pull out some old socks and draw faces on them to make sock puppets — then put on a show.
- Make a friendship bracelet.
- Exercise those finger-painting skills.
- Pull out Twister.
- Practice saying the 50 states in alphabetical order
- Take silly pictures with a camera.
- Make up your own mad-libs.
- Host an at-home field day, complete with tug of war and team colors.
- Explore small areas of nature with a magnifying glass.
- Experiment with science. Make a papier mâché volcano and mix baking soda and vinegar for an explosive reaction!
- Learn a new card game.
- Host a tea party for Kids.
- Partake in brainteasers, such as Sudoku, crossword puzzles and word searches.
- Set up the basketball game of HORSE or just shoot hoops.
- Teach kids to hula hoop.
- Jump rope.
- Go on a walk and let kids take pictures (with a disposable camera) of their favorite things around the neighborhood.
- Break out the pots and pans and practice drumming skills (ear plugs required for parents!).
- Rearrange your child’s bedroom.
- Find and write to a pen pal.
- Mix homemade bubbles: 1 cup granulated soap or soap powder, 1 quart warm water, and liquid food coloring
- Make sandwiches and deliver them to a homeless shelter or the local food pantry for kids.
- Set up a platter of new foods, maturing your tyke’s palette.
- Sew a pillow. Just grab some fabric, scissors, stuffing and a needle and thread.
- Play Hot Potato — use anything from a bean bag to a bar of soap.
- Explore the world with Google Maps — find your home, your child’s school, favorite spots, etc.
- Name that tune.
- Ask “what do you want to be when you grow up” and then plan your day around that career. What would a fireman wear? What would a teacher do?
- Build an outdoor fort with tarps and bungees around trees.
- Make up a secret language.
- Phone a friend. Better yet, use Skype or FaceTime.
- Set up a make-your-own-sundae station.
- Host a watercolor night where everyone paints their favorite (fill-in-the-blank).
- Construct a family tree.
- Start a mini garden.
- Run through the sprinklers.
- Give the family pet a bath.
- Reminisce about your favorite family vacation and draw pictures of everything you did to
make a book.
- Learn magic tricks.
- Run relay races with kids.
- Make up a fun song about the family (My name is Jim and I like to swim, my sister’s name is Cate and she likes to skate…).
- Write a letter to someone special (Grandma, Santa, the Tooth Fairy, your child’s favorite athlete, etc.) then mail it.
- Research popular constellations. At night, head outdoors to spot nature’s bountiful creations.
- Try to replicate a famous painting.
- Learn the alphabet in Sign language.
- Pick flowers (from your own garden, of course) and create a flower arrangement for the dining room table.
- Make an eye-spy scavenger hunt (something shiny and blue, something round that makes noise, something clear, etc.).
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