Entertaining little kids at home can be draining. Before the pandemic, I almost always planned something for me and my kids to do outside our home (going to the park, the library, toddler times around town). When lock downs started and places closed, those activities were no longer an option. So I started doing some research into activities that I could do with my kids at home.
Today, I’m sharing 8 SIMPLE activities that keep my kids entertained at home. None of these are particularly mind blowing, but these have been our go-tos. My kids enjoy these activities, they are simple and easy to set up, and they don’t cost much money.
Kinetic Sand
We love kinetic sand, and I think it is especially fun for littler kids who do well with sensory activities. It does tend to make a mess, but I purchased these plastic trays so the mess is somewhat contained. We use some of our play dough tools with it, and it makes for a fun hands on activity.
Play Dough
A similar activity to kinetic sand, our youngest is obsessed with play dough. You probably already have some, but I couldn’t leave it out because it really is one of our favorite activities. I sometimes make little seasonal play dough kits, but right now we are just using the store bought stuff. Leo loves making things with our little set of tools and will play for a good hour.
Sticker Books
Obviously all little kids love stickers. Instead of just buying sticker packs, I like to buy these sticker books that have activities to complete. These sticker books have honestly been the biggest hit of our at home activities. My kids sit beside each other and take turns completing a page. I like that these particular ones are reusable so one you can complete each activity a few times. Eventually, the sticker books do end up falling apart and the stickers no longer stick, but they are absolutely worth it. We also have this one.
Coloring Books
My five year old, Ellie, loves coloring and will spend an hour or so quietly sitting at the table coloring a picture (she’s a dream child). We especially love these coloring books for little kids because the lines are thick and the pictures are somewhat simple. They have lots of options, too including space, dinosaurs, fairy tales, and princesses.
Painting with Homemade Easels
I saw this super easy tutorial about how to make homemade easels with cardboard boxes. It worked great. We set up the kids with some large easel paper and a little paint palette and they go to town. I like that this activity lets their creativity shine. And this paint is washable so no worries about stains.
Board Games
I feel like my parenting dreams are coming true here. I’ve always loved playing board games and card games, and my kids are finally reaching the age where we can start playing some easy ones. I can’t wait till their old enough to do weekly game nights. The kids like Guess Who; they think it’s some kind of magic when the they get the person correctly. LOL. We also have this Acorn Soup game which works well for younger kids around 2-3. We also have this card game set, too.
Blocks and Legos
We have this wooden block set that is excellent quality. We build castles and car garages for Leo’s cars. Leo also got this set of Duplo Lego blocks for Christmas. (My sister who lives in Canada found out that everyone else in the world calls Legos ‘Lego.’ Who knew?!) The pieces are perfect sized for his age (3), and it comes with instructions to build simple objects (like a duck and a whale). Ellie got her first real Lego set for Christmas, and it was really fun working with her to build it.
Puzzles
We have tons of puzzles, and we do them almost daily. I really like these Melissa and Doug sets that have four 12 piece puzzles in each. We have the Pets, Farm, Vehicles, and Dinosaurs. We also have these Petit Collage Puzzles that are larger.
