Are you a stay-at-home mom or dad taking care of kids 24/7?
Are you already stressed by the mess your children make at home?
Are you not able to Work From Home due to your children’s responsibility?
Are you searching for some activities and games that keep your kids engaged at home for long hours without watching screens?
I am a mother of 2 children: one boy and one Girl. My son is 5.8 years old and my daughter is 2 years old. Due to late admission and some personal reasons my son didn’t go to school for one year. In this one year, I learned so many things to keep both my kids engaged at home without spending any extra money on fancy toys and avoiding screen time as much as possible. Trust me it’s not an easy task. If you are handling this alone, you have to be mentally very strong and patient. Many people tell us that you will enjoy with your kid at home and there will be no problem at all when the kids are at home. What they don’t know is that children get bored and irritated very easily when they are at home. Just like we adults get bored when we don’t have any work to do, children get bored very easily though they have some homework to do, so many toys to play with, a beautiful big house, or their favorite things to eat. That is because kids are curious and fast learners. They don’t like to spend hours on just one activity. They want to explore more and something new. Thatswhy you may have noticed when you buy a new toy for your kid, he will play with it only for one or two days. After that, he will either break it or throw it away. Because now they want a new one. And we can’t just spend our money like this on toys, right? In this article, I will tell you some ideas and activities that will keep your child engaged for hours. You need to invest only a small amount initially. After that, you can use those things forever.
1. Adjustable Baby Swing
This is the best thing you can give to your kid. Your kid will spend hours on this just swinging and singing his favorite rhymes and songs. This is suitable for kids from 6 months to 6 years of age. It can handle up to 25kg weight. For kids older than 2 years you can remove the front support and the backrest to get the feeling of a real swing that they play in a park. It is suitable for indoors and outdoors. You just need a hook on your house ceiling to install this. You can keep your child in this and do all your work. They won’t disturb you at all. Give a popsicle or a fruit to your baby to eat when they are in their swing. They will happily enjoy their ‘me‘ time.
2. Basketball with Hoop Game
Another best indoor activity for you and your kid. This is not just for kids. You can also enjoy playing basketball at home along with your kids. It’s always fun to play together with your children. Kids find this very interesting. If they win by placing the ball inside the basket, they will do it again and again till they become confident. You can attach this basket to the wall of your home and it doesn’t take any extra place. If you don’t want to invest in this you can still play basketball even without this basket just with your household items. Just take a cardboard box, a bucket, a tub, or a toy box and keep it a few feet away from your kid, and tell your kid to throw the ball right inside that box. This is also a type of basketball for kids. Your kids will enjoy this too.
3. Swimming Pool for Kids.
Best indoor game for summer. If you have a garden then it’s the best activity. If you don’t have a garden, you can keep this in a bathroom or a room with a big mat under it so that if the water falls from the pool, the floor doesn’t get wet. You can also keep some bathing toys inside this swimming pool for your kids to play. You can also use it as a toy storage tub or a small plastic ball pool. You will get more than 100 small plastic balls online. You can buy them and keep them in this pool. In winter, your kids can enjoy the ball pool and in summer they can enjoy swimming. It’s very easy to install and very easy to clean.
4. Aquatic Ball Pool
Your baby is going to spend hours in this ball pool. It comes with 30 small multi-colored balls. If you want more balls, you can buy them separately. More balls make this game very fun and engaging. Don’t worry about the cleaning process of this game. It’s very easy to clean. The pool is foldable. You can take the whole pool along with balls inside the bathroom and clean it with the water spray. After cleaning you can put this in the balcony or in another room to dry completely. If you don’t want to wash in the bathroom, just wipe the whole pool with a wet cloth twice a week. You can also fold it and keep it aside if you don’t have enough space in your room.
5. Indoor Table Tennis Game.
This is a fun and easy game for your kid to practice his batting and eye coordination skills. You can play it with your kid, or if you have two children, they will enjoy playing together. It comes with two bats, six balls, a rope to hold the ball, and one metal stand. It takes very little space and is budget-friendly. The best part of this game is that when you hit the ball the ball doesn’t go and fall anywhere. It’s stuck to the metallic stand and the ball will just move in different directions when you hit it with the bat. You can customize the rope length according to your height or for easy play. You can also play alone with it.
6. Archery Bow and Arrow Toy set.
A centuries-old game that we all love. Even we as kids played this a lot. It’s super fun and exciting. Kids learn so much from this game. It is very low in cost and affordable for everyone. It comes with 3 extra arrows. You have to stick that target pad on the wall and you can enjoy your game. It doesn’t take any place and looks good on walls. My son loved this game so much that he played regularly until the plastic arrows broke. It teaches your children to aim at a particular point to win the game. Through regular practice, your kid will become a champion in this.
7. Play with pillows.
Pillows are something that are super soft, fluffy, lightweight, and small in size. Children love to play with pillows. But we parents don’t give them because of the dirt it gets upon them when you play with it. You can put a pillow cover on the pillows and then give them to your kids to play. You don’t know how many games can be played with pillows. Pillow fight is the most common of all of them. Another game that my kids like to play with pillows is keeping all the pillows one on the other and jumping on them. We also play catch the pillow game. My kids use pillows as cars and drive on them all through the home. Thatswhy I cover my pillows with 2 pillow covers. So that I can remove one pillow cover and wash it after playing.
8. Play with Toothpicks.
Have you ever tried to play with these toothpicks? It is a little risky and scary game for kids as these toothpicks are pointy and sharp. They can hurt your kids if they don’t use it properly. Adult supervision or playing along with the children is compulsory in this game. When my kids were getting bored at home, I tried this game. You can make shapes like squares, rectangles, triangles, pentagons, rhombus, octagons, hexagons, and cubes with these toothpicks. You can also make alphabets like A, E, F, H, I, L, M, N, T, V, W, X, Y, and Z. You can stick these toothpicks to the mattress or cardboard without glue and make different objects and things.
9. Plastic Building Blocks for Kids.
It’s every kid’s favorite game. Nowadays, building blocks are available in different shapes, sizes, colors, and materials. For small kids, you can buy big-size silicon material blocks. And we all know we can make any shape or thing with these blocks. My son loves cars, trucks, airplanes, rockets, and jeeps. So he always tries to make these things with his blocks. I don’t teach him anything to make, he is very creative and makes the exact shape of the airplane and trucks. He also likes to make Dubai’s Burj Khalifa tower with these blocks. He just keeps all the big-size blocks one on the other till it becomes high and some small blocks at the top and calls it Burj Khalifa. It’s so much fun to see your kid enjoying his world.
10. Wooden Dominoes Block Set.
When we were kids, we played with dominoes until we were 12 years old because they were not easily available at that time. Nowadays, they are easily available everywhere. These blocks are very colorful and suitable for all ages. It’s very exciting to see how the blocks fall one by one when you arrange them in one line or in any order. This game will keep your kids engaged for hours, as they will spend all their time arranging all these blocks and making them fall again.
11. Plastic Ring Throw Game.
This is a fun family game. Everyone takes turns placing the ring in the hand tower, which is perfect for kids because it is high. You can play it indoors or outdoors. You can tell your kids that whoever places the ring correctly will get a surprise gift, which will encourage them to play more. The game looks very colorful, and you can also use the rings to play other games.
12. Table Football Game.
This was my favorite game when we were kids. Playing football outdoors is very tough as you don’t get the perfect ground, place, or other kids to play football together. This indoor game fulfills your need to play the same football game indoors. This game requires 4 players. If there are only 2 players, still they can play it. You must play this game along with your kids to build a family bond. It comes along with 2 extra small footballs. It is made up of wood and doesn’t break easily. It has round edges and kid-friendly.
13. Wooden Bowling Ball Game.
Another interesting indoor game for you and your kids. You need to invest some amount of money if you want your kid to enjoy at home and limit his screen time. Games like this engage your kids at home a lot. You can also call your neighbor’s kids to play along with your kids. This will create a friendly environment and both the children will enjoy it. This is also made up of wood and is very steady. You can enjoy bowling at home with this small setup.
14. Drawing, Painting, and Coloring.
Coloring and drawing is something every kid loves to do. These vibrant colors and their texture make your children excited. If you are worried that your children might paint the walls or floors of the house, you can supervise them, while painting. Draw a thing or an object and tell them to color it. Make your children sit on a big washable mat for painting and coloring. This will make your cleaning process easier. It’s better if you sit with them and teach coloring. They will love your company in this game. You can also give a book and pen to your kids to draw anything. And let them draw whatever they want. Don’t judge them if they drew something wrong. Your encouragement will make them confident and they will try to show their best.
15. Cutting Papers and Crafting.
When your kids start getting bored, give them some paper and kid-friendly scissors to cut those papers. They will start cutting those papers in different shapes and sizes. Cutting with scissors will improve your kid’s hand and eye coordination skills. You can buy this art and craft kit for your kid to enjoy at home. This kit contains all the items that your kid needs to make a perfect artwork.
16. Non-Toxic Clay Moulds.
Clay is something that can mold to any shape if you do it correctly. You can make a thousand shapes with different colors of clay. Nowadays schools are also encouraging children to play with clay and they are also keeping clay competitions for kindergarten kids to enhance creativity and imaginative skills in them. I like to make shakes out of these clays.
17. Fruit Scented Multicolored Slime.
Slime is another type of clay. It has become very popular nowadays. This is like a jelly and it doesn’t get stuck on your baby’s hands. It comes in different colors. You can add toys to this jelly while playing and mold it into different shapes. The toys or anything that you keep on it will get stuck in it and make your slime look more interesting. After playing you can easily remove all the things from the slime.
18. Fastest Finger First Board Game.
I hope you remember the carom board that we used to play as kids. That was our favorite indoor game when we got holidays in school. Nowadays, this is the new age carom board. Any 2 players can play the game. It is much more interesting than the carom board game.
19. Click and Catch Twin Ball Game.
This is a fun family game. Two players can play it, just like tennis. Since kids cannot play tennis like adults, this is a small tennis game for your kids. It comes with two extra balls. You can play it indoors or outdoors. It is handy, and you can take it anywhere you want to play.
20. Magnetic Chess Board
This is the age-old indoor game that has been played in every house for ages for time passes and brain-boosting. It’s suitable for kids older than 8 years. This chessboard has a Very Clear surface and is very smooth, Each magnetic piece has velvet at the bottom for smooth moves. After playing you can keep all the chess pieces inside the same box and fold it. So that no pieces fall off or get lost.
All these toys require some amount of investment. But if you can give time to your kids and play with them, you can create many new games without anything. Pee- ka- Boo, hide and seek, catch the ball, football, counting fingers, skipping, exercise, dancing, drawing, sketching, becoming a horse or lion for your kid to ride on your back, clapping, singing, etc, and some of the games that you can play with your kid in free time.
You can also involve your kids in your everyday household activities like cooking, cleaning, doing laundry, and getting ready for the day. While making rotis, you can give them some dough and tell them to roll it in any shape that they like. You can also encourage your kids to make their favorite sandwich.
While cleaning, tell your kids to clean their toys and small furniture items. They will enjoy this process too. While doing laundry tell your kids to fold the clothes. They may not fold it correctly but at least they will try. All these things make your children get involved in your everyday routine and they will be away from screen time.
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