Games, Home Hunts and Fun Ways to Keep Active

Games, Home Hunts and Fun Ways to Keep Active

Check out our list of ideas to help keep your children entertained; while most provide fun for the whole family, some may even give you enough time to answer a few emails!

During challenging times keeping children entertained can be tricky. Many parents may also be trying to juggle working from home - these simple ideas using everyday objects from home are here to help and suit a variety of ages. Always ensure the activity is age-appropriate for your child and their development stage.

Games
 

  • Sticky note wall bop: Attach 26 sticky notes to the back of a door and write a different letter on each one (in random order). Make a start line a few feet away from the door (more if you have older children), and have your child stand behind it with a softball, bean bag, stuffed animal or pair of rolled-up socks. Now suggest they throw their object to try and hit the 'A' or the 'R'. Older players with more advanced aim and spelling skills can try and hit all the letters in specific words. Alternatively, use numbers. Make sure they are retrieving their throwing object themselves - running and bending down to pick it up over and over again is all part of the exercise.
  • Indoor Bowling: Set up paper or plastic cups in a tower or rows and roll a ball to see how many you can knock down.
  • Alligator alley: Simply scatter some 'islands' or 'boats' across the floor (use pillows, stuffed animals, rugs, newspaper, etc) for children to jump from one to the next without falling into the 'water'.
  • Cotton-ball crawl: This is lots of fun and involves moving a pile of cotton balls from one room to another using a spoon. The feather-weight cotton balls make it easy to fly off if they don't balance it just right.
  • Potato drop: Have all participants place a potato (or similar object) between their knees and race to a finish line where they can drop it into a designated bowl or bucket. If the potato is dropped, or if hands touch it, then they can go back to the start and try again.

Home hunts

  • Lego colour hunt: Select 4 pieces of coloured paper and then collect 10 Lego or Duplo pieces that match each one (for example 10 yellow Lego pieces for a yellow piece of paper). Now hide all the Lego pieces in one room/area of your house and lay out the coloured paper on a table or the floor nearby. Start the hunt. Once they've found a Lego piece, return it to the piece of paper that it matches in colour. See how long it takes them to find them all (tell them there's 10 of each colour so they can count to see if they're missing any themselves). When they've had enough of the game, challenge them to have a little quiet time and make a colourful rainbow structure out of the Lego. You can also do this activity with a chunky puzzle - putting all the pieces together to complete the puzzle.
  • Colour match hunt: Using a selection of coloured paper, ask your children to find items that match each colour as closely as possible - see how many they can find and which colour has the most matching items.
  • ABC hunt: Your child can search your house with a basket, collecting items that start with each letter of the alphabet (A for apple, B for Barbie, C for Crayola, etc) - give them a checklist to mark off each one as they go.
  • Scavenger hunt: Challenge your children on a hunt around the house collecting various items that you've listed. Make it fun by including specific things like 'your favourite bath toy' or 'a pink sock' to more general categories like 'something that begins with the letter T'.

Keeping active

  • Animal walks: From crab and gorilla to kangaroo and turtle, make a list of animals and ask your child to walk across a room as each one. Add an additional element of making that animal's noise. This is a simple and fun exercise that anyone can do to get a quick dose of gross motor play in their day.
  • Mirror, mirror: Stand face to face with your child, about a foot apart, and have them attempt to copy all your movements. Reach up and stretch to the sky. Do 10 jumping jacks. Run in place. Act like a monkey. Make it fun and you'll both be working up a sweat in no time. Then switch roles and copy your child!
  • Exercise stations: Set-up a circuit of fun child-friendly, age appropriate exercises - jumping jacks, rocket Jumps (squat down, place hands between feet, and jump up with arms reaching to space), somersaults, hula hoops, limbo etc.
  • Obstacle courses: Use chalk or masking tape to make an obstacle course on your floor for your child to walk, jump, race, or roll a ball on. You could also use the tape to create indoor hopscotch.
  • Yoga: When you're ready to transition to a quiet time activity, consider 5-10 minutes of yoga. Then, set-up a quiet space for your child for a much-deserved rest period.

Useful Resources