10 Engaging Indoor Activities to Keep Kids Entertained
Published 18 May 2024 at 10:48
Tickikids Blog Singapore > After-School Activities > 10 Engaging Indoor Activities to Keep Kids Entertained
There isn't a parent in the world who hasn't faced the question of how to keep their child entertained at home, especially after the recent lockdown experience. Whether it's the weekend, school holidays, or inclement weather keeping you indoors, or perhaps your little one has caught a cold at an inconvenient time, or maybe you've simply decided to enjoy a cosy and unhurried day at home. Alternatively, friends may have come over to visit your child, and you need to come up with activities to keep the lively group occupied. The goal remains the same: channelling boundless children's energy into constructive and peaceful activities! In this article, we'll explore a variety of ways to spend time at home. Fantastic home activities encompass engaging in fun online learning through educational videos, conducting exciting science experiments, and simply enjoying bedtime stories with your kids! TickiKids offers another 10 ideas for enjoyable, engaging, and beneficial activities suitable for both the youngest and teenagers!
Sorting
Have you ever noticed that young children often find more fascination in everyday objects like utensils, tools, or even mom's cosmetics, rather than expensive toys? Here's a simple and engaging indoor activity for infants that you can try: sorting! Sorting is a fundamental Montessori practice that parents can easily incorporate into their home environment to promote development.
At home, parents can introduce sorting activities using everyday objects such as buttons, coins from different countries, or kitchen items. Encourage your child to categorise these objects based on different attributes such as colour, shape, texture, or function. You can also gather various types of pasta, lentils, peas, beans, and so forth, and place them in small containers. Then, offer your child a choice of activities: pouring pasta into a narrow-necked bottle, sorting items into different compartments (you can use a silicone mould for ice or candy), or creating shapes like a person or a sun using large pasta pieces (you can start by drawing a silhouette on paper).
Sorting not only serves as a fantastic finger workout for your little one but also enhances their cognitive skills and provides a fun learning experience, helping children enhance their understanding of various concepts such as colour, shape, size, and classification. Just be sure to supervise closely to prevent any small objects from ending up in your baby's mouth!
Home Theatre
Transforming your home into a theatre can be a delightful family activity that cultivates emotions, skills, and imagination! Start this creative journey with even the youngest members of your family. By introducing children to the enchantment of theatrical performance and the joy of role-playing, you lay the groundwork for future home productions. Babies will delight in finger puppetry—craft simple felt puppets together or with older siblings, and create glove puppets for a full puppet show. Behind the sofa can serve as your stage, complete with an audience and a makeshift buffet during intermission. Opt for a storyline based on a beloved fairy tale, and let one child manage multiple characters with ease. This hands-on approach will make the actual first visit to the theatre less intimidating and more enjoyable!
Image Credit: Depositphotos
Shadow Theatre
Harness the magic of shadow theatre by casting playful silhouettes on your walls. With just your hands and a flashlight, you can bring a host of characters to life! Basic figures are easy to master, and once you've mastered the basics, you and your child can let your imaginations soar as you invent your own whimsical characters. Dive into the endless possibilities of shadow play and watch as your creations dance and frolic across the wall!
Video Credit: Sesame Studios
Karaoke
Karaoke isn't just for adults—children can have a blast belting out their favourite tunes right at home! Creating a home karaoke setup for kids is a fantastic way to encourage creativity, boost confidence, and provide hours of entertainment. Choose a wide variety of songs that are suitable for children of different ages and interests. If singing clicks with your family interests you may want to invest in a karaoke machine specifically designed for children or download a karaoke app onto your smartphone. Provide colourful microphones for your kids and add fun props like sunglasses, hats, or feather boas to enhance their performance experience. Karaoke is a joyful example of indoor activity and a great way to bond as a family!
Pet Care
Taking care of a pet independently, such as a hamster or fish, can be a wonderful indoor activity for a child. Not only does it teach responsibility and empathy, but it also provides a sense of companionship and connection with nature. Help your child set up a suitable habitat for their pet. This could be a spacious cage with bedding, a wheel for exercise, and hiding spots for privacy or a properly sized aquarium or terrarium. Involve your child in decorating the home for a pet and encourage them to establish a daily routine for feeding, cleaning, and interacting with their pet. This knowledge will empower them to be responsible caregivers!
Plant Growing
Taking care of plants is not only an important task for a child but also a delightful indoor activity that offers numerous benefits. It teaches children the importance of responsibility and nurturing. Assigning them tasks such as watering, pruning, and repotting instils a sense of ownership and accountability as they watch their plants grow and thrive under their care. Growing plants requires patience and empathy as children learn to anticipate the needs of their green companions!
When searching for engaging activities to keep the kids entertained at home, consider the kitchen as a perfect playground where fun meets productivity. While it might take a bit longer than usual to whip up some cookies, the resulting family tea party will be etched in memories forever.
Image Credit: Depositphotos, Freepik
Cooking
Discover a simple recipe that captures your child's imagination—a baked treat, a vibrant salad, or creatively adorned sandwiches. Together, gather the ingredients and involve the children in various tasks they can handle, such as cutting, mixing, rolling out dough, or using cookie cutters.
Transforming your kitchen into a homemade pizza parlour offers a fantastic opportunity for the whole family to collaborate on crafting a quick, colourful, and delicious meal! Even toddlers can join in the pizza-decorating fun. Cut cheese into playful animal shapes or letters, and use tomatoes to create whimsical ladybugs. Encourage the kids to let their imaginations soar as they adorn their culinary creations with edible art!
You can also prepare banana ice cream: take bananas (better a little overripe), cut into thin slices and put them in the freezer. After a couple of hours, take out the fruit and mix in a blender until the mass does not resemble thick sour cream. Dessert can be eaten immediately! Older children can handle the preparation on their own under your watchful eye!
Image Credit: Depositphotos, Freepik
DIY Crafts
Sewing, knitting, and embroidery offer wonderful opportunities for quality time with children! If you have the skills, sharing them with your child can be a rewarding experience. Alternatively, if you've always wanted to learn but never had the chance, why not embark on this creative journey together? Starting together adds an element of fun and shared accomplishment. With manageable tasks, patience, and a good sense of humour, you can navigate through initial challenges and achieve satisfying results. Begin with simple projects like toy clothes, fruit and vegetable bags, reusable shoppers, or decorative pillows to spark creativity and enjoyment!
Scrapbooking
It is more than just a hobby—it's a wonderful indoor family activity that fosters creativity, strengthens bonds, and preserves cherished memories for generations to come. Scrapbooking allows families to document and preserve special moments, milestones, and experiences in a tangible and creative way. From vacations and birthdays to everyday adventures, each page tells a unique story that can be revisited and cherished for years to come. This practice encourages creativity and self-expression as family members collaborate to design and decorate each page. From selecting photos and choosing embellishments to writing captions and journaling, there are endless opportunities for artistic expression and personalisation.
Materials for creativity can be ordered in an online store, and then go to open a fascinating paper world not only for the child, but also for yourself!
Home Quest
Hosting a quest at home without professional animators is entirely feasible and can be an incredibly engaging activity for children. For kids up to eight years old who are full of energy and enjoy hands-on activities, consider setting up tasks like knocking down hats with clues hung on trees or searching for specific toys hidden among a variety of objects.
Older children may be intrigued by more complex and logical challenges. A straightforward linear quest can be a great option, where each clue leads to the next until participants uncover the final prize. Another option is a quest with locks, where the initial prize is secured behind a code lock. To crack the code, children must solve puzzles, with each solution revealing a digit of the combination.
For little children, opt for simple puzzles, while junior high students may enjoy mathematical problems. Older kids can tackle more intricate challenges such as rebuses, logic puzzles, graphical tasks, or quizzes. You can even incorporate QR codes into the quest—parents don't need to be programmers to create them! Online generators can easily convert pictures or text into QR codes, leading children to clues or hints hidden on web pages accessible via smartphone scans.
With a bit of creativity and resourcefulness, you can craft an exciting and memorable indoor activity that will keep children entertained and engaged from start to finish!
Create lasting memories by staying at home with the kids and engaging in various activities together: glueing, cutting, knitting, crafting, and storytelling! Transform your space into a theatre or organise a contest—no matter the number of children involved, these moments unite the family and create cherished memories. Turn any occasion into a celebration—a homemade theatre performance, a friendly competition, a balcony picnic, or a pizza-making session. With creativity and enthusiasm, you can find countless interesting things to do without ever leaving your home!