Having to stay isolated is a very new experience for us all and it can be quite unsettling, especially for children in the family.
Trying to keep children entertained is challenging enough and there’s only so much of the same thing that can be done until boredom strikes.
Therefore, whilst we’re all at home with our families, now is a perfect time to schedule new activities throughout the day that everyone can enjoy!
Whether your child is into movies or baking, reading or jewellery making, we’ve come up with a whole range of activities that can keep the kids (and you) busy whilst staying at home.
Play Board Games
Remember board games? Those boxes collecting dust on your living room bookshelf? Surprisingly, they’re a great way to keep children entertained no matter how old they are. You’ll meet everyone’s competitive side and it’ll really bring you closer together as a family!
You can find board games available for delivery on the Snizl feed, look out for our upcoming competition including the Beat The Parents Board Game!
Watch Movies
Who doesn’t love the evening wind down? The part where you snuggle up on the sofa in the evening and watch a brilliant family-friendly movie.
Whilst social distancing, you can do exactly that. It’s another great way to entertain the family and spend some quality time with the kids.
Enter to win a £50.00 Netflix Gift Card in our latest Competition and you can have your movies and boxsets paid for, for over 8 months!
Arts & Crafts
Looking for an easy way to keep the kids busy while you work from home or do housework? Drawing is a perfect activity to do each day.
It’s also very versatile. You can draw on paper, with chalk in the garden, or, if your household has a tablet, you can download drawing apps for free.
With arts and crafts, simply gather recyclable materials from around the home and create model cars or houses using sticky tape! It’s great fun and will exercise their imagination.
These things are not only fun, but it also allows them to carry on being creative whilst not going to school.
On Snizl you’ll find arts & crafts sets containing pompoms, assorted coloured card and sequins all to be delivered to your door. You’ll even find a Competition in the upcoming days containing plenty of arts & crafts sets.
Baking
Cooking is one of the most essential things you’ll learn to do as a child. Kick start this learning process with baking.
Baking is exciting for all ages, it teaches important skills for the future like measuring, following instructions and the end result is a tasty rewarding treat. You’ll not only be keeping the family entertained, but you’ll be setting them up for the future too.
Baking is extremely ideal for times like these where you might struggle to access supermarkets. Love pancakes? Got bananas in your fruit bowl? Eggs in the box? Get up and follow this quick and simple recipe to kick start your baking adventures at home…
Recipe: 8 Banana Pancakes
Prep Time: 5-10 minutes, Cook Time: 2-3 minutes.
Ingredients: 1 Ripe Banana, 2 Eggs (lightly beaten), Butter or Oil (for the pan), Your favourite toppings e.g. Maple Syrup, Icing Sugar etc.
- Have everyone taking part in baking wash their hands. To see how to do this thoroughly, visit our short blog on how to clean your hands correctly. Break up the banana in a bowl and mash it with a fork until it’s at pudding consistency.
- Stir in the eggs and mix together. Don’t panic if it doesn’t look like usual pancake mix!
- Heat the buttered/oiled pan on medium heat.
- Drop 1 or 2 teaspoons of batter on a hot pan. It should sizzle immediately, if not, turn the heat up.
- Once the bottom starts to brown, flip and cook for another minute.
- Serve warm and add as many tasty toppings as you’d like and enjoy!
Go on a walk or do P.E in your garden
Although we are being asked to stay inside, it is still important that we get fresh air and exercise. Up to 2 people from your household are allowed to go out and take a walk but if this is not possible in your household, get everyone in your family to take part in a fun P.E lesson!
Without routine a lot of us are losing the motivation to do our recommended 10,000 steps a day but going on a walk or setting up a fun physical course in the garden is a perfect way to get moving and can help your mental health from deteriorating.
It also gives you time to spend with your family, which in these current times is more important than ever!
Watch this 13-minute Family Fun Cradio Workout video on YouTube and get everyone competing and exercising!
Build a den or a reading corner
Have you done all of the above yet still have a few more hours to kill? Building a den is another great idea!
Building a den can be so much fun for children, let them enjoy the mischief of creating a secret place to play in.
When it’s finished it’ll be a cosy space perfect for watching movies or reading their favourite books.
It can be great fun and allows children to learn team-building skills whilst letting their imagination soar!
Learn a new skill
Although it’s great to have fun whilst we’re in isolation, it’s also important that we are supporting and encouraging learning. Besides, we don’t want this long break to affect their development!
Learning a new skill such as knitting, roller skating or learning key words from another language can be transferable in the outside world too, so it’s definitely time well spent.
Read a book
The right book can take you away into a completely different world, which might be ideal for some of us right now…
Reading to children is also extremely important and has so many benefits to their development. It not only improves their vocabulary but it also expands their imagination and can really help with key communication skills!
Reading is a fantastic way of keeping the English language flowing whilst not at school. If you’d like to order books online, Snizl has a variety of independent book shops selling educational and entertaining books.
Video-calling friends or family
Social distancing can be very lonely, not only the adults in the household but the children too.
It’s a difficult concept for children and they may struggle to understand at first. If they’re used to seeing certain members of their family regularly it is important that we are taking the measures to keep this contact up by using things like Facetime and Skype!
Video-calling regularly and at a set time each day can be a great way to regain structure for families as seeing familiar faces again will help us through the next couple of weeks.
Gardening
The sun is shining brightly over most parts of the UK, so spending time in the garden with your family is a great way to make the most of the day!
Get everyone in the garden (if you’re lucky enough to have one) and give the kids some jobs to do e.g. picking out weeds or watering flowers.
If you don’t have a garden, gather at the window and take some time for bird spotting!
Spring Cleaning
Spring is only a couple of days away. Therefore, now is the perfect time to get your house tidy and clean for the sunnier months… especially if we’re having to spend more time in our homes than we usually would be!
It’s a great way to stay productive and is perfect for all the free time on our hands – you know what they say: tidy home, tidy mind!
It is so important that we continue to have a routine and a structure firmly in place as it can be so tempting to get up late and go to bed late when there’s nowhere to go in the morning.
Putting in place times of the day for each of these activities whilst at home with your family will be the best way to ensure you stay healthy and prevent boredom whilst self-isolating!
Enter our competition to win a bundle full of things to entertain your family with, such as jewellery making, a nature activity book, a board game and much more… coming soon to Snizl.