9 Fun Activities for Kids: Easy and practical for busy-as parents

Do you ever walk into Kindy and think ‘man, these teachers rock and I can’t provide anywhere near the creative stimulation for my kids at home… well, samesies.

BUT…  truth is, you don’t need to be up to Kindy standard to have a few fun activities in your back pocket, especially during times of need (cue school holidays, important zoom calls, oh and the “I love them so much let’s have some quality time before they realise how uncool I am” moments).

My little one loves playing and watching Mario, where in the online game he is on a quest to find moons. Rather than sit inside and play Mario, we often hide ‘moons’ (which we draw in chalk) outside around the garden and ask that he goes to find them – on tree trunks, on pavement tiles, under moveable objects. This not only gets them outside but puts in centre stage role-playing their favourite characters.

Take something they do inside, but do it outside. OK, OK I know feels like it doesn’t take a genius to suggest this, but how often could they be playing with their cars / dolls / robots outside rather than in? And it generally leads to longer playing periods as they have more stimuli to explore. Lay out a play mat to get them started.

Not only does yoga improve flexibility, strength, and balance, but it also teaches kids valuable techniques for managing stress and anxiety. So, lay down a yoga or playmat to get the kids outdoors. They will need a device to watch from (unless you are volunteering to be the teacher!) A super cool YouTube channel is Cosmic Kids Yoga, where videos are themed (dinosaurs, mermaids, aliens!) and varying in length, so you can choose whatever is right for your kid’s age (and attention span!)

You can do this whether you’re at home, or you’re at your local park, beach or bush walk. Give them a basket (binoculars, torches, magnifying lenses welcome), and a list of things that they need to find (if they’re younger you can draw the treasures) – bird feathers, sticks, dried leaves, shells, clouds, bird nests, etc. If the items can be taken home, you can then task them with creating a picture with all the treasures they’ve collected.

This is also a super cool way to teach kids to clean up and burn off some of that energy while they're at it.

Gather some clean, recycled materials like cardboard tubes, plastic bottles, and aluminum cans and scatter them around your backyard. Divide into teams and race to collect as many recyclables as you can in a set amount of time.

Probably best you don’t do this on a windy day and don’t forget to check for strays that weren’t found …no man left behind!

One-up on this idea, head to your local beach, playground (you name it!) with gloves and a bin bag and ACTUALLY PICK UP RUBBISH! (carazeee idea, I know). Younger kids will obviously need some supervision with this one 😉

I’m going to start with this one as it’s a goodie and kids seem to love it (plus your house will thank me). At the end of playing, get into the habit of giving your kids 5-10 minutes to ‘clean-up’. I was super skeptical at first, but kids love a task, and it gives them a sense of purpose and responsibility. Crank up the clean-up song and get amongst those clean-house vibes!

If you’re stuck inside on a rainy day, or can’t afford to go quite as far afield as your babes would want to, take them on a virtual adventure instead and let them soak in all that educational goodness that the planet has to offer from your living room. We are teachers have an awesome round-up of virtual tours, including Zoo and Aquarium live webcams, places of interest like Buckingham Palace or the Great Wall of China, they can even see virtual footage of Mars and the Moon!

If you want to encourage independent play time, for kids that can write, ask that they create a story around creative starter prompts. If they’re a bit younger ask they play out the scenario with toys.

If your little folk has a particular interest in something and you’re lacking the creative juices to give them an idea, jump on chatGPT and ask for some. Below are some prompts that we got:

• Magical Forest Adventure: Once upon a time, in a deep, enchanted forest, there lived a curious squirrel named Sam. One day, while exploring the forest, Sam stumbled upon a mysterious glowing object hidden beneath a pile of leaves...
• Space Odyssey: In outer space a brave astronaut named Alex embarks on a mission to explore planets and uncover the secrets of the universe. But Alex's spaceship encounters a sudden meteor shower and they must navigate through to fine safety...
• Underwater Kingdom: Deep beneath the shimmering waves of the ocean, a mermaid named Marina discovers an ancient treasure map hidden among the coral reefs. With the help of her trusty seahorse companion, Marina sets off on an underwater adventure to find the lost treasure and save her kingdom from a mysterious dark force...
  

We have SO MUCH ‘stuff’ around the home that your little eco-warriors could put to better use than going straight into the bin, those plastic bottles could be turned into ten-pin bowling pins, those spare toilet rolls into pirate binoculars, your old socks turned into sock puppets and the possibilities are endless with big cardboard boxes – robot costumes, forts, dollhouses, race-track, or even just a massive canvas to paint on.

Hopefully one of those helps you out in a time of need, or just gives you 5 minutes to enjoy a HOT cuppa xx