Tearing your hair out trying to find things for the kids to do during lockdown? We’ve gathered together some ideas that’ll keep little ones of all ages busy. Some will help provide you with vital downtime, and others will help you create happy memories together
1. Outdoor exploring
Being around trees and wildlife is known to boost your mood and reduce stress, so grab your wellies and explore the great outdoors. Woodland Trust has put together a great list of ideas to help guide your nature-related activities. It can be as simple as taking steps to help and encourage wildlife in your own garden, or exploring further afield by tracking trees in your local park or woodland. Weather truly hideous? The list also includes indoor creative and craft activities for kids.
2. Manageable maths
If you’re stuck in a homeschooling rut, White Rose Maths is a brilliant site for daily maths lessons for Early Years right up to Year 9. Every lesson comes with a short video showing you clearly and simply how to help your child complete the activity successfully.
3. Get arty
For budding young (and young at heart) artists, Rob Biddulph’s Draw With Rob draw-along videos are an absolute must. The arty activities for kids include masterpieces such as unicorns, sausage dogs, aliens and more.
4. Imagination station
The Imagination Tree site is chock full of fantastic play-based learning activities for kids – from babies right up to school-age children. And if the thought of spending ages setting up messy craft tables is your idea of a nightmare, don’t fear as there are plenty that aren’t too prep-heavy.
5. Home learning help
It’s hard to find fresh inspiration to keep the kids engaged with home learning. Twinkl is a great resource that has heaps of completely free learning activities that have been created by teachers. The primary-age resources include crafts, weekend fun, games, parenting blogs and more – and sometimes feature fun activities from partners like Joe Wicks and Peppa Pig.
Find more inspiration for activities with kids from our parent and child resources. There are mindfulness activities as well as games and creative fun.
