Stay at home sanity: 15 ways to have fun with your little ones

by shaz on Tuesday, July 24, 2007 at 10:16 PM
read more about: parenting strategies.

There are a lot of things that kids do on their own, like playing on the computer, building things with blocks, coloring, and watching their shows on TV, but when it’s time for us to play with them, it may be challenging to find activities that keep them interested and us entertained! As a stay at home mom, I think that I have found a few activities that I enjoy as much as the kids, and they are diverse enough that I can choose one that matches the mood I’m in! I hope that my list is useful to you and your kids too!

Dance
Kids really love a lively beat and its great exercise for them, and us! What I try to do is play ‘follow the leader’ with the dance moves, so each child takes a turn doing silly moves while the rest of us follow along. This is really an excellent and fun way to keep them happy and to do some de-stressing for us! We really like African drums.
Listen to a story on CD
Sometimes when I am just really tired, I play the kids stories on CD, (especially Mouse Cookie & More because it includes great little songs and fun activities along with the stories) and I get to lie on the couch. It’s nice to be able to listen to a story along with them sometimes!
Play with clay sticks
I get these from the Dollar store, and they are a little harder than playdoh, so there is not as much mess, and I find that it’s really enjoyable for me as well.
Pretend to be animals
Baby Einstein has a DVD called “World Animals”, it is filled with video of many different types of animals and sea creatures; while the DVD is playing, we pretend to be the animals on the screen by imitating their movements and sounds. This is a pretty entertaining activity, especially for babies and toddlers.
Sudoku
The kiddy version is really educational and challenging for my 4 year old. I got him a visual one, so he has picture stickers instead of numbers, but the logic of the game was still there and he really enjoys it, as do I! My 3 year old loves ‘hide and seek’, which is a ‘where is waldo’ type game; it consists of a large complex, puzzle picture and a bunch of small items to locate within the picture – he absolutely adores it.
Color the patio stones
Or the sidewalk – whatever is more convenient! I bought really large chalk from Costco, and it’s been a huge form of stress-relief for me; there is just something about coloring that erases bad thoughts from my mind! And the kids enjoy it too.
Pretend to be space explorers
This is a great way to teach kids about different planets. BBC’s website has a 3D solar system tour which describes the planets in an exciting format for kids, so once we go through it, we pretend to be on the different planets and describe what we are feeling – like if we’re on Mercury, we’ll exclaim that it’s really hot!
Collect stickers
Dollar stores have a truly excellent collection of stickers for both young and old, and they have a collection of journals and other books that can be made into sticker books. Get $10 worth of stickers from the store and go nuts creating a sticker book! There are letters, numbers, characters, and even really cool foam ones to get really creative.
Treasure hunt for daddy
Or mommy, depending on who’s gone out to work. Get little post-it notes and write out some clues, let the kids draw some clues, or use different items to create the clues, and then when daddy gets home, he’ll have something fun to do while babysitting the kids!
Origami
This one really depends on how much you like crafts, and may require more patience than the others if you have a kid who is a perfectionist! I try to let my husband do this one with the kids because he enjoys it and does it much better than I can, but letting kids play with lots of colorful paper can keep them busy and happy for a long time!
Art journaling
Since I started doing art journaling, I have found it to be almost therapeutic – just the ability to use any medium for self-expression is very freeing. I got the kids involved as well – each with his own journal, and since I do it with them, they are pretty serious about the activity!
Photobooks
I guess this is similar to scrapbooking, but simpler! I get them kiddy albums from Walmart, the kind that has inserts that can come out, and then I print out a few photos from a recent trip or event and they have the opportunity to put it together how ever they want. Sometimes I am very tempted to intervene (usually I do) when I feel they are messing it up, but I try to let them do their own thing, it’s not for show, it’s just for fun!
Make a movie
Well, not exactly a movie, but create a scenario for the kids and then start acting it out – usually the kids will catch on very fast and start adding in their own scenes! Watching their imagination and creativity can be extremely entertaining.
Nature walk
If you’re in the mood to get out of the house, a little exploration may be just the thing you need. The only problem with this idea is that kids love to ask a million questions, so if you’re not in the mood to answer all of them you can get the kids to collect some of the items that intrigue them, and take a couple photos of anything that cannot be collected, put all of the treasure into a box for safekeeping, and then they can ask their daddy all about their interesting finds when it’s his turn to baby-sit!
Charades
My 4 year old really enjoys playing this game, and the younger 2 still enjoy the fun and laughter even though they do not grasp the concept of the game. We tend to play this one as a family, so my husband and I would pretend to be simple things like a ball or a train (my 3 year old is pretty good at guessing what we are pretending to be), and then my eldest gets his turn and sometimes he even stumps us!