Five easy tips on how to entertain kids at home
Are your children currently at home because the schools are closed? How are you going to entertain your children at home during the Corona crisis? You are not the only parent wondering this.
We can lend you a hand in this because we regularly add classic play elements to our play corners. After all, child's play is the same everywhere. It makes no difference, whether the kids' games are enjoyed at home or in a shop.
Below we will give you five ideas that you can use as a starting point to come up with activities for children at home. So, your kids can play at home in a fun, responsible and educational way!
1. How to entertain kids at home with traditional kids' games
People often don't realise that child's play is very simple. Children can easily keep themselves busy. Just think back to the old days. Back then, there were far less toys and fewer digital means for passing the time. How did you enjoy yourself back then? And what games did you play?
These days, many traditional kids' games have been lost to time. For instance, playing with wooden blocks and pinning the tail on the donkey. Even now, children would still enjoy these games.
Make it more challenging by getting siblings to build something together. Or organize a tournament for the family with all kinds of classic games. The kids can help in the preparations by crafting their own donkey pinboard or decorating the bags for a sack race.
You can also use popular outdoor play activities as inspiration to entertain children indoors. For example, setting up a treasure or scavenger hunt or playing Capture the flag. With this last game, everyone hides a flag somewhere in the house, the one who finds a flag first wins the game.
2. Allow children's imaginations to run free
One of the most important elements of playing is fantasy. Through their infinite imagination, children will be able to enjoy themselves at home.
You can encourage this imagination by giving children the freedom to create their own little world to play in. In a professional setting we do this by incorporating a theme in a play corner, for example with fences and wall designs. At home this can be done by giving children the opportunity to do crafts and create and build their own world.
For example, let them build a play hut or fortress from cardboard boxes and sheets. Or collect old clothes and jewellery for a costume party and encourage the children to prepare a play.
Additionally, you can work together to create your own kids' games for at home. For instance, drawing out a racetrack, making hand puppets or transforming a shoebox into a diorama or doll house. The possibilities are endless.
3. How to entertain kids at home in an active way
One of the biggest challenges we are currently hearing from parents is that the children have a lot of unspent energy. This is understandable, because they can' t go to school, aren't playing with their friends and can' t go to swimming lessons or football practice.
What activities can you offer children at home that allow them to release their energy? In our play corners we work with climbing and clambering elements, but there are many possibilities to get creative and active at home.
You can play more active games with them. Consider, for example, a sack race for brothers and sisters or musical chairs for the whole family. For younger children you can create an obstacle course from pillows and stuffed animals. To refer to children's unending fantasy world, you can also come up with an exciting story about what the obstacles represent.
The advantage of the digital world we currently live in, is that you can also look on the internet for free online sports classes for children. There are many YouTube channels that offer kids’ gymnastics and yoga classes.
4. Adding educational elements to all the fun
The preceding ideas stimulate creative development and active play. But with the right choices, you can easily incorporate educational elements into child's play.
Like matching the games to the homework, the children get from school. If, for example, the focus of the homework is on language and spelling, you can opt for word seekers and scrabble.
In addition, can also play thinking games such as Memory or stimulate thinking ahead with games like four in a row. Besides that, games like Shuffleboard also fit into the list of educational games. Shuffleboard allows children to work on their hand-eye coordination and motor skills.
5. Digital games to entertain children at home
Naturally, digital resources should not be entirely overlooked in the process of optimally entertaining kids at home. Computer games and apps for tablets and smartphones offer a fun, and often, educational experience.
An example of this are our IKC games that can be downloaded for free from the App Store or Google Play Store. Many children are already familiar with these games through a visit to a supermarket, restaurant or hospital. These apps are also available for children at home.
In addition to entertainment, these games offer an educational challenge and stimulate the cognitive development of the child. With the help of these apps, your kids can safely play while you focus on your work.
Our digital game Unblock now available as a FREE printable version!
For all parents that are working from home and for their children, we have made a free printable version of one of our popular Arctic Adventures games: Unblock. Just print out the file, cut out the pieces and start playing!
This game is suitable for young and old, because of endless options for levels and difficulties by mixing up the placement of the ice blocks at the start of the game. Who will guide the boat to the exit the quickest? Find out now!