If you are looking for some ways to keep your little ones entertained, we totally understand! You probably have some work of your own to get done, homeschooling to help with, and so on. We built this guide to help you brainstorm activities and find some positive screentime resources!
The Ultimate Guide for Hunkering Down at Home
Tips for Staying Safe and Healthy
- Wash your hands! We know you’ve heard this one by now but it can’t be emphasized enough. It’s the perfect time to teach your kids good habits like washing their hands for a full 20 seconds. Sing the ABC’s or one of your favorite songs, make it fun!
- Cancel playdates and visits with friends & family. Trust us, this one makes us sad too. BUT we want to protect all the people in our lives and this is the best way to do so.
- Eat healthy, whole foods. This will help to boost your immune system and your mood. Check out our article here to find out why healthy foods are so important + some other immune-boosting tips!
- Talk to your kiddos about what is going on. Even though your little one may not fully understand, it’s good to have a chat and let them get feelings out about how life is changing for the time being. Here are some great tips about how to have these conversations!
Great Family Food Delivery Services
I know that the grocery stores can be a little crazy right now, not to mention we are all trying to go out as little as possible. This means it is the perfect time to order grocery delivery. Here are a few great options!
- Yumble Kids: Yumble delivers delicious frozen meals that your toddler will love. They have a great variety and all the meals are nutritionally balanced. Click here for 50% off for 2 weeks + free shipping from Yumble!
- Nurture Life: Nurture Life is another great place to order pre-made meals. They offer options for babies, toddlers, and the whole family. The meals are focused on organic produce, antibiotic-free proteins & whole grains.
- Home Chef: If you haven’t tried Home Chef, now is a better time than ever. They are still delivering their delicious, easy to make family meals. Plus, you can add on extras like more chicken breasts which means you can avoid the grocery store. Get $35 Off Your First Order through this link!
You can check out some more information about all of our favorite delivery services here!
Entertaining Educational Resources
With many schools (including preschools) being canceled, you might be worried about your kiddo missing out on important lessons. Have no fear! Luckily, children are super adaptable and sponges for learning.
Use this time to educate them in all sorts of creative ways, you’d be surprised how much they can learn just from everyday life. You can use baking to teach some math, introduce them to new kinds of art, open up an app to teach them the alphabet, and so much more. Below are some of our favorite resources to get creative with how to keep your kids entertained and learning!
The Best Family Apps & Entertainment
- ABC Mouse– Click here to try it for free today!
- Miss Megan Camp Kindergarten- This incredible former kindergarten teacher is doing morning meetings for 3-7-year-olds through Facebook Live. Check them out!
- PBS Kids– PBS Kids has games on the computer, games for the phone, and plenty of shows to watch. They are all educational and my 3-year-old nephew is absolutely obsessed with them at the moment, so they are definitely doing something right!
- Hulu– This is one of our favorite streaming services because there are tons of options for the whole family. There is also a good mix of movies and TV shows, plus original programming which is great for quarantine binge-watching! Try it out today.
- Hooked on Phonics– My mom (who taught preschool and then had an in-home daycare for 20+ years) swears by Hooked on Phonics to help teach your little one to read. Click here to get your first month for just $1!
Crafts & Creative Activities
- Try out Kiwi Co!
- Make a paper plate Love Bug.
- Have a fashion show. Little ones will love to go through mom’s closet to find fun pieces!
- Play “I Spy With My Little Eye”
- Have everyone in the family keep a journal of their days.
- Start a garden (or an indoor garden!)
- Layout a picnic in your living room or in your backyard.
- Have a shaving cream party in the tub.
- Make finger paint art that you can brighten up the house with.
- Have a backyard scavenger hunt.
- Find an empty bin and do sensory play with rice, beans, or oatmeal
- Make collages from old magazines around the house.
- Print out some cute coloring pages. You can get some free ones here!
- Take it back to the classics and make crafts out of paper towel rolls and egg cartons.
- Bake something together.
- Have a car wash for all the plastic toys. Bonus, they probably could use a good cleaning anyways!
- Play LEGOS with a focus on naming the colors and counting the pieces.
- Turn the kitchen table into a science lab and create an experiment.
Check out a list of 25 indoor activities + instructions here!
Educational TV Shows
- Daniel Tiger’s Neighborhood
- Octonauts
- Sesame Street
- Super Why!
- Nature Cat
- Umizoomi!
- Storybots
- Word Party
- Tumble Leaf
Virtual Field Trips
- Click here for virtual field trips to some amazing sites like the San Diego Zoo, Yellowstone, a farm, and even Mars
- Dive into the arts with nightly Met Opera Streaming
- Tour some of the world’s most renowned museums (it’s probably best to do this virtually anyways with giggly toddlers!)
- Watch some rad animal cams; lions, tigers, and bears oh my!
- Take a virtual tour of the National Aquarium
- Visit The Great Wall of China
- Explore anywhere you’d like through Google Earth! Here’s the Buckingham Palace.
Keep Your Body Moving
Another important part of getting through self-quarantining or social-distancing is to make sure you are staying active. There are tons of free workout videos online, even mommy and me yoga! Not to mention, you can just turn up the tunes and dance around. Whatever feels right for you, just get those bodies moving and pray that it will wear out the little ones.
- This family has got their squats down! Check it out and copy their moves.
- Planet Fitness is having FREE Facebook Live “work-ins” every day @4 PM PST/7 PM EST. I tried one out and it was actually a blast!
- Find your zen with some family yoga. Here’s one great option, but there are tons!
We hope that you are all doing well and finding the positives in these difficult times. We know that adjusting your daily lives and the way you parent is hard, but we hope these ideas have inspired you to do something fun as a family today. If you have more ideas for keeping kiddos entertained at home, we would love to hear them!
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