Quality time spent in a family environment positively impacts a child’s intellectual development and their self-confidence. In order to make the time spent with your kids fun, but also educational, we just need a little time and imagination. A good approach will not only help parents improve their relationship with their child, but it will also help them to solve everyday challenges through play. So, how about planning some great activities for kids!
The first thing you need to decide on is the location. It’s not the same if you are planning a trip together, a day outdoors, or if you want to make the best use of the fact that all of you are together at home. When you decide where you want to go, the next step is to design the best activities to do together.
Outdoor activities largely depend on the weather and season of the year. And, while the only requirement for some activities is the absence of rain, other activities directly depend on whether it is hot, cold, snowing, etc. When outdoor activities are mentioned, the first thing that comes to mind for many people are popular sports. Playing baseball with one’s kids is always fun, but there are other things that you can do outside together. We will focus on fun activities that primarily stimulate thinking and help you spend some quality time with your family.
Creative walks are an excellent way to persuade your kids that the world around us is amazing only if we try to discover what lies beneath the surface. A nature walk can help your child learn more about plants and animals, to understand where food comes from, etc. You can teach them all of these things through play by organizing a treasure hunt, or pointing out the links between the environment and their favorite cartoon or video game.
On the other hand, a city walk is a great opportunity to help a child familiarize themselves with the environment in which they live. Design an interesting route where you will be able to take photos of the streets and buildings, as if you were tourists. Tell them interesting stories and anecdotes to help them understand how life in your city used to be in the past. If you live in the same neighborhood where you grew up, tell them how the neighborhood has changed since you were a kid. After the walk, each of you can create your own photo album and say something more about the photos you’ve chosen.
Outdoor art activities open up numerous opportunities for expressing one’s creativity. Sometimes it is enough to sit outside with a pencil and paper. Of course, artistic tasks should be age-appropriate so children can truly enjoy themselves, free of stress. Painting pebbles is a great activity that you can enjoy whenever you feel like it. All you need are paints and interesting pebbles. Agree on the topic and start painting. After that, you can organize an exhibition for friends.
Environmental activities are an ideal way to teach your child how to protect the environment. Organize a litter collection contest and the person who collects the highest quantity of litter wins. This way, the child will understand that their actions have a great impact on the environment. All you need for this is a garbage bag and a pair of gloves. If your child is in secondary school, raise this to a higher level and organize a neighborhood initiative to tidy up your street or a local park which may be neglected.
We will briefly mention other outdoor activities you can enjoy:
When the weather is bad (too hot, cold, rainy, dark, etc.), you can have fun at home. To make it work, the first thing you need to do is turn off various screens. Although a movie day at home with a bowl of popcorn sounds tempting, you can always do this later in the evening. Until then, prepare for some fun indoor activities!
Board games are a proven way to bring a family together. It doesn’t matter which game you will play; you can even create rules of your own. The important thing is that you are together and that you’re having fun. Board games can teach children how to accept victories and defeats in stride. Board games are an excellent substitute for video games, which is another advantage of this activity.
Making up stories – write different words on pieces of paper and put them in a big bowl. Each player draws a few words and uses them to create their own original story. If you like the game, try to persuade other family members to join in. If you succeed, family members will be the heroes of the story who solve challenges in the story by asking questions to the narrator. How the story unwinds depends entirely on you and your imagination. You can even dress up in costumes in line with the story (there is no fairy tale without a princess, right).
Exploring nature at home – if the weather is bad, you can make a field trip in your living room. Use pillows, cardboard boxes and blankets to make a tent. Let your children design it, and enjoy making your own cozy fort. After that, you can embark on a nature exploration – take a magnifying glass and get acquainted with your house plants. Many people don’t even know what plant species they have at home, let alone their characteristics.
If you have pets, that’s even better, because now you can study “wild animals” in addition to plant species. Pretend you were studying a rare animal from afar. You can even record your own nature show about the unusual critter. Your pet will certainly enjoy the attention.
Talent Show – demonstrate your hidden talents to the kids. Pretend you were a contestant in a talent show. Each of you should prepare an act to perform in front of family members, which is not only fun, but can be very helpful for a child’s psychological development. This way, children learn to perform in public, to free themselves of stage fright and are encouraged to pursue their interests. Maybe this way, you will realize that your child is a talented singer, actor or simply want you to buy them an electric guitar. This is a show where everyone wins!
Make a magazine – agree on starting a family magazine that you will edit together. Assign roles in the newsroom to each family member and get to work. Design the cover page using pages from old magazines for inspiration. This does not have to be a one-time thing. You can assign roles to extended family and friends. Let each of them write and edit a column they like.
Your uncle can draw a cartoon, grandma can write a recipe, you can write about TV shows and movies, whereas the most musical member of the family can write about their favorite singer. Of course, you will need to think up a name and the cover for your magazine together.
Let’s mention some other indoor activities for kids:
Adults are often unaware how much responsibilities children have on a daily basis. Learning is a process that represents an integral part of education and growing up. To interest your children in the topics they are learning about, design activities that will make the learning material more relatable, engaging, and cool. This can be done by designing activities that require children to practically apply what they’ve learned at school. To achieve the best results, ask teachers for advice so as to create age-appropriate activities in line with the curriculum. If your child’s school relies on 21st-century learning skills, that’s even better.
Learning activities for kids will have the best effect if you approach the teaching material in an interesting and engaging way, and that means a lot of experiments. Maybe the biggest challenge of all is the STEM concept (science, technology, engineering, and mathematics), so you should pay special attention to it in your preparations.
Some science experiments may include:
When it comes to social sciences, the best approach is to play quiz games. Prepare questions related to the teaching material, but include references to things your child likes (video games, music, sports, etc.). Create the atmosphere of a real quiz game show by playing the host while your child plays a contestant, and even design a studio together.
You can even use cardboard to create the set. Use home lamps to create lighting, and the show can begin. To make things even more genuine, you can ‘record’ the quiz show with your camera. You will be surprised how much your child, carried away by the spirit of the competition, will want to learn everything they didn’t know so they can be even better next time. You can even introduce awards if you want – a box of cookies, or a family trip to an ice-cream parlor.
These are just a few examples of how, with a little imagination and determination, you can create activities for kids that will enrich your family life and help your children develop abilities that will be important later in life.
