Entertaining your children at home? Action for Children’s parenting coach Joanna Miskin has lots of ideas.
Arts and crafts
Outdoor foot painting is a good excuse to get outside. First, lay out a long sheet of paper. Put paper plates with paint on at one end, and a towel and a bowl of water at the other. Then get stomping!
Make a book together: try a picture book cut out from magazines and newspapers. Older children can make up and illustrate their own story, then share it with the rest of the family.
Set a Lego challenge to see who can build a rocket/car/castle the fastest. With older children, sketch out designs on a piece of paper. Then take turns to pick out an idea to build together.
Collect rocks and stones to turn into a creative project or ornaments.
Fun while they learn
Make your own time capsule. Fill it with letters, photos and anything else, then bury it in the garden or store in an attic. See WikiHow for more suggestions.
Make a word search and theme it to your child’s hobbies.
Put on a play based on their favourite book. You can write a script, decide who is playing which character, then act it out.
Create your own science day. Head to Science Fun for some great tips on experiments you can do at home.
Learn a language. BBC Bitesizehas short lessons in all sort of skills.
Research your family tree. Dig out photos of relatives your child can stick in a family tree album.
If the night sky is clear, wrap up warm and do some stargazing. The Sky at Night website has tips on what to look for.
Fun and games
Design and make your own board game.
Card games are a great way to learn while spending time together. Uno, Snap and Top Trumps can all help sharpen maths and language skills.
Play hide and seek either indoors or out: the whole family can join in.
Ask to play a computer game with them. This will show you’re taking an interest, as well as give you an insight into how and what they play.
Shake it up
Have a Karaoke competition and dance-off. It’s a great way to keep up to date with what your child is listening to. Download a karaoke app to get you started.
Older children will love a Nerf gun battle: it’s great for burning energy.
Organise a family sports day. This can be indoors or outdoors. Set up a mini racetrack, have an egg and spoon race or use cushions for hurdles.
Fun with food
Get them to help out with dinner. They could choose the menu, prep ingredients or set the table.
Have a food tasting session. This is particularly good to encourage fussy eaters to try new things.
Down time
Have a spa day to take care of yourself and each other. Use washing up bowls for a foot soak and give each other pedicures. You can make home-made scrubs and face masks from olive oil, sugar and honey.
Keep connected by video calling friends and relatives so they can see how everyone is doing.
Turn your home into a cinema. Make the room dark and give your child a blanket to cuddle up underneath. Let them choose an (age-appropriate) film to make sure they’re really engaged with it.
We will only share personal information shared in the live chat if we need to talk to other professionals to get the best support for you. In the majority of cases, we will discuss this with you first. We also share anonymised data with the commissioners of this service. By using Talk, you understand and give your explicit consent to this.
You do not have to share personal information if you do not wish to.
Your email address will not be used for any reason beyond giving you parenting information, support and advice.