Having Fun Nestled Down at Home with Kids

Many of us are finding ourselves home-bound in an effort to keep our community safer. It can be unsettling to suddenly try to discover a new routine and navigate uncharted waters. In my experience, I have found that children are careful observers and pick up on emotional and nonverbal cues quickly. Let’s help them feel at ease by leading the way with these FREE and inventive ways to keep them engaged and having fun! I am sure that with a little creativity, this time spent with your family can be some of the most memorable moments from their childhood!

You can print these out and go through them as desired, or cut them out and draw one from a hat each day!

First up- here are a list of ways to stay active! We always go on a daily walk or a bike ride and play outside. But these are great ways to stay active in addition to those!

Active Kids- ways to stay active while nestled down at home

Cosmic Yoga
Fluency & Fitness (21 days free)
gonoodle.com (SO many options)
KooKoo Kanga Roo
Go on a nature walk (print out a outdoor scavenger hunt HERE)
YouTube Kidz Bop
Scavenger hunt inside or outside
Jazzercise on Demand (14 days free)
Zumba (on goonoodle)
Set up obstacle course outside
UNICEF Kid Power App
Adventure 2 Learning (free 14 days)
PopSugar Fitness (kids do your workout)
Create your own workout to a song then teach it to everyone else
CrossFit Kids at home– make up your own- 4 rounds of 10 reps- jumping jacks/sit-ups/air squats/push-ups

Print the PDF version of the Active Kids HERE

Nestle Down Bucket List

Have a Dance Party! Wanting to be a little EXTRA? Try throwing scarves over your lamps or setting up a disco ball to make it extra fun! Wooden spoons make excellent microphones if you have kids dying to sing along! Here is a fun dance party kid-friendly playlist!
Living Room Campout- What is more fun than sleeping somewhere different? Set up a tent, or just haul out blankets and pillows. Tell stories and give everyone a flashlight for shadow puppets!
Play a board game- Our family loves playing games! Right now my kids are playing the game LIFE non-stop and Tenzi!
Read a book out loud- Younger kids are likely use to some sort of read aloud time at school, and they will love to snuggle in to hear you read your favorite chapter book from your youth. Wondering what to read? Here is a great list I did for all ages!
Memorize a poem together and have a recital- Memorizing anything is a great way to keep your mind sharp! We love Shel Silverstein poems, but there are many poems that can be found online! Have performers in the house? Consider hosting a family recital. Give everyone a day for the performance and build up the show! You could even make admission tickets, show posters, etc! Consider recording it for family that live away!
Watch a movie on silent and makeup new dialogue- Have you seen the bad lip reading videos on Youtube? They are hilarious! Consider creating your own by turning on a movie and watching it on silent. Encourage everyone to play a part and makeup the dialogue as you watch together. This helps with storytelling, and builds friendships with each other!
Draw a Self-portrait- Spread out paper and art supplies and give everyone a handheld mirror (or even a picture of themselves). Set a timer and have everyone being a rendering of themselves. For a fun twist, consider doing it blindfolded!
Leave reviews for your last five online purchases- Want a writing prompt? Ask your child to write an online review for online purchases you’ve made in the past month. Ask them to think about how much it cost, what it is used for, and their opinion on the product.
Clean out a closet- Declutter and organize. They will feel the release of stress that is caused by having too much!
Stretch together- Begin and end the day with a good stretch. Set a goal for stretching. Anyone want to be able to do the splits? Maybe you want to work on your sitting reach? Write them down and follow up with each other!
Learn to do a Sun Salutation (yoga)- Learn to do a sun salutation together! This yoga sequence is the foundation of a yoga practice and is a good way to calm your mind and move your body! Depending on the age, there are videos for everyone to learn these simple movements! If you know it, you can be the teacher!
Become a faster Typer!- How about some friendly competition? Set two laptops side by side and take a timed typing test to see who is fastest! Here is a fun website to work on those typing skills!
Watch and or Paint the Sunset- Check what time the sun begins to set in your area. If you can’t see the sunset from your home, pile in your car and chase down the sunset. Have everyone draw their own version of what you saw and compare the differences. Talk about how beauty is in the eye of the beholder.
Have a Joke telling contest- Place two chairs facing each other. One person at a time tells a joke to the other and the first to laugh loses their spot to another person. The cheesier the joke the better! There are a lot of clean kid-safe joke lists online!
Picnic in a room that isn’t your kitchen- My kids love anything that is out of the ordinary. Pack up your dinner in a portable container and call everyone to meet in your picnic spot! A blanket spread out in the master bedroom (or closet) makes for some pretty fun memories! For extra credit, get your kids in on the planning and execution of the picnic!
Write notes/pictures to the elderly- Are you kids missing grandparents or elderly friends? I promise that they are missing your kids! Consider giving your child a prompt to write about. (My favorite thing to do in Springtime, If I could be any animal and why, etc). These will help make the letter longer and engaging.
Drop off bag of kids toys, books, or crafts etc to friend- did you just do a craft and have extra supplies? Take them to a friend! Or what about a book or coloring book that your kids outgrew? Share it!
Build A Fort- Blankets, cushions, chairs and sheets all make great fort-building materials! Let your kids be the engineers here and see what they come up with! Make sure to let them play or read in the fort before cleaning it up!
Bake Homemade Bread- Have you made my mom’s bread yet? My kids love making and eating it! What a fun skill to learn! Find the recipe here.
Crazy Clothes Fashion Show/Photo Shoot- Set a timer and give everyone five minutes to run to their rooms and put together the CRAZIEST outfit they can! Meet back at the show and turn on some music! One by one show off your outfit. Put someone in charge of taking pictures and maybe another person in charge of “commentary.” After the first show, keep it going with a look for eveningwear, work outfit, swimwear, etc!
Make a DREAM Board with pictures from a magazine- Have some magazines lying around? Cut and paste pictures and words to create murals or vision boards. This can be a great way to set goals or even make into a card for a loved one!
Pick a captain for the day- They help with meals, choose the book, and get to stay up late! This is one of my favorite ideas to keep kids feeling special and teach them about leadership skills. Pick some tasks that the captain is in charge of….pick what’s for lunch, or can skip clean up. A fun thing to do is give them a later bedtime for some one on one time with just them!
Put on a play- read a kids book then act it out! Or have a favorite broadway play? Preform it.
Play hide and seek with flashlights- you could do this in your backyard at night or when it gets dark inside
Read a scripture story and act it out- just like at Christmas time many of us act out the nativity scene, do the same from a scripture passage you read
Do kindness acts for one another- challenge everyone to do surprise kind acts for each other through the day- make each others bed, write a love note, get them a yummy drink, offer to help them clean something, offer to read to younger siblings
Swap books or puzzles with a neighbor friend- complete a puzzle then pass it onto a friend at their door!
FaceTime your friend from school- Lola and her friend did this and it was so sweet
Play Hot and Cold… hide and item have the others find it- we play this at church often. We sing a song and as they get closer to the hidden object sing louder.