Six ways to keep your kids entertained
We all need a bit of inspiration now and then. If your kids are getting restless at home, try one of these fun activities to engage them.
Magic rainbow milk
It’s super easy to turn ordinary milk into a rainbow of crazy colours. All you need are four kitchen items:
- Milk (whole or semi-skimmed), food colouring (the more colours the better), washing up liquid, and a shallow dish or bowl.
Instructions
- Pour milk into a shallow dish or bowl, until it covers the bottom.
- Add some drops of food colouring to the milk. You can use a variety of colours, just be sure to add 3-4 drops of each colour.
- Add a drop of washing up liquid into the centre of the milk.
- Watch as all the colours dance across the surface of the milk.
Make paper prints by submerging paper in the dish, then remove and allow to dry.
Bowling at home
Set up a makeshift bowling in your hallway or garden. You’ll need:
- Pins: either cans, bottles or loo roll.
- A soft ball for inside play, or a slightly harder ball for playing outside.
Tips and ideas
- If you’re playing outside, fill empty bottles or tins with some water (or keep them empty to make them lighter for younger kids).
- If you’re playing inside use loo roll or empty bottles
- Stack up the pins, or keep them a single story to make it easier.
- Roll a ball towards them and see who can get the first strike.
Make it even more fun by painting old bottles or cans with paints. Go as crazy as you like, or keep it classic with red and white.
Building dens
Whether they’re outside or inside, there’s no shortage of ways to get creative and build an imaginative den.
You’ll need:
- Blankets.
- Chairs.
- Old delivery boxes.
- Bed sheets.
- Sofa cushions.
- Sticks and logs.
- A torch or lantern.
Top tips for den building:
- In good weather build your den outside. Create a picnic fort or camp fit for a king or queen.
- If there’s no space available outside or there’s bad weather, create a cosy den inside where they can read or listen to stories late into the evening. Use comfortable, soft furnishings such as blankets, sheets and pillows. Pull cushions off the sofa and set up camp for the night.
Fairy lights add atmosphere to any den or fort.
DIY slime
Engage your inner alien and make some slime to play with. To make one ball of slime you’ll need:
- 100ml PVA white glue (children’s craft glue or CE marked glue).
- 1/2 tsp bicarbonate of soda.
- 1 tsp contact lens solution.
- Gel food colouring.
- Decorations.
How to make your slime:
- Squeeze the glue into a mixing bowl (look for a bottle in a 100ml size if possible, so you won’t have to measure it out). Add the bicarbonate of soda and mix well.
- Add a drop or two of your chosen gel food colouring. Less colouring gives a pastel colour – the more you add, the brighter the colour. Mix until incorporated.
- Take out the mixture and knead it with your hands. It will be sticky at first, but after about 30 seconds you’ll have a smooth and pliable ball. Add any decorations and work in with your hands. Store in a pot with a lid.
Easy-peasy jewellery
Fashion new-season pieces with scraps and decorations from around the house. Get creative with any of the below:
- Dried pasta.
- Scrapbook paper.
- Wrapping paper.
- Magazine clippings.
- String or elastic.
- Safety clips.
- Leftover packaging.
- Any other decorations or craft materials e.g. buttons, glitter, shells.
Ideas and tips:
- Paint dry pasta shells and turn into jewellery by threading through elastic or string.
- Shape paper, clippings and packaging into beads and brooches. Fasten with safety clips.
- Cut up leftover cardboard packaging, paint and turn into statement bracelets and necklaces. Use string and ribbon to tie round your arm or neck.
Brush-free painting
Your kids will love these inventive ways to paint without using a paintbrush.. You’ll need:
- Card.
- A Ziploc bag that fits the card comfortably (there needs to be enough room to fold the top of the bag over).
- Paint.
- A teaspoon.
- Tape.
- Dish soap.
- Water.
- A cup.
- Straws.
- Plain paper.
Tips for brush-free painting::
For rainbow art in a bag:
- Trim the card to fit into your Ziploc.
- Add a heaped teaspoon of paint into the Ziploc.
- Press down on the plastic to help the paint off the teaspoon. Keep adding paint until you have all your colours inside.
- Close the Ziploc and fold over the extra Ziploc space.
- Tape down the Ziploc with clear tape, painter’s tape or anything that will come off.
- Now it’s time to play! Shake up the bag and paint – loads of fun without the mess.
For bubble painting:
- Mix half a cup of water with a generous squirt of washing up liquid and your paint.
- Place the cup on top of a piece of paper, place a straw in the cup.
- Let the kids go crazy blowing huge colourful bubbles over the paper.
For plenty more ways to keep your kids entertained, check out our great selection of games and books.