20 Great Boredom Busters For Entertaining The Kids
Indoor Activities and Games for Kids
After being at home for the last couple of months, you’re probably like most mums and looking for affordable, easy, and creative ideas for fun ways to spend quality time together. If you’re tired of hearing, 'I’m bored' as the kids complain about having to sit through another game of Monopoly, it’s time to brighten their day with the best games and at-home activities for kids.
Whether you’re looking for rainy day activities or something fun to do at home to burn off some excess energy, it’s hard to keep coming up with new ideas for screen-free activities for the kids. While we continue to minimise our travel and practice social distancing, many parents are running out of fun ideas for family friendly and affordable things to do. If you’re sick of making slime and the kids are watching way too much YouTube, you’ve come to the right place for great ideas to keep your kids active and having fun.
Complete No-Fuss List of 20 Fun Kids’ Activities
If the kids are fighting more than usual, or the endless trips to the fridge are driving you crazy, it’s time to get them up and active. It’s hard to beat the tried and true classics when it comes to boredom busting activities for preschoolers or primary ages kids.
Here’s our list of 20 great boredom busters to entertain the kids at home:
1. Finger painting. Use interesting shapes from around the house to create fun patterns. If you’re not keen on the mess, get creative and take the finger painting outside! Paint the leaves, decorate some rocks, or put palm prints on the grass.
2. Bubble blowing. Everyone loves bubbles! Try playing catch or see who can blow the biggest bubbles. Or get a couple of Giant Bubble Sets to have a bubble blowing competition.
3. Get baking. Cooking with kids is lots of fun. Older kids will love to bake their own cookies. Introduce younger kids to the kitchen by letting them knead some dough to make bread or cheesy pizza.
4. Play shops. Encourage imaginative pretend play with a homemade cardboard shop and some teddy bear customers.
5. Cut and glue stories. Cut up pictures from a magazine and get the kids to create their own visual story.
6. Chalk art. Brighten the driveway or the garden fence with a colourful chalk drawing. Try wetting the surface down with the hose first to make the chalk more vibrant.
7. Learn to sew. Kids beginner sewing kits that come pre-cut (like this Unicorn Pillow) are a great way to get started with fun sewing projects.
8. DIY fidget spinners. Make your own spinning tops or fidget spinners with cardboard, buttons, thumbtacks, or even Lego!
9. Mirror art. Kids will love painting their own portrait on an old mirror or decorating the bathroom mirror with cellophane.
10. Pipe cleaner Pictionary. Play a guessing game with pipe cleaners. This twist on a classic game is perfect for toddlers whose drawing skills are not quite ready for Pictionary.
11. Family trivia. Make your own board game based on your family. Have each member of the family create their own questions based on family events and in-jokes. This is a fun activity perfect for some quality family bonding time and lots of laughs.
12. Balloon games. There’s so much you can do with balloons! Balloon volleyball and balloon soccer are fun for indoor play. Construct a base and have a water balloon fight. You can even learn to make balloon animals with a balloon modelling set.
13. Tape races. Use masking tape or string to outline a racecourse around the house or the yard.
14. Spinning laser dodge. Tie skipping ropes or plaited wool to the clothesline, spin it around, and watch the kids try and dodge through the ‘laser beams’.
15. Nature journal. Get a journal for the kids and have them write about something special they see each day in the garden. Encourage them to draw a bird, insect, or flower. Older kids can improve their writing skills by journaling their nature discoveries.
16. Scavenger hunt. Make it a family project with elaborate clues and hidden tokens that are needed to pass on to the next level. Invite older siblings to join in and work together to come up with a list of scavenger hunt items for their siblings to find.
17. Backyard obstacle course. An obstacle course is fun for everyone. You can even get the kids involved in planning it out. They’ll love coming up with ideas to combine physical challenges with age-appropriate puzzles. Older siblings can help to construct obstacles or a ninja training course out of cushions and hula hoops.
18. Get crafty. It’s amazing what you can do with a box full of pipe cleaners, some modelling clay, and buttons! Get your kids busy building a farmyard or an alien zoo. Once their crafty creations are complete, they’ll love creating pretend play adventures for their new friends to enjoy.
19. Construction games. Make it even more fun with open-ended architecture construction kits that can be used to create imaginative worlds for your kids’ pipe cleaner and clay characters to play in.
20. Pom-poms. If you remember making fluffy woollen pom poms when you were a kid, it’s time to pass on the tradition and teach your kids to make pom poms. If you can’t remember how it’s done, ABC kids has several fun pom-pom tutorials including instructions for how to make a Shaun The Sheep pom-pom flock. Older kids might enjoy making their own pom-pom necklace with the Pom Pom & Beads Jewellery Design Kit.
Need more help? Browse our range of gifts for kids to find even more great activity ideas and games to entertain your kids. Gifts Australia has everything you need to make family time fun again with indoor activities, affordable craft ideas, active games, and outdoor fun to keep everyone smiling.
