When school is out, many parents and child-care providers are left wondering how they can fill the days with exciting indoor activities for kids. Not only is having a day full of fun pastimes a great way to keep your kid active, but it also helps mimic the structure of a school day. This is important to make reacclimating as seamless as possible whenever kiddos do inevitably return to the schoolhouse.
As an Apple Accredited preschool and daycare program, Get Ready, Set, Grow Academy knows exactly which activities will entertain your home-bound littlun until it’s time to get back to regularly scheduled programming.
Bowling
Bring the fun of a bowling alley right into your home! There are tons of bowling sets you can order online, but why not get creative and make one yourself? This will add extra playtime for kids and is a great way to introduce the concept of upcycling! Empty water bottles or bare toilet paper rolls work great as pins. Have your little ones decorate the outside of the pins with paint, markers, and stickers and choose a favorite movie or hobby as a theme to help build interest. Or apply numbers to each one so you can use resetting the pins as an opportunity to practice counting with younger children.
To help create a memorable afternoon, ask your children to name their bowling alley and make a sign to hang above your “lane”. You can even have a themed lunch of burgers, fries, and healthy fruit slushies to complete the experience. Grab a bouncy ball, tennis ball, or miniature basketball to stand in for a bowling ball and you’ve got your very own bowling alley, no funky shoes required!
At-Home Camping
There is no better way to alleviate your kid’s cabin fever than to bring summer camp indoors. First, set up your campsite. A pillow fort can fill in for a tent and electric candles can make up your fireplace. Then create a name for your camp and come up with a camp song and flag that shows off what you’re all about. If you have any rope on hand, practice lassoing with a rocking horse or oversized stuffie. Play popular camping games like Red Light Green Light, Limbo, Duck Duck Goose, or get wild and ask kids to create their own games with unique sets of rules. do a relay race and you will be subconsciously reinforcing the importance of teamwork. You can end the evening with microwave smores (yes, it’s possible!), a round of songs by your makeshift campfire, and shadow puppets.
Build A Zoo
One thing that almost every child containing home has in abundance is a variety of stuffed animals. Use this to your advantage when holed up inside by creating your very own zoo! Start by asking children to create “lands” (think Epcot or Georgia Aquarium) in your zoo by separating animals into different groups. This is a great exercise in critical thinking and it is always interesting to see all of the unique ways kids come up with to organize their zoo. If they need help, prompt them by asking questions like “think about which animals might live in the same environments in the wild” or “what similarities can we find in these animals” rather than giving outright answers.
Once they have decided how to set up their zoo, children can get creative by using blocks, magnet tiles, and toys to create enclosures and exhibits. Learn about each of the animals online or, better yet, from fun books. Then use construction paper to create informational plaques to post outside each animal enclosure. Before you know it, you’ll have a sprawling zoo to explore!
For a variety of reasons, you may find yourself homebound with your kiddos for days or weeks at a time. Don’t let this make you or your kids antsy. With a few materials from around the house and a bit of creativity, you can partake in tons of indoor activities for kids that will provide hours of fun. When it does come time for school, consider Get Ready, Set, Grow Academy for your South Florida preschoolers. Our team of caring teachers and administrative staff have earned a Florida Gold Seal for Quality Care and are dedicated to enriching your child’s life with every aspect of their preschool or daycare experience.
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