Skip to main content
DIY

10 Things to Do With Your Kids at Home


Since most of our kiddos are on Spring Break for the next couple of weeks and we need to spend some more time indoors we thought it would be a great time to round up a list of some of our favourite things to do that you can your entire family can do together form the comfort of your home!

1. Go for a daily walk

Not only is this a great way to kick off your day but it feels nice to get some fresh air and feel the sunshine on your face!

Walking with Kids and Dogs

2. Trace kid’s onto paper

This was one of Carrie’s ideas and I LOVED it! All you have to do is grab a big piece of paper and trace your kid’s body then have them fill in the details such as their eyes, hair, clothing, etc. It’s a great way to keep them entertained for a lone period of time!

Tracing Kids On Paper

3. Make playdough

Leo and Annie both LOVE Hello Dough (a great small-biz to support during this time!) but sometimes we like to get a little crafty and make our own playdough! You can find the recipe that we use below.

Jillian Harris' Son Playing with Play Dough
Homemade Play Dough Recipe

PlayDough ingredients

  • 1 cup flour

  • 1 cup water

  • 2 tsp cream of tarter

  • 1/3 cup salt

  • 1 tbs vegetable oil

Directions

  • Mix together all the ingredients, except the food colouring, in a medium saucepan.
  • Cook over low/medium heat, stirring. Continue stirring until the mixture is much thicker and begins to gather around the spoon. This process doesn’t take long at all so make sure to keep your eye on it.
  • Once the dough is not wet, remove from pot and place on a surface to cool.
  • Once dough is cool, evenly divide into as many colours as you would like. Knead dough and add just a few drops of glycerine and a few drops of food colouring. Keep kneading until the colour has spread throughout.
  • After you are done with the playdough, you can store it in an airtight container!

Colour Combinations:

Mustard: 5 drops of yellow and 1 drop of red
Teal: 1 drop of neon blue and 1 drop of regular blue
Periwinkle: 1 drop of regular blue, 1 drop of neon blue and 1 drop of neon pink
Light Pink: 3 drops of neon pink
Dark Red: 5 drops of red, 5 drops of neon pink and 1 drop of regular blue

Jillian Harris' Kids Playing with Play Dough

Don’t worry if you don’t get the exact colour you were hoping for. Just mix in some more food colouring and most importantly, just have FUN with it!!

4. Make greeting cards for loved ones 

This is a fun activity to reconnect with those that you love. Have the kids create fun greeting cards and sign their names within the cards. If you have stamps at home you can pop them into your community mailbox (maybe when you’re out for a morning stroll?).

DIY Greeting CardPhoto source: Pinterest 

5. Paint planters or rocks for the garden

Kids love nothing more than to get creative (and messy!) with paint! So, since gardening season is upon us, have them paint rocks (or their face LOL!) that you can use as garden markers or fun designs that you can use in your potted plants.

Kids Painting Face

6. Build a fairy house

If you’re like us and have an entire drawer and cupboard FILLED with items for crafting then do something fun and unique that’ll last for years to come, like building a fairy house!

DIY Fairy HousesPhoto source: Bit & Bauble 

7. Set-up an obstacle course

We all know just how much kids love running around and jumping on things … so, build them an obstacle course inside that will challenge their agility (and hopefully tire them out! LOL!).

Obstacle Course Indoor DIY Kids Photo source: Pinterest 

8. Plan a scavenger hunt

This is a great way to keep your kiddos entertained for a long period of time! Make this course as long and/or as challenging as you like … depending on how long you’d like to keep them occupied for! LOL!

Indoor Scavenger Hunt KidsPhoto source: The Spruce

9. Make a fort

I’m pretty sure this is every kid’s DREAM!! Better yet, make a fort then load them up with snacks and turn on a movie! Or have them make a fort in your kitchen drawer, works just fine too LOL! It’s the perfect activity if you need to get a little work done!

Jillian Harris' Kids Playing

10. Create a DIY race track

One of Leo’s favourite things is when we made “speed bumps” on our coffee table. He used to drive over them with his toy cars over and over … it’s something so simple and quick to put together that will keep them entertained for days to come!

Washi Tape DIY Race Track for KidsPhoto source: Pinterest

If there is one thing to take away from this post is, don’t stress out too much with the kids around! What’s most important is to try and protect them from the uncertainties and the stress. Let them go wild, make a mess, sit in your kitchen drawers, paint their faces (or eat it LOL!) and whatever else they want to do, within reason of course! After that pour yourself a big glass of wine because mama you deserve it!

Jillian Harris' Son Swinging

So, let’s hear it which activity are you going to try out first? Let me know in the comments below! Oh, and lastly, make sure to share all of YOUR ideas with us … we need all the help we can get!

Xo

Jilly

Tagged in:
, , ,

Leave a Reply

  1. Hello here from Finland and thank you for sharing your indoor activities. We will definately try to do our own playdough now that we know how.
    Here are also our ideas to share with you. O You can organize a Lego building competition or an exhibition.
    Other idea is to put somethings in an empty box and kids have to guess what’s inside only by touching – no peeking 🙂
    Or you can do the same with familiar scents as well, like spicies, fruits etc. the only difference is that kids have to guess by smelling or tasting their eyes closed.

  2. We just tried a laser beam obstacle course and my son (5 years old) loved it! My daughter (1) even tried it but than ripped it down which made us both laugh. I am going to work on a scavenger hunt tonight! Great ideas!

    We are going to do an at home camp night this weekend We will start with roasting marshmallows outside and then set up our in tent the family room (for daddy and son).

    1. I am so glad you love some of the activities! Thank you for sharing that wonderful idea, I want to do that with Justin and the kids xox

  3. So many fun ideas. Here’s one we did this week:

    Fruit loop jewelry.
    I set up a big bowl of fruit loops and a large plate to sort. First I had them sort all of the fruit loops into colours. Then I cut strings of different sizes, they made bracelets and necklaces. Lastly, they enjoyed wearing and snacking on them. Lots of fun!

  4. Focusing on to the future and hope.. making some easter branches is not too early at all! This hobby includes many stages that helps to pass time; picking up branches during your morning walk, blowing eggs empty, (making omelets for lunch..), then painting, clueing, ‘feathering”, decorating.. Even if you added only one little item on these sticks every day, you’ll end up having some epic branches this year 😀

  5. We’ve been trying to get outside as much as we can for daily walks, and bike rides with new training wheels! My son is junior kindergarten and misses his friends. So we stop in front of his friends houses and wave hello from the street. We’ll try painting rocks this week!

Binge All the Latest JH Posts
Our 14th Annual 12 Days of Giving Campaign is Almost Here! Post Featured Image
12 Days of Giving
Our 14th Annual 12 Days of Giving Campaign is Almost Here!
The Winter 2024 Jilly Box Revealed! Post Featured Image
The Jilly Box
The Winter 2024 Jilly Box Revealed!
Transforming The Jilly Box Headquarters Post Featured Image
The Jilly Box
Transforming The Jilly Box Headquarters