We’re having our first decently warm day in absolutely months, and I’ve already enjoyed a walk on the cliffs and a cycle today. Bring on the warm days of summer! If we’re lucky, it won’t be a terribly rainy one, and we won’t have to resort to “hey kids! let’s do some [more] arts and crafts!” On the likely chance, however that rainy days do abound, here are some fun, creative ideas to keep the children entertained indoors and away from their screens and devices.
Printing and Stencils
A great idea for creative endeavours is to use printing stamps and stencils to create something amazing. One idea is to create a DIY family tree with all of your family members on it. All you need to do is draw the tree using pens or a stencil and then ask all your family members to stamp their finger on the branches in different shades of green. It will then look like leaves, and you can put the name of the relative by their fingerprint. If you are especially clever, you can have each branch for a different family. You can even create a variety of stamps using a potato to make cute artwork together.
Decorating T-Shirts
Decorating t-shirts has been a great creative idea for many years, and it is still popular because you can do whatever design you like. One of the most popular ways is to tie-dye the shirts using different coloured dyes. It involves tying the shirt in different places and then placing it in a container with different colour dyes in it. Once it has dried, you can untie the shirt and see the amazing patterns it has made. Another idea is to use material paints and a stamper to stamp different shapes in the t-shirt. You can use any colours you like and create a great pattern as a result.
Arts and Crafts
Some kids may have a knack for the arts. Encourage them to discover and practice it by providing them with art materials and giving them free rein to be creative. Whether they want to paint portraits or craft bracelets using seed beads, the sky’s the limit when it comes to creativity. That’s the best thing about arts and crafts. Your kids won’t only likely discover a newfound passion, but they’ll also enjoy the process along the way.
Out-of-the-house Activities
Keeping your children busy doesn’t mean you have to keep them at home. Instead, there are many other fun activities that you can all do as a family. Perhaps you can go to the park to play football or have a picnic, or maybe you can try visit local attractions normally left for tourist – make a list of interactive galaries or museums in your area, or try your local STL Escape Room or lazer games or other games arcades. If you live in a rural area of the country, then you can also have a spot the animal game. You can put the animals on a sheet of paper, and the kids can tick them off when they see them. You can use the same premise for other games such as plants, cars or buildings and it’s great for car journeys, making your journey – to be cliche- as much part of the day as your destination.
Spend some time before the holidays making a list of the possibillites and even go a step further and put together activity packs. This will stop the deer-in-the-headlight moment that always happens to me when I hear the words “I’m bored” and stop the stress and frustration that comes from rummaging through art supplies and ‘what’s on’ guides when the kids are geared up to go and you’re just – in their minds – going too slow!
