Fun and Fabulous Things to Do When you’re Stuck in the House!
Little Ones
Head out on a bug safari. Turn over logs in the garden, and peep underneath for worms, centipedes, woodlice.
Try 10 minutes of yoga on YouTube. Cosmic Kids Yoga instills mindfulness and focus for children aged 3 and up.
Draw a picture of your happy place. Tape it somewhere in your room where you can see it and look at it when you’re feeling worried or upset.
Make a cosy corner with a blanket and a pillow and read your favourite book to one of your dolls or stuffed animals. If you have a real animal pet that likes to cuddle, read to your pet.
Make a FaceTime call to someone that you’re missing, maybe your friend, a grandparent or a neighbour.
Draw a picture for someone you think might be lonely. Ask an adult to help you send it.
Think of a job you could do to help the adults in the house. Maybe you could put away your toys, help with dinner, clear the table after a meal, or hang up your clothes.
Homemade puppets: Find some bold socks, sew some buttons on them as eyes, and make your own puppet show.
Have a camp night where everybody sleeps in the living room.
Pre-Teens and Tweens
Make Jam Jar lanterns. Decorate them with paint or bits of coloured tissue paper (on the outside). Pop a tea light inside and dot the jars around your garden or balcony.
Write a newsletter or magazine for your street/neighbours. If your neighbourhood has a Facebook page, post it on there…
Take a virtual trip to all the capital cities in the world with Google Maps. Which one is your favourite?
Learn a new dance and perform it in front of your parents/carers. Video it and send it to friends and grandparents. YouTube has hundreds of routines.
Try your hand at Taskmaster.
Take part in the 30-day Lego Challenge.
Write a letter or email to your favourite author. Think of an author, look at their books, and think about what you’d like to ask them. Find the contact details and write to them about their books and why you like them so much
Make a “Joy and Think” board, pin inspirational messages and cheery clippings from newspapers and magazines.
Strangers for dinner: Have dinner with your family but pretend you don’t know know each other. What would you talk about, how would you introduce yourself?
Teenagers
Write a ‘virus’ poem. This one was written by Benjamin.
Write a blog/diary documenting this strange time in your history. Make sure you have notes to refer back to when all this is over.
Cook lunch or dinner for the family: try Jamie Oliver or Theo Michaels .
Practice/learn a language. Learning must go on even when schools are closed. Duolingo is a really first-class way to learn a language. See this is a great preparation for when you’re able to travel again.
Learn a new card game. Poker is a great mental workout: Texas Holdem is the easiest to learn.
Become a young Spielberg. Make screen time about creativity, rather than passivity: apps like Procreate, Auxy and iMovie can be used to make art, music and short films.
Film night with friends can go on using the Netflix Party Chrome extension. Watch together anywhere and keep a group chat going at the same time. Keep a running list of the films you’d like to watch together, so when the evening comes and everyone’s patience is at its end, you will have an easy answer to: What shall we watch?
Get stuck in to your own family tree. See how far you can go. Tip: call your grandparents for info…
Rearrange/redecorate your room.