I’ve been searching for ideas for weeks now and finally I give you.. a hundred and one activities to conquer boredom!
The kids will be with you 24/7 so I’m sure you will find these activities useful. One idea for every time the kids say Muuuummmm, I’m bored!
EVERYTHING IN HERE YOU CAN DO IN THE COMFORT OF YOUR OWN HOME! There are activities here from toddlers, teens to adults!
DIY – Arts, Crafts and Science Experiments
Make salt dough ornaments.
Making things out of salt dough will help foster fine motor skills through sculpting, painting and threading.
Get a small face painting kit and spend the day painting the kids’ faces.
Then, let them try it out on each other.
CD Sun Catchers
We’ve all got plenty of old CD’s (most of mine read ‘Car Mix’ on the label) stashed in the hallway drawer, so why not grab the glue sticks, sequins, google eyes, old wrapping paper and get decorating? These will come in handy on our front veranda to help discourage our feathered friends from ‘dropping’ in. I don’t mind that the birds eat our cat food, just wish they didn’t have to poop on their way out. CD suncatcher/bird deterrents are happening here for sure.
Water Bottle Spirals
Colour in some plastic drink bottles with permanent markers, cut the round bottom of the bottle off, make an incision and continue cutting upward and around the bottle making the spiral shape. Stop when you get to the rounded top edge. Do three or four of them and slide the mouthpiece of each bottle over a stick and hang it in your garden or bush walk. Pretty!
Doll’s House
I love making doll houses. I can’t get enough of decorating the walls, making pictures for the hallway, cutting material for bed sheets and floor rugs.
Stamps
You can make stamps out of so many things- potatoes, corks, erasers, bars of soap, odd-shaped items out of the ‘junk’ drawer. Attach foam letters to the ends or cut out your own shape from washed sink sponges for heaps of creative fun.
Bubble Straw
Got a straw? Got some tissue paper or coffee filter? Wrap it around the end of the straw, tape on and dip in bubble solution or dishwashing liquid like the original Morning Fresh. Blow through the straw and bubbles r us.
Sock Puppets
You know how to make these! Raid Dad’s sock drawer, stitch some buttons on for eyes and give them a name!
Ocean In A Bottle
This looks so amazing and is absolutely mesmerising for little ones. Cooking oil, water, a clear bottle and some food colouring will be all you need. Pop in some plastic toy ocean creatures if you have some! Make sure you seal the bottle lid nice and tight and watch their delighted little faces!
Musical Instruments
Music is a fantastic way to communicate with your children. Put on a cd of their best-loved songs and bust out your newly hand-made instruments and really get into it with them!
- Shakers are a fun activity for kids. Colour some rice with food colouring or paint the empty plastic bottles and containers for a super easy music maker.
- Drums are in your kitchen cupboard. Stainless steel mixing bowls, plastic containers and a couple of salad servers make for excellent bangy thingies.
Make Some Homemade Candles out of Crayons
We all know how kids love their crayons. Well, they love to “decorate” the walls with them too haha! Anyways, give them a fun time while they’re stuck at home by letting them transform their broken crayons into rainbow coloured candles. The finished product could be excellent gifts, too!
Tip: Since there will be need for a microwave in this project, make sure that the kids have adult supervision for this one.
Cork Boats – Have a Boat Race in the Bathtub
Give your little ones some water fun by letting them do this activity. You will need corks, elastics, toothpicks, a nail and coloured foam sheets (or you know, sparkly ones because the holidays are coming). Basically, you’d need to tie the corks together using the elastics and use a toothpick to hold the “sail” of your sailboat.
Tip: Let your cork sailboats sail in your bath tub during your kids bath time for more fun.
Make Paper from Scratch
Well, here’s another science experiment with a finished product. Although recycled paper may not be as smooth as factory made ones, your kids could use it for their art projects. For this, you would need some scrap paper, a blender, some water, a storage tub or vat, a mould & deckle, some wood boards, a rolling pin, some towels, wool cloths or an old bed sheet.
Yes there might be a lot of things that we’d need for this but trust me, it will keep the kids focused and they will surely enjoy.
Build a cardboard cubby house!
Since children are always looking for a place for a hideout or fort, why don’t you let them build their own? Gather some unused cardboard boxes or shoe boxes, some paint, markers, tape and a cutter or a knife (remember – adult supervision if knives are around!) They’ll also enjoy on deciding what colour their cubby house should be.
Create a Marshmallow Catapult
Set some shooting buckets, anyone who “shoots” more marshmallows will be the winner.
Make Your Own Lava Lamp
The usual lava lamps work using electricity and we can’t risk our children toying with them even thought they are a tad interesting and relaxing to look at. This activity is a little similar to the Magic Fairy Bottles one. They both give the kids a relaxing and a focusing effect. You will be needing some empty bottles, water, cooking oil, food colouring and some aspirin tablets (adult supervision needed!)
Leaf Rubbings
This activity is great because it uses things that you’ve probably got lying around in your garden: leaves! Most kids revel in anything arty or creative, and leaf rubbing is the best of the outdoors and the arts. You can even do this activity outside if you want, all you really need is a flat smooth surface of some kind. Stretch the value of this activity by taking kids for a walk first to collect the leaves, and then spending the next few hours rubbing them.
Ice Excavating
All you need to do is freeze a heap of children’s toys in a large container of water, sealing them into the ice. Then have your kids excavate them using rocks, small tools, toothbrushes or spray bottles filled with water. Depending on how hot it is where you live, this one could keep kids occupied for hours! You can do it with any toy, and in containers of any size!
Kaleidoscope
Kids LOVE kaleidoscopes, and what’s not to love? They’re colourful, mesmerising, and guaranteed to entertain for ages. They’re also absolutely easy to make yourself! Kids will probably need a bit of supervision to get them started, but once the kaleidoscopes are finished (one for everyone!) they’ll be able to run all around your house and garden seeing how different things look from new eyes!
DIY Snow Globes
In terms of value, this activity packs a double punch. Not only can you and your kids make snow globes, with not that much adult supervision for the older ones, they can also spend a solid chunk of time being rocked calmly into a state of bliss watching the globes. Snow globes are super relaxing, a great relaxation tool, and super fun to make. You only need a few materials, so what are you waiting for?
Make necklaces, bracelets, and more
This is great with girls, but boys actually can have a good time too.
Make a scrap book
Keep your memories alive by putting it in a scrap book.
Cotton ball painting
The tools are so easy to gather and the kids will have fun creating different masterpieces out of the cotton balls!
Toilet Roll French Knitting
Teach the older kids and teens the basics of knitting!
I’m Bored Jar
This one is our favourite! Click here for a tutorial on how to make an I’m Bored Jar!
DIY tap shoes
Is there a kid in this world who isn’t fascinated with tap shoes? Well good news, you don’t have to buy one!
Magic Fairy Bottles
These amazing and glittery magic bottles could please both kids and adults.
To make their own magical fairy bottles, your kids will need some fancy shaped bottles, water, glycerin, glitter, glitter flakes, sequins, ribbons or twine or lace. Mix one part of water to one part glycerin, pour it into the bottle along with the glitter and sequins. Tightly place the cap of the bottle and secure it with a ribbon or a twine. You could also attach a label or card to the ribbon if you want to give these as a present. Enjoy shaking!
Marshmallow and Toothpick Building Challenge
Create building of different shapes and sizes with just these two materials!
Balloon Experiment
This is something fun that both girls and boys will enjoy. Click here for the detailed instructions!
Rainbow rice
Ohhh another experiment that is awesome and amazing at the same time.
Pool Noodle Abacus
It’s super easy with one or two (however many you like) pieces of thin, strong rope tied between two poles and a few pool noodles cut into pieces to slide onto it. The kids love playing with the big plastic ball version of these at the local playground and it’s a great activity for learning colours and counting. Slice the noodles with a sharp knife from the centre hole out on one side and the kids can then pull the noodle pieces off themselves and use for all sorts of games and putting them back on is the perfect place to store them!
Sensory Boards
If your junk drawer contains some slide locks, light switch cover plates, door handle, retractable fabric tape measure, touch lights (you know the ones you stick to the pantry wall?) padlock and keys and whatever else has buttons or things that click, you can glue or drill these to a piece of MDF, the side of a bookshelf, or your wall if you’re keen. What you have is a toddler height, activity centre that teaches and entertains without you having to hold your 12kg child in the air while they flick a switch or yank on a door handle and fiddle with the lock!!!
Thank you to happyhooligans, funathomewithkids, pintarest and cbc for some helpful inspiration!
Slime
I don’t like slime! – said no kid ever
Change the Colour of Flowers
This might take a few hours or a few days to take effect but it would surely spike the curiosity of your kids. You will be needing some white flowers (mums, carnations and gerberas should be fine), some mason jars, food colour and some water.
Mix the food colours with water and place it in the mason jars, then put the flowers depending on how many jars with the food colour you have. Tell your kids to periodically record what they have observed with the flowers. Tell them to take note which colour is easily absorbed by the flowers and which ones are not. This is a science experiment that improves the kids hypothetical skills and their creativity too!
Make Some Golf Ball Lady Bugs for the Garden
Children really love animating stuff and these lady bugs made out of golf balls will liven up their gardening time. All you need are golf balls, old paint brushes and red, white and black paint. You could also use googly eyes to stick into the balls as the eyes. For more fun, get them to make a play or a show with their new “pets”!
Backyard Games
Sprinkler
Instead of watering the grass, water the kids! Set up the sprinkler, put on their bathers and let them have fun running and jumping through the water.
Water Balloon Baseball
Well this one’s like playing baseball, but just using water balloons instead of the usual baseball. Make use of hula hoops as your bases and make sure to stack up on a lot of water balloons. This activity is great during hot days.
Bubbles
You can buy bubble makers of all shapes and sizes these days from bubble guns to bubble lawn mowers, or you can make your own! Use an old bottle and add 750ml water, 250 ml dishwashing liquid and 300ml of glycerine.
Slip and Slides
There are slip and slides of all shapes and sizes sold at any toy store. However, if you don’t feel like forking out the money for a slip and slide, you can easily make your own with dish soap, a hose and some tarp from the shed. Simply place the tarp on the ground, add some dish soap and hose it down. Let the kids take turn running and sliding onto the tarp or simply let them crawl around and get soapy!
diynetwork.comTight Ropes
If you made the pool noodle abacus with two strands of rope tied between poles, then you’ve already made this! One rope for walking with feet, one rope for holding onto with hands! I’ll be getting someone else to tie the ropes on as my motto is ‘If you can’t tie knots, tie lots’ which will obviously not cut it in this case!
Rope Hoops
It’s as simple as it sounds. A rope, a hoola-hoop on each end and toss over the washing line or shade sail wire. The kids will spend ages climbing through them, pulling them up and down, generally using their gross motor skills and working up an appetite.
Bucket On A Rope
This is the bucket to nowhere that never gets boring. The kids fill and empty a bucket that is set up over that trusty clothes line or exposed beam on the veranda and secured to the pole. It’s an exercise in discovery and team-work in the most basic sense.
Hold a Nature Scavenger Hunt
Let the kids unleash their inner Indiana Jones. Well basically, you will be giving them a list of things that they’d have to “scavenge”. Set a time limit. The one who had more scavenged items from the list should be the winner.
Camping in the garden or backyard
If you already have a tent, this doesn’t cost a thing. Serve up some hotdogs and tell stories until you fall asleep. Keep the tent near the back or side door so that kids who get scared in the night can scoot back to their beds, or use the loo! If you have a grown-up staying in a tent with them, consider a little barbecue or campfire.
Dino Activity Bin
We’ve got a tub of dinosaurs that always seems too full for the last few, which painfully end spike-up right where I’m walking. Grab some of those spiky critters, rocks, leaves, gravel or sand and a big rectangle bucket or a corner in the garden somewhere and build a Dinosaur hang-out. I love this because it changes each time the kids play with it. A fairy garden is also a winner for little ones with big imaginations!
Dig for fossils
Bury a bunch of cheap dinosaur toys in the yard or garden. Give everyone a plastic spade for digging. You can even buy some inexpensive “replica” dinosaur bones online or at a museum.
Squirt Gun Painting
For this, you will need an easel, watercolour paper (or canvas), a drop cloth (to protect walls), some Nerf water guns, tape, water and of course watercolour paint. Paint away!
Top 14 Online Adult Shops in Australia 
List of Environmentally Friendly Disposable Nappies (and... 
List of the Best Weight Loss Shake... 
Where to Buy Wholesale Vibrators to Sell... 
Our Honest Bed Threads Review 2021 
