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Every parent knows the struggle of keeping the kids entertained throughout the day. If they aren’t on a gadget, they are taking a nap. And when you ask them why that is, they say they are bored. And busy parents, most of whom work from home nowadays find it difficult to keep their kids engaged with fun activities when they can’t monitor them every second. So, if you’re a parent who is figuring out how to get your kids to be more active during the less exciting hours in the day, here are a few ideas. We’re sure your child will love these options.
1. Pretend Play
This is the easiest thing to encourage your kids to do on a lazy afternoon. It doesn’t take much for your child to use their imagination and come up with fun things to do. Some kids don’t need anything more than their collection of stuffed toys and squishes to keep them entertained. But if your child needs a little push to get creative, buy them a small kitchen set or a doctor set so that they can come up with new games. This way they will be too busy making up new recipes and treating their toys throughout the day. All you need to do is keep these toys in a safe space that is easily accessible to them as you go on about your day.
2. Let Them Draw
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If you’ve got a professional scribbler on your hands, the best thing you can do is give them a box of crayons or colored pencils, some paper and let them have at it. You can even get them some washable markers to keep things interesting. If your little one loves to color but can’t find the interest to draw, get them a bunch of different drawing books. This way they can color in their favorite characters and pictures to their heart’s content. This way all you need to do is check in on them once in a while and leave them to create their own masterpiece! To encourage them to continue this activity, you can put up a piece that they really like on the fridge or in their bedroom.
3. Activity Books
As your kids get older, they may need something a little more stimulating to keep them on their toes. This is where activity books come in. These books are great at keeping kids sharp and engaged with games like seek and find, sticker matching, and simple mazes. Some parents even sign up for a subscription of these books so that their kids can have a new one to work on every other week. This way your kids will also start to take an interest in reading and may even shift to reading other kinds of books, which is a wonderful hobby for your little one.
4. Puzzles
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Another way to keep your kids stimulated and engaged is to give them puzzles of varying degrees of difficulty. Make sure that they are age appropriate and then let them figure it out on their own. You can get your hands on giant floor puzzles for your baby or tiny wooden puzzles for your 8 year old. You can even buy them according to themes that your kid likes, such as animal safari puzzles, scenery puzzles, and character puzzles. This way you know they are going to be in the same place you left them when you need to take a break for a couple of minutes.
5. Legos And Building Blocks
If you’ve got a toddler at home, there’s nothing that keeps them calm and in one spot like giving them some legos to play with. Foam building blocks are also a great choice. Make sure you buy legos that they can make use to make several different designs and into little toys. This way they will be too busy building a lego army or piling up building blocks to notice that they’ve missed out on a nap they don’t need anymore.
6. Audio Books
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If all your little one wants is for you to read a book to them, but you’re busy with meetings, you can always hand them an audio book. This way your baby can read along and look at all of the cool pictures while their favorite story is being recited to them. This can save you a lot of time and energy as you won’t have to go back and forth trying to keep your child happy and entertained while you have pressing matters to deal with.
Keeping your child busy, active and entertained is hard to do when all they want is an ipad or a nap. But you need to make sure that you remove these distractions by giving them other fun options to choose from. Having a few fun activities on hand is a life saver when you need a break or are busy but don’t want to hand your child a phone!
