10 activities to do with the family while at home

During these unusual and challenging times, where we’re confined to our homes, it doesn’t have to be boring. Over the years, I have come up with a list of things to do that can keep the whole family occupied without leaving the house.

Here’s my top ten:

1. Crafting
This doesn’t have to be complex.

Luckily, my children love crafting and they’re not looking for anything fancy. I just bring out the crafting bag and we make it up. My children love cutting, sticking, drawing and painting and they’re not particularly bothered whether it results in anything as long as they’re getting stuck in!

A family favourite includes being creative with paper plates, whether this is making masks, decorations or wreaths. All you need is a paper plate, scissors, some scrap paper and coloured pencils or crayons.

Nothing beats good old fashioned drawing and colouring though. Sometimes this results in something really quite random as my daughter has mastered creating some really interesting treasure maps and my son loves to draw trains!

Here are some other ideas.

A little quiet time creating

2. Build an indoor den
Since having children I’ve developed skills I didn’t realise I had. I’d like to say I’m most proud of my abilities to build a den using the sofa, cushions and a blanket. It’s not especially inventive but the children appreciate my effort.

A simple den is now not enough for my son, however. He often challenges me to build a boat or a house with a chimney. If I’m really unlucky I even have to get in. This wouldn’t be a problem if the space I was trying to get in to didn’t feel like the eye of a needle!

If your children are enjoying their den then something we’ve done is to have a picnic tea in the den. A few sandwiches, crisps and a drink, which I’ve put in a bottle, for damage limitation.

If you need a little help starting, check out ‘Indoor Den Building in 5 Easy Steps‘.

3. Watch a film
Now that my children are a little older we get to cuddle up on the sofa with a bowl of popcorn and enjoy a film. Some of our favourites include Moana, Frozen, Disney classics, Peter Rabbit, Gangster Granny and Nativity.

If you haven’t already got a list of films to watch, have a look at ‘The 50 best family movies to watch together’.

4. Board games
We’ve now accumulated a few board games that we like to play. It used to be Hungry Hippos but now it’s more likely to be Bed Bugs or Guess Who. Endless fun, and hopefully not too many tantrums when my children become slightly too competitive.

5. Put on a show
My two are very theatrical and love performing for us. So, we give them about 30 minutes to put together a little show and then they perform it. To help them along we sometimes give them a theme but they usually prefer to do their own thing.

It’s great to give them the freedom to be totally creative and see what they come up with.

6. Baking
My children are a chip off the old block, as they both love to help me cook. For a while, I wasn’t quite sure about the so-called “helping ‘as I was more worried about them cutting themselves, burning themselves or – even worse – doubling the time it takes me to cook. However, it’s turned out quite well.

In the past, we’ve made cornflake cakes, rice crispy cakes and an apple cake. They also like to chip in when it comes to making our family meal. This is a bonus because it actually reduces the number of times I hear “when will it be ready?”.

Why not try making some rice crispy cakes?

Cooking up a storm in the kitchen

7. Karaoke
You don’t need a fancy karaoke machine, you just need a TV or computer and access to the internet. We use YouTube to find our karaoke songs. Whether it’s rocking out to Bohemian Rhapsody or being dramatic while singing to This is Me.

Check out this playlist on YouTube as a starter for ten.

8. Indoor disco
One of my favourite things to do is put on some cheesy music and have our own mini disco. Last year we also bought a mini disco ball which helps us get in the mood. We’re definitely dancing like nobody’s watching.

9. Dress up
Who doesn’t love to dress up? My children have a box of different costumes. My son particularly loves dressing up as a pirate, whereas my daughter can be a princess one day and a superhero the next.

You don’t have to have anything fancy; you can get creative with the clothes they already have. A bedsheet could be a toga, you could use tea towels to make a Hawaiian skirt and have a Hawaiian party. Or you could use a towel as a cape, wear your pants over your trousers and with a little imagination, you are Superman.

Here are some more ideas.

My two cheeky pirates

10. Make up stories
And finally, when you just need a bit of quiet time why not make up your own stories. My kids love hearing made up stories. We come up with the characters and the basic plot and then see where it takes us.

Those are my top ten things to do as a family indoors.

Maria Newman is a writer for Bristol24/7 and runs her own blog, Mummy On A Break.

All photos: Maria Newman

Read more: ‘The key is not to panic because this exacerbates the situation, like dominoes falling’