Working from home with kids around is no joke. You need practical, low-prep ways to keep them busy, so you can get through a Zoom call or finish a single email!
While it is important for kids to feel bored at times, we all know that we also need ideas and inspiration at various stages.
Here are 10 tried and tested activities that keep kids engaged, independent, and entertained:
1. Sink or Tub Water Play
Set them up with plastic cups, spoons, sponges, and a bit of soap if you want. Whether it’s the kitchen sink or the bath, water keeps them occupied and contained.
2. Masking Tape Roads or Obstacle Course
Use masking or painter’s tape to create roads for toy cars or an obstacle course to jump, crawl, and tiptoe through. Add stuffed animals to “rescue” or deliveries to make.
3. Snack Sorting Station
Offer a muffin tin or egg carton and a few different dry snacks. Add kid-sized tongs or spoons and let them sort, scoop, mix, and pretend they’re running a snack shop.
4. Cardboard Box Fort + Flashlight
Give them a big box, markers, and a flashlight. It becomes a spaceship, hideout, or reading cave. Bonus: it feels like magic, and they stay in there forever!
5. Scavenger Hunt
Make a quick list like “something red,” “something soft,” “something from the kitchen.” They roam, search, and feel accomplished every time they check something off.
6. Frozen Toy Rescue
Freeze small plastic toys in containers of water. Give them salt, warm water, spoons, or droppers and let them chip away and “rescue” the toys.
7. Kinetic Sand or Play-Dough Tray
Contain the mess in a baking tray, or tuff tray if you have one. Add small toys, cookie cutters, or themed challenges like “make a jungle” or “build a birthday cake.”
8. Toy Wash Station
Fill a bowl or tub with soapy water, add some dolls, dinosaurs, or toy cars, and let them scrub and rinse. Lay out a towel for drying and more play.
9. Scissors + Paper Strip Cutting
Grab old magazines, coloured paper, or junk mail. Give them kid scissors and a bin to fill with their “cutting collection.” Add glue sticks for a collage station.
10. Treasure Box or Puzzle Rotation
Keep a stash of toys, puzzles, or crafts they don’t see every day. Bring them out only during work time, so they feel new and special.
All ideas we have tried and tested with our own gang! Depending on your kids’ interests, you can add and extend versions of the above. A good place to start!
Check the blog HERE for lots more ideas and inspiration.
