Five Fun Family Activities To Do At Home

Spending time together as a family has several benefits for every family member, but it can often be hard to get right or make time for. With the winter weather here, it’s likely that you’ll be spending more time indoors.

Typically, weekends and school holidays are when the family finally gets time to spend together after a busy week. Simple family activities are beneficial for improving mental health and assist in helping children perform better academically, promoting adaptability and resilience.

1. Indoor Science Bin

The indoor science bin may sound intimidating but it’s what’s known as a “watering hole” activity – meaning it’s a multi-age, multi-kid activity that everyone can crowd around and enjoy. This activity is also incredibly enchanting, magical, and captivating for children of all ages, especially when you change up the colours of the vinegar.

Your indoor science bin can really be what you make it, but for the main elements, you’ll need:

• Storage container or water table
• Baking soda or Bicarbonate of soda (2 boxes should be enough)
• Vinegar
• Food coloring
• Ice cube tray
• Pipettes or other droppers (that comes with medicine or some make-up containers)

In your storage container or water table, sprinkle in the baking soda. Using an ice cube tray, add some squirts of food coloring and fill up the slots with vinegar. Set in the pipettes or medicine droppers and let the giant science fun begin.

This activity is a great way to get little ones started with science and to get older children exploring reactions and cause and effect within science. The whole family can also get involved with this and put forward predictions and observations.

2. All About Me Body Art Activity

This activity is perfect for the whole family and takes up a lot of time, keeping your little ones busy. It’s also great for little ones to learn about various body parts, or for older children showing an interest in biology. Furthermore, it gives kids a chance to express their inner selves and to think, honor, and love the parts of themselves that make them unique.

To do this activity, all you’ll need are:

• Brown kraft paper
• Washable Tempera paint
• Muffin tin
• Paint brushes
• Large black marker

Each family member lies on their own strip of kraft paper and another member of the family will trace around their body. Each person can then paint their traced body as they like. Older children can try naming and labelling various body parts and this can go as detailed as you like or they’re comfortable with.

3. Obstacle Course

Everyone knows and loves a good obstacle course and this activity is a fun way to get the whole family active and busy when boredom strikes. Each family member, depending on their capabilities and age, can take turns creating an obstacle course that the rest of the family has to complete. The person who completes each obstacle course the fastest is the winner.

This activity is excellent for little ones to get some exercise depending on the level of difficulty each family member designs for their course, as well as teaching how to take part in competitive activities respectfully and to win and lose gracefully.

4. Treasure Hunt

This activity is another great physical activity within the house and also provides an opportunity for children to learn teamwork should parents opt to put children in teams. One parent hides several items throughout the house and then creates a treasure map for the rest of the family to use to find the treasure.

A treasure hunt allows children to learn to read maps, interpret information, and work out problems and clues.

5. Car Ramp STEM Activity

The Car Ramp STEM Activity is a fantastic and easy-to-create activity and provides loads of fun and learning in STEM (science, technology, engineering and maths) for the whole family.

This activity is play-based learning in action and allows your littles to experiment with various concepts including:

• Gravity
• Velocity
• Angles
• Wind resistance / aerodynamic
• Sportsmanship and cooperative play

Simply take a long cardboard box, flatten it and draw two roads down the middle. You may want to consider adding a broom down the middle in order to prevent car collisions down the ramp. Every family member can get involved with this activity and enjoy hours of racing, making deductions of who will win and which cars go faster due to which weight.

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References:
1. “Outdoor Science Bin for Kids” (blog, Busy Toddler) https://busytoddler.com/2021/07/outdoor-science-bin/
2. “All About Me Body Art Activity (blog, Busy Toddler) https://busytoddler.com/2021/03/all-about-me-art/
3. “Car Ramp STEM Activity for Kids” (blog, Busy Toddler) https://busytoddler.com/2020/06/car-ramp-stem-activity/