When kids stay home from school, it could be a struggle to find creative ways to keep them entertained. So, when you’re stuck at home, putting a spin on an old classic and doing things together can be just enough to keep them from getting bored. Keep reading for 10 super easy and super simple activities that are perfect for keeping your preschooler happy and busy all day long!

1. Drawing on the Walls

For this activity, I taped some paper up on the wall for Ziya so that it feels like she’s actually coloring on the walls. This way lets her color on a larger scale, so it’s definitely different and more fun than just coloring on a smaller regular sized paper. You can use any type of paper or material, use crayons or washable paint, and let them have fun creating a bigger piece of artwork than usual.

2. Watercolor Painting

I bought some washable kids watercolor paint and let Ziya have her fun. It was more fun than crayons! I also printed out some free coloring pages from Crayola.com. There are so many different pages to choose from, so there’s no need to buy any coloring books.

Watch the video!

3. Shape Hopscotch

For this you’ll need:

• Colored paper

• Paper plate

• Markers

• Spinning arrow or piece of cardboard

Cut out large shapes in a bunch of different colors. Make a spinner using a paper plate and cut an arrow out of cardboard. We filled the plate with the different shapes and colors to make own little version of twister.  The idea is to spin the spinner, hop to whatever color or shape it lands on – and if you touch the floor you’re out!

4. Color/Shape Scavenger Hunt

Create a sheet with diff colors and let your kids go around the house and find things are that color. If they started learning to write, help them write what they found next to each color. It’s a great way for them to practice their handwriting and spelling. You can also make the game even more interesting by saying things like “find 5 orange things” or “find 3 blue things”.

For the shape hunt, trace different objects on a separate sheet of paper to use as a template, and let your kids search around the house to find the matching objects. It’s super fun and challenging to use weird and funky shapes that the kids need to find.

5. Tube Tunnels

For this you’ll need recycled paper towel or toilet paper rolls and some painters tape (so that you don’t ruin the walls using regular tape!). Challenge your kids to create tunnels and different tracks on the wall, and drop a either a marble, bead, or ball down.

Experiment to see what happens when you use different types of balls to roll down the track. This is a great way to teach kids about gravity, speed, and inertia, and definitely challenges them to create different working tracks

6. Indoor Bowling

Ziya and I reused the rolls and tubes from our tunnel activity and added some plastic bottles to create some bowling pins. Create a point system by taping numbers to the pins; pins with more points should be smaller and laced a bit further away. Take soft ball and throw or roll it towards the pins to try knocking as many down as possible.

7. Get Crafty (DIY Magic Wands)

You’d be surprised what you can make with some construction paper, a glue stick, and some things you have on hand around the house. Get crafty in a way that your child will be excited about. For example, if they like animals you can make masks out of paper plates; if they like outer space you can make a rocket ship out of construction paper.

Recently, Ziya has loved playing dress up and princesses, so we decided to make magic wands using glue, construction paper, glitter, ribbon, gems, and some chopsticks. When we were finished, we dressed up like princesses together and played a game with our wands. We pointed to each other and said the name of an animal. We would then have to act like the animal we turned each other into. We had so much fun together just by getting crafty and playing pretend.

8. Glitter Volcano

We put a spin on the traditional baking soda and vinegar volcano by adding some glitter and food coloring. We used a long glass tube and put it in a large tin to contain the mess. Put in the baking soda and add some glitter in the color of your choice. Mix it slightly, then add some vinegar. Ziya loved that it looked like a sparkling bubbly potion. You can keep re-adding ingredients and different colored glitter.

9. DIY Moon Sand

All you’ll need for this activity is some flour, baby oil, and a large tray or plastic container to contain the mess. We used about 4 cups flour and ½ cup baby oil. When mixed, it should turn into a texture that could hold when mushed together. You can even store it for future use it as long as it’s in an airtight container.

10. Get Cooking

Cook or bake whatever you’d like together! Ziya loves making cupcakes, so we made a couple of different types. I also let her help me cook dinner – you’d be surprised how much fun it could be and how much kids love it.

These indoor activities are a foolproof way to keep your kids entertained when they’re at home. For some outdoor activity ideas for your preschooler, click here . More ideas to come!

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