When holidays strike in, kids rejoice and parents start wondering how they will keep their kids engaged throughout the holiday season. In today’s digital age, gaming devices are present everywhere. But keeping kids entertained just with online games and videos isn’t the best thing to do. You might be on a constant lookout for different things to keep your kids entertained, especially that are easy to execute and don’t cost much. Here are some ideas to entertain kids that will not only keep them engaged but will help them grow as well.
25 Easy and Free Ways to Entertain Your Child
Here are some fun and easy things that you can most definitely try to entertain kids and believe us it will be handy for you, so no worries.
1. Dance It Out
Welcome the holidays by celebrating them with your kids. They would be hooked to the screens, so engage them with one of their favourite songs, raise the volume, and dance it out with them. This might seem tiring to you at first, especially if you don’ like dancing, but when they see you dancing along with them, they will be all excited and gives you a teeny bit of a workout, too.
2. Good Old Reading
Even if your kid does read articles or blogs on the Internet, reading a book is a very intimate and distraction-free activity. Take your kid to a library and let him peruse it to his heart’s content.
3. Brain Teasers
come in all shapes and sizes, right from jigsaw pieces to paper-pen riddlers that make you rack your brain for solutions. These are excellent at helping your child understand to work on his own, and when he needs help you can also double up as a team activity with friends or family working on puzzles together and make it a fun experience.
4. Clean It Up
Although it might be tough to get your kid to agree to get involved in cleaning activity, once he takes up, he will surely enjoy it. Allot him a specific section of your house or a room and ask to clean it in the best possible way. Put on some music and it won’t be long before he smiles while cleaning it.
5. Snail Mail
Email seems dead in today’s world of instant messaging and video calls. Let your kid write a letter to a relative, a friend, a fictional character, or even to you. Let him sit down, pace his thoughts, and express them eloquently on paper.
6. Get Out In The Open
Staying inside the house or in your surroundings isn’t entertaining much. Take a trip to the nearby beach, or maybe a small mountain hike, or just around to the nearest park with your child. The change of atmosphere is something everyone can benefit from.
7. Family Tree
Understanding your lineage and knowing the origins of it is quite a fun activity in itself. Let your kid start from his own and trace it back up to as far as he can. By crafting a tree and sticking photos and names on it is an interesting activity for him to discover how vast the family is.
8. Budding Picasso
Let those fingers hold paint brushes for a change and illustrate what their mind comes up with. Painting is not only calming but one of the most expressive activities. Even if your kid doesn’t paint, take him to an exhibition or introduce him to the world of paintings.
9. Origami Art
Making paper aeroplanes is one thing. Folding paper to create a swan is a totally different ballgame. By understanding the principles of origami, your kid will have a completely new world open in front of him.
10. Take A Dip
Make a family plan and take everybody out to the local swimming pool. Teach your kid to swim or have some plain water-splashing fun. If you do have a natural pond or a lake nearby, nothing beats like a quick picnic ride out to the blue.
11. Treasure Hunt
Kids love finding things, especially when they know there’s a surprise in the end. Set your kids for a scavenger hunt or let them get their group together and build a larger one around your surroundings.
12. Museum Montage
Kids yawn the moment we mention “museum”. Pair the museum visit with some initial research or tell them relevant stories while they observe the ancient artefacts.
13. Theatrical Magic
Take your child to a movie in the theatre. Make it a fun experience for everyone. Once you’re back home, have a discussion about the film and ask him to write about it.
14. Cycling Circuits
The best way to explore an area is by foot or by bicycle. Ensure your kid wears proper safety gear, and let him loose on a small ride that helps him see the surrounding areas that he never noticed before. Let him explore on his own.
15. Board Games
The good old board games are still popular for a reason. Rather than shooting monsters on the phone, introduce your kids to popular games of your time and newer ones of today. The variety of rules and inter-personal activities will make them see the fun of a wonderful game right away.
16. A Plant Party
Connecting back to nature and Earth is a great way to relax and to learn something new as well. Bring saplings or sow seeds in your garden or even in a small box. Teach your kid to care for the plant and look after it over the entire duration of its growth.
17. Sun Sights
All kids wake up early morning to rush to school. But let them wake up once to witness the sunrise in all its glory. If you can drive to a spot in your city where you can witness the sun setting over the skyline and let your children see the beauty of it.
18. NGO Volunteering
Kids will grow to be great adults only when they interact with a variety of people. Get in touch with an NGO to enrol your kid in a volunteer programme, where he gets to work on a grass-roots level and help the society at large.
19. Kite Craze
All kids are enchanted when they see kites soaring the skies. Get your children their own kite and teach them to fly a kite. Let them learn and try hard to find the best way to keep the kite soaring high. Not only is this extremely fun, but it makes them quite aware of the mechanics of the act, too.
20. Toy Telephone
Remember when you would talk to each other via string-connected cups? Do the same for your kids, too. Let a connection run from their room to yours, and have a “top-secret” discussion on what dessert you should eat for dinner.
21. Master Chefs
Get help for the kitchen with those eager to learn hands. Let your grown-up kids learn to chop vegetables and understand the nuances of salts and spices. For younger ones, give them safer and easier tasks of washing vegetables, peeling fruits, and being the taste-master.
22. Bubble Boom
Making soap bubbles is an activity that never loses its fun. Let your kid make his own soap solution and ring. Challenge him to make the largest soap bubble. Keep your phone at the ready to take a great photo of it.
23. Story Sessions
Turn down the lights, light some candles, and get ready for a nice comfortable story session. Tell real stories or fictional ones. If you’re looking to make things exciting, light only one candle and make for a scary story night.
24. Countryside Farms
Get out of the city limits and take your kids to a nearby village. Let them observe the lifestyle there, interact with domestic animals, and enjoy a lunch under the shade of a tree.
25. Gifting
Let your kids learn the art of gratitude. Ask them to make a list of people they are thankful for this year. Let them come up with handmade gifts for each one of them and give it to them with the topping of a great smile.
Kids will get bored of the same activities rather quickly. But if you mix and match them together, and keep the fun at the core of it, keeping kids entertained can be quite simple and your kid will come back to you with ideas of things they would want to do. Nothing like having kids take care of themselves.
