Do you always crave for some free time for yourself without any interruptions by your kids? Here are some activities that will keep your kids busy while you spend some time with yourself making a phone call to an old friend or just watching your favorite soap on television.
Busy Box
Collect some small objects in a box for the child to be amused with, examine, gather and dump again. Make sure none of the objects is a potential choking hazard. You can prolong the activity by either using a box with a lid or by using a diaper wipes case that has a gentle rubber opening to trap the child’s hand.
Stacking Cups
Surround your child with a box of small sized paper cups and let him or her stack and crash them as much as she wants.
High-Chair Painting
Allow some creative juices to flow by putting your child in the high chair and spreading shaving cream or toothpaste on the tray to allow him to paint. If the child is too young to understand that shaving cream or toothpaste is not edible, replace them with vanilla pudding.
Snowy Scene
Create a winter landscape that your kid can touch and change. To create such a dreamy landscape, mash ‘Play-Doh’ into a small cookie sheet and add silver glitter. Add toy animals to bring more realism to the landscape.
Silent Scooping
Get two large sized mixing bowls and a bag of pom-poms. Allow your child to scoop them from one bowl to the other and give her necessary tools such as a spoon, a measuring cup or a ladle to do so. It is a good idea to bury small toys or blocks which your child discovers while digging.
Snack Buffet
Does your child want to eat pom-poms? Here is a way to feed her: make child friendly tapas bar out of small snacks such as Cheerios, cheese cubes, raisins or apple chunks and shape them in a clean ice tray.
Car Wash
Fill a baking pan with some water and add a dash of dish soap in it. Give your child a few matchbox cars or mini trucks to clean them with a toothbrush. If your toddler is less detail oriented, he or she can just sail the boats in the flood.
Post-it Art
Give your child a stack of colorful posts and allow her creativity to flow on the nearest wall. Expect an arty installation in sometime!
Sponge Towers
Cut kitchen sponges into rectangles of around 1/4 inch thickness using a sharp pair of scissors. Let your child stack them up to create high rise buildings. Sponges can also double up as floating boats in your toddler’s bath tub.
Fashion Plate
Take out her dress box and ask her for a show. Give her 4 minutes for a costume change. Increase her enthusiasm by letting her try your T shirts, shoes, scarves and other accessories.
Spiderweb Construction
Provide them a roll of masking tape or a painters tape and let them create a web in the doorway or down the narrow hallway. Make sure the glue of the tape does not damage the paint on the walls.
Make a High Way For Him to Run a Car
Create lanes for him on the floor in the backyard and give him a toy car to run on it to get a feel of highway driving. Place small cars on the way for him to overtake.
Rainbow Collection
Hide colorful objects and send your child on a scavenger hunt. Have him find colors of the rainbow and ask him to arrange them on the floor in the shape of an arch. You can also cut paper into geometric patterns and ask him to find objects that match a certain shape.
At-Home Bowling
Tape a table to make boundary of a bowling alley. Stand some pencil erasers at one end of the table and use a glass marble as the striker. The setup makes an addictive at home bowling game.
These are just few of the many activities that your child can be kept busy with. Most of these would cost you a frugal sum or nothing at all. Give your imagination a fantasy flight and you will come across with more such activities!
