Being quarantined isn’t easy, especially if you have little ones. I’ve been keeping in touch with some of my mom friends who have young kids and this time of social distancing is proving to be tough. I’ve decided a post with some activities to do using materials that are cheap and that you may probably have at home would be helpful.
Before getting into that, though, let me remind you of the importance of spending time with Jesus every day, especially right now. These days can suck the life right out of you. But, filling yourself with Him and His word daily is vital. He is your lifeline that will keep you sustained and filled up as I discussed in THIS post. Remember, you can’t pour from an empty cup. Once you do that, Don’t Wait to move onto some of these fun activities that your kids are sure to love.
As I’ve mentioned, I’ve been homeschooling for 16 years. I also babysit to supplement our income a bit. I homeschooled one of the little guys that I used to babysit during his preschool years (2017 and 2018 school years) and have pulled some pictures of those years with him off of Facebook to share with you. If you try any of these activities with your little ones, please take pictures and share them on the Don’t Wait Facebook page found HERE.
Masking Tape Spider Web
This first activity we did in October around Halloween, but it can be done at any time. I made a spiderweb out of masking tape in a doorway and then gave Rian cottonball “bugs” to throw at the sticky web. He caught lots of bugs and had a blast doing it. This could also be done with wads of paper or any other light material you have at home.
Shaving Cream
Another fun activity is shaving cream. It’s cheap, smells good, and you can use as little or as much as you’d like. I’ve found that squirting it on a cookie sheet helps contain the mess. After writing some letters in the shaving cream, Rian proceeded to pretend his dinosaurs were playing in the snow. Be sure your child is old enough for this activity. You wouldn’t want shaving cream to end up in the eyes or mouth. If your child is too young for this, there is another activity at the end of this post that can be done in its place.
Painting With Water
During my junior and senior year of high school, I took a two year course in early childhood development. My teacher mentioned this next activity and I held onto it until I had children of my own. Pictured below is my youngest when he was 3. I would give him a plastic tub full of water, a paint brush, and a small paint roller. He would go outside and paint the porch from one end to the other. By the time he finished, the side he started with was dry, so he’d start all over again. This is a GREAT project that will keep little ones busy as well as build large muscles and coordination.
Painting Squares
During a unit on shapes, Rian made this cool painting that I believe ended up being framed by his mom. As you can see in the bottom of the picture below on the left, I used painter’s tape to make a grid on a thick piece of art paper. I then let him pick a few colors of paint and told him to fill in all of the white squares until there was no white paper showing. Once the paint was dry, I removed the tape which left perfect squares.
Small, Medium, and BIG Squares!
Also during our unit on squares, I cut small, medium, and big squares out of construction paper. This can be done in a few different ways. You could allow your child to make a collage of squares with no particular way of organizing them. If you choose this method, be sure to talk about the sizes as the pieces are being glued down, “Oh wow, look at that SMALL square. What about that one – is it big or small?” Or you can do this activity to work on following directions as I did with Rian. I first had him glue the big squares down. Next, he glued the medium size squares on top of the large ones. Last, the small squares were added.
Rubber Bands and Soup Cans
Rubber bands and soup cans. That has a nice ring to it! The first time I tried this with Rian, he was a bit too young. He didn’t have the hand strength which caused a good deal of frustration. So, we put it away for a few months. The next time around, it was a huge hit! This activity is super simple. Give your child a handful of rubber bands and any type of tin can. Have him/her put the rubber bands around the can. That’s it! This is another GREAT activity to build those muscles in their hands as well as hand-eye coordination. As you can see from the look on Rian’s face, this took a good bit of concentration.
Fruit Loops and Pipe Cleaners
This activity was both fun and yummy. I gave Rian a red, orange, yellow, green, and blue pipe cleaner along with a handful of fruit loops. He then matched the cereal pieces to the correct color of pipe cleaner and slid them on. This is the perfect way to build small motor skills as well as practice hand-eye coordination. The hole in the fruit loops is the perfect size so they won’t slide off as other pieces are being added. Since we didn’t have any purple pipe cleaners, the purple fruit loops were consumed by a certain 3 year old. Oh, and excuse the laundry pile. It’s an ever-growing pile that never really goes away.
Pipe Cleaners and a Colander
Here is another great activity to work on those hand-eye coordination skills. Flip a colander upside-down and push pipe cleaners through the holes. This captured Rian’s attention for quite some time. For even younger kids, a colander with bigger holes would probably be more appropriate.
Finger Paint With Pudding!!!
This is an activity that I did with all 4 of my children. Pictured below is my youngest child when he was around a year old. He always wanted to paint with his siblings, but I knew the paint would go straight in his mouth. So, finger painting with pudding was the perfect solution! Some of my kids didn’t enjoy this because they didn’t like the feeling of the pudding. Sekai had NO issues with that, though. I think he ate more than he painted. Of course, when he was finished, he went straight to the bathtub.
Trying to figure this whole thing out. 
It tastes delicious! 
He went straight to the bathtub!
I hope this gives you a few new ideas to keep your kids busy for a bit. If you try any of these, I’d love to see pictures. You can post them on the Don’t Wait Facebook page. And be on the lookout for a few more posts just like this. We will get through this together. Enjoy these days with your sweet babies. You’ve probably heard the saying, “The days go slow, but the years go fast.” There has never been a truer statement about parenting. Remember to draw your strength from Jesus and then have some fun with your kids. And whatever you do, Don’t Wait!
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