kids indoor activities

How To Engage Kids At Home: 20+ Home based Activities for Children

How to engage kids at home – is a common question that haunts parents at some stage of parenting. Childhood should be an age of learning and doing. Engaging kids in digital devices can distance them from the true learning they acquire by doing activities and tasks on their own.

Kids’ minds are hyperactive, they demand exciting activities. When parents provide suitable physically and mentally stimulating indoor activities for kids, it is easy to engage them. 

 Here are activities for kids that engage them in a meaningful manner while also helping keep children away from digital screens.

Cardboard Activities

Thanks to online shopping, every house now has not an ample number of cardboard boxes. If you are a parent of tiny toddlers, put these cardboards to use to engage kids at home. 

If you are wondering how to engage kids at home, here are some indoor activities for kids you can encourage to make out of cardboard:

  • Trains and buses
  • Tents
  • Pet Houses
  • Houses and buildings
  • Replicas of various famous buildings and monuments 
  • Toy houses
  • Bunker beds for soft toys
  • Wardrobe organizers
  • Gift boxes 
  • And many more…

Blocks and Construction

Blocks are one of the toys that every child loves to play with. Right from ABC blocks, wooden blocks, and Jenga blocks to the legos, kids of every age have their go-to blocks. Stock up on blocks to engage your little ones for hours together! This is a safe and easy way if you ask us how to engage kids at home.

Start an organic garden

Gardening can be a great way to engage kids at home. A simple balcony organic garden at home can be a healthy way to engage kids for hours away from digital devices. Besides, starting an organic garden at home will teach them to save the environment, eat healthily, and help them realize the importance of food.

Art and Drawing 

Colors and kids are intertwined. Drawing, arts, and painting unleash the children’s creativity. They also develop imagination skills and bring out the talent hidden in the little masters. If you have many children at home, organize theme-based drawing competitions as one of the indoor activities for kids to keep kids engaged creatively. 

Also Read: 25+ Home essential items you must buy

Cooking

Cooking is one of the engaging home based activities for children. When kids learn the toil involved in cooking, they appreciate the effort their mother puts in daily. Introducing cooking to kids is also one of the easy ways to teach them to make healthy food choices.

Salad making and preparing quick snacks that do not need a stove for preparation are ideal to introduce cooking to kids. Older children can try their hands on cooking with breakfast recipes and basic meals. 

Gardening

Want to calm hyperactive kids? Take them closer to nature through gardening. 

Gardening is one of the simplest activities to boost motor skills in kids and teach patience. Responsibility, attention to detail, and compassion are other traits you can infuse in your kids through gardening. 

Arrange a gardening corner in your living room or set up a balcony garden to engage kids at home in a healthy way. Start their gardening journey with their favorite flowers, kitchen herbs, and easy-to-grow varieties to keep their motivation levels up.

Room Makeover

With clothes, toys, and books scattered all over, kids’ rooms can appear scary. No matter the number of times mothers reset the room, it takes no time for the room to don its messy look. 

Engage kids at home with their room makeover. Give them tips to keep their room neat and organize things. 

Create interest in cleaning their room by providing them with kid’s room organizers, study tables, kid’s bedsheets, etc. Ever thought this could be your answer how to engage kids at home? This works, try it now.

Also Read: Relationship between Mother and Baby

Yoga

Include yoga in the list of indoor activities for kids right away. The benefits of yoga do not need an introduction. 

Besides aiding kids’ holistic growth, yoga calms children and allows them to focus better on their studies. 

Start with basic yoga poses for kids to make them love the yoga journey and realize its benefits. 

Dairy and writing

Writing is one of the home based activities for children. It provides an emotional outlet for kids. 

Children face diverse challenges adults rarely realize early such as bullying at school or longing to spend time with parents due to their busy routine. 

Encouraging your child to write a diary will set them in a healthy routine too. 

To engage them for a longer time, encourage children to write about their future ambitions, the last holiday trip experiences, what they love most about their school, or their favorite cartoon characters. 

Doodling

Looking for an activity that kids love to do for hours together? Doodling must be on your mind. 

Doodling is one of the stress-buster activities for kids. It provides them a channel to get lost in their favorite fantasy world healthily. 

Hand over to your child their favorite doodling book and set of crayons. Phew! You just engaged your child happily.

Books

Story books transport children into their world of fascination. Bundle books are another way to engage children for hours together. 

Some kids love history and some love science. Other children dream of their superhero characters, while many other kids want to read moral stories

Choose the books your child loves to let them engage in reading daily and more so in their free time at home. Books that teach leadership qualities to children, history and heritage of country or the significance of culture  make great choices for elder children.

Household chores

Does your child show interest in helping you with household chores? If so, encourage them. 

Letting your child help you is a fantastic way to build a mutual bond. It is also an opportunity to engage kids productively and teach them the basic skills to handle their chores. 

Pebble painting activities

Let your child create marvels with pebbles. Ask them to hand paint pebbles and create stunning art pieces and home décor items out of them. 

Some other related indoor activities for kids at home include feather painting, pot painting, and face painting.

Photography

Did the idea of photography ever strike you when thinking of indoor activities for kids? 

Encourage the budding photographer in your child with photography. Hand them over this little kids’ camera and ask them to capture the wonderful sunrise, sunset, flowers, and sky views they see from their window or balcony. 

Chalk and wall

Create a chalkboard wall in your kid’s room that acts as a creative corner for your kids. 

Either they role-play as a teacher or use it as a drawing board, the chalk wall is a fantastic activities for kids at home.

Baking and chocolate making

The smell of fresh bakes can make any child love the art of baking. Introduce baking and chocolate making to children. 

Teach them how to be safe at the stove and share tips for good baking. They will lose themselves in these interesting tasks. 

Don’t forget to capture their pride when they present you with those little freshly baked cupcakes!

Card games

Remember UNO cards? An evergreen way to engage kids at home is through card games. They strengthen the memory power of children and also build team skills. 

Card games also suit kids of every age. With plenty of card games available right from memory-boosting card games for kids to sports, science, and history-based ones, you have various options to pick and gift to your child.

Dance

Lights and music on! Kids love dancing. Even the most silent ones would love shaking their legs when no one is watching. Dance is one of the cheerful activities for kids at home.

Dancing helps kids both emotionally and physically. Whether they love modern dance or classical dance, let your child dance their heart out instead of sticking to their mobile devices.

DIY Activities

Remember your childhood when you used to make items from recyclable items at home? 

Thankfully, children of today have wider options available for DIY. Buttons glitter, ice cream sticks, colored cardboard, thick paper, thread, and googly eyes – name them, you find them online. 

Hand over such DIY activities to engage kids at home this holiday season.

Stimulating activities

Children can be of various types – while some love expressive activities, other children want silently stimulating and observational ones. The minds of such children are curious and they learn by trying. 

Activities such as Jigsaw puzzles, Rubik’s cube, Brain games and puzzles, Word games, Crossword puzzles, Math and logic puzzles, and Sudoku are excellent activities to engage kids who love to solve and do. 

STEM Activities

Who said pass time indoor activities for kids cannot be fun and informative at the same time? 

STEM activities are a great way to boost the inquisitiveness of children towards science concepts. 

Indoor Games

While we search for the best activities for kids at home, let’s keep in mind the power of the good old indoor games. 

Carroms, chess, snakes and ladder, brainvita, oh yes, and the modern soccer table game and indoor basketball – let’s not forget that all indoor games keep kids healthy and sharp.

Indoor Camping

A long holiday coming up and kids have nowhere to go? Fret not! 

Why not set up a holiday theme-based camping spot in your home and recreate their summer vacation mood? Decorate a corner in your kid’s room in their favorite holiday destination theme.

Beach, adventure, camping, forest, children parks, waterfalls, Disney land – whatever is your kid’s dream vacation place, bring it to life in their room. Fill the space with new soft toys and best drawing books for kids and activity books along with their favorite toys and see them enjoy in their space for hours!

Terrarium making

Terrariums are great choices to engage kids. Provide your kid with all the required materials to make a terrarium. Give them tips on how they can finish it neatly and leave them on their own. The terrarium will be their prized possession and makes a great addition to their study room too.

Conclusion

Engaging kids is difficult, but not impossible. With the list of activities for kids at home we covered, we hope we answered your doubt how to engage kids at home. We are sure your job as a parent just got easier! 

Get set go and let your child unleash their hidden creativity with these indoor activities. Happy parenting!