Things to do during the Holiday – Family Edition

Bored at home? Not sure what to do with the kids for the long holiday, check out these 10 amazing fun activity ideas for you and your kids to beat school holiday boredom and make the most of the holidays! From art projects to fun school holiday games and indoor activities, gather up your supplies and get started!

Some of the best kids’ holiday activities at home include:

1. Movie marathon
2. Reading marathon
3. Seasonal crafts and DIY
4. Fashion show
5. Playing board games or guessing games
6. Penguin Waddle
7. Play indoor bowling
8. Completing a puzzle
9. Exploring sensory art
10. Cooking competition

1. Have a movie marathon!

Who doesn’t love a good movie? Shrek, Ice Age, Star Wars, Lord Of The Rings, The Christmas Chronicles etc. The list of possible movies to watch with your kids is endless and can include the best Netflix kids’ movies or the top 10 Disney movies. And with streaming services such as Netflix, movie watching is now easier.

Why not settle down in front of the TV with a bowl of popcorn and select your favorite holiday movies for a night that’s sure to please the whole family.? Whether they are preschoolers, schoolers, and teens you all will have a wholesome night full of fun.

2. Run a reading marathon (Readathon)

A Readathon is one of the best indoor home activities for kids at home and any family that wants to get into reading.

Children will benefit from reading because it helps them:

• Learn vocabulary and grammar.
• Understand the world around them.
• Build independence and
• Become more academically successful in the future.

In addition, kids become more creative and imaginative.

You can create a competition for the whole family to participate. The first person who reads the most within a certain time wins a prize.

If you’re not in the mood for competition, read a good book together with the family and have a book club discussion about the characters or any interesting themes from the book.

3. Make some seasonal crafts and DIY

Christmas is coming up! Why not make some cards or decorations together with your kids. Gather some coloured paper, glue, scissors, coloured markers and stickers and get crafting!

Kids will have fun and they will benefit from crafting as it helps improve a child’s concentration and ability to follow instructions. Crafting can also help your child develop fine motor skills.

If you’re stuck for new ideas on crafts for kids, check out https://www.pinterest.com  for seasonal craft projects for kids.

4. Host a fashion show

Go through all the clothing that you and your kids have in your wardrobes and come up with a few outfits and model them in the hall or living room! Sort through clothes to see which ones fit and which ones don’t and discover some pieces that you can wear more often.

Hosting a fashion show for your kids is not only fun but also great exercise! The best part about it? They pretend to be celebrities, strike funny poses, and strut on stage. You can even grab your camera and run a photo shoot of the show.

It’s a perfect indoor activity if you want them to keep busy and out of trouble. It is also a great way to keep everyone active and entertained while giving the whole family plenty more bonding opportunities too!

5. Play board games or guessing games

Playing board games or guessing games is one of the fun activities for kids to do at home!

Almost every family has at least one board game at home. Sit on the couch or floor and play indoor games, such as Monopoly, Scrabble, cards or any other game you’ve got.

Aside from board games, you can also try playing a guessing game. Pick a theme, for example, animals or cartoon characters. Then have a go at giving out clues and getting the other person/people to ask questions to guess your animal/character.

You can even come up with a unique spin to the game, for example, printing out images and playing a ‘Guess Who?’ style game.

6. Penguin Waddle

Another fun and easy indoor game for kids is called Penguin Waddle.

You can play it by placing the balloon between your child’s knees and having them walk across without dropping it. You can even make things more challenging for older kids by putting some obstacles around.

If the balloon falls before the kids complete their journey, they must go back to the start. If you have multiple kids, they can be divided into teams to see whose team is faster so they enjoy some friendly competition!

7. Play indoor bowling

All it takes to set up your indoor bowling is some painter’s tape and plastic cups (plastic bottles or paper towel rolls) as your bowling pins. Use any ball to bowl to knock down as many pins as possible.

You can create pyramids with those cups / bottles / paper towel rolls to make this fun indoor game for kids more challenging! Don’t forget to keep track of the score. Otherwise, kids can simply aim to knock all the pins down in one turn.

8. Complete a puzzle

Sit down on the floor or at a table and complete a puzzle with your kids. If you don’t have a puzzle at home, there are some free online puzzles and games you can try as well, like these:

• Online Jigsaw Puzzles is a website specifically for online jigsaw puzzles that you can solve for free. Pick an animal or nature puzzle or anything else from the many available on their site.
• Lovatt’s Online Puzzles include sudoku, word search and other free play games.
• BBC’s CBeebies also have a variety of puzzle and colouring games available for free on their website.

9. Explore sensory art

Exploring sensory art is one of the interesting indoor activities for kids and a wonderful way to explore their artistic skills and create unique masterpieces.

If you’re looking to keep your toddlers, preschoolers and older kids occupied during the holidays, try these fun, creative indoor activities and school holiday ideas at home!

Put some music and let your child get creative! You’ll see what masterpieces and original designs your kids created with the help of music. You can play several different songs and use different materials, from crayons to paint to markers.

You can then display those artworks on your fridge, hang them up in a gallery spot somewhere around home or frame them to hang in your kids’ bedrooms. It’s an amazing activity for preschoolers and older kids!

10. Have a cooking competition!

Use the holiday to let your kids learn some useful cooking skills while having fun? Hold a Masterchef-style cooking competition to see who can make the healthiest meal for dinner or the most mouth-watering dessert.

Cooking with kids can have lasting impacts on their healthy eating habits, their food preparation skills, independence, and teamwork skills (when cooking together with others).