If you’ve got a child who seems to have an endless source of energy, you may be encouraged by this article to arm yourself with lots of ideas to keep them busy. While they may enjoy the activities you suggest for them to do, they are also eager to do activities with you. When you find your children aren’t enjoying any of their regular games and activities and they can’t figure out what to do, that’s your cue to get involved. They want some mommy (or daddy!) time.
With the list of things to do as a parent, it can be hard to make the time, but even a few minutes to engage in play time with them will be precious moments of bonding time. You’ll be filling a part of their heart that no toy or game could fill, and you’ll be spending time with your child who’s already growing up so quickly. It’s a win-win! It doesn’t have to be overwhelming either in terms of time and planning. Here are some simple things you could do together:
- Scavenger Hunt - This doesn’t need to be too detailed. Just simple things to find around the house. Make it into a race and see who can grab things that start with the letter “s” for example, or something that is “green”.
- Hula Hoop - See who can go the longest!
- Hopscotch - If you can go outside, you can use chalk to design your play space, but indoors you can make some room and use some tape to create your hopscotch design.
- Build a fort and play in it! Encourage the imagination by creating a space to go on an adventure!
- Play a classic game of hide-and-seek.
- Put on some music and do some simple jumping jacks or dance like no one is watching.
Knowing the Limits
It’s important to establish some limits because no one can run on energy forever (though it may seem so some days!). Encourage quiet times or breaks to recharge. Children will keep going and get carried away with being loud and “bouncing off the walls” when in fact they really just need a break to calm down. They need guidance on not letting things get out of control. This is why it’s good to schedule the downtime.
This could mean some time in the afternoons where both you and your child can take a moment to do some calmer activities. Depending on your child, you may notice they don’t sit for too long, but you can still add a little energy to these downtime activities by making it a bit more challenging like adding a time limit or making it into a race!
Calmer activities can include:
- Puzzles - Pick a big one that you can both work on together, or make it a challenge and do two smaller ones of the same size and see who finishes first.
- Lego - Be creative together! Create a farm or building together or challenge each other to see who can make the best car or boat out of Legos.
- Colouring or activity sheets - There are tons of free pages online to print for free, or start with a blank page and see what you can create together. Choose between crayons, coloured pencils or markers.
- Games - Pick your favourite board game like Monopoly, Life, Hedbanz or even Jenga, Dominoes or your favourite card games like Go Fish! Or Uno!
- Screen time - Depending on how much time you have, pick a movie and make some popcorn or watch a favourite show or play some video games for the time you think is best for your schedule.
For those kids who need to keep their hands busy, you could try a fidget toy like a fidget spinner, Rubik’s cube, or stress ball, or you could make your own together:
- Fidget Toys Kids Can Make (YouTube video) - link in description to article with instructions on how to make the fidget toys.
- DIY Fidget Stick (YouTube video)
- Easy Lego Fidget Spinner Toy - from doodleCraftBlog.com with images and video for instruction.
This article has been written by homeschooling staff writers of The Canadian Schoolhouse (TCS). Enjoy more of our content from TCS contributors and staff writers by visiting our Front Door page that has content on our monthly theme and links to all our content sections.
"Train up a child in the way he should go and when he is old, he will not depart from it" (Proverbs 22:6).