Struggling to find ways to keep boredom at bay?
It’s really hard for children to understand why this enormous upheaval is happening (it’s hard for us adults too!) and while not being in school seems like a novelty now, this isn’t likely to last very long. No Child Left Behind will be sharing easy, fun activities you can do with with your children with basic items you will find around your home. See some of our suggestions below.
Kids activities
Although the sun is shining and the skies are blue this is still Britain and we know better than take the sunshine for granted!
There are some really useful ideas to create a rainy day box on the website below – not all will be possible but some of them, such as the writing box and the painting box could be adapted using the things you already have in your house.
NatGeo Kids have loads of useful learning and play resources for kids to explore. Learn more about wildlife, our planet, history and all sorts of other interesting things.
For those of you who are homeschooling there are also some useful primary resources that align with the curriculum.
Use old broken crayons to make some lovely colourful flowers.
Older kids can come up with more complicated rules, but for little ones just hopping along can keep them entertained for ages!
Any budding sculptors currently stuck indoors? Why not try making so easy peasy salt dough? NCLB would love to see your finished designs!
We’ve had a look and we reckon some of these are definitely doable without having to venture out.
Not only does this give your children something to work towards but once we’re out and about again your child will get free access to loads of places, including:
- Slimbridge Wetland Centre
- Sudeley Castle
- Wookey Hole caves
- Birdland
- West Midlands Safari and Leisure park
…and loads more!
Family activities
Plan an evening where you can do an at-home spa night. Light candles, put on relaxing music, and make your atmosphere resemble a spa.
You can do facials, manicures, and pedicures. You also can have bubble baths.
Schedule it so that each person is doing a different thing and rotate the process. Your family will enjoy this time of pampering and relaxing.
Gather together some props and outfits and take family pictures. Make sure each member has individual shots as well.
Acting as a professional photographer, be creative in the photos you take.
Take funny pictures. Take serious pictures. Take candid shots.
The joy of digital photography is that you can take as many photos as you like and delete what doesn’t work.
Make sure you add props to make it interesting!
Invent your own code and write messages to each other.
Take the alphabet and transform it into symbols and signs to represent each letter. It’s exciting to come up with your code.
Once it is created, give everyone a copy of the code, and begin writing messages to one another.
It will be interesting to translate words into the special code you made.
Puzzle-making is a calming way to spend time together at home. Hours can be spent finding just the right pieces to add to the puzzle. The best part is when you see the finished product. This isn’t a one-night activity, so set aside a place that the puzzle can be undisturbed. If you have a spare table that isn’t used daily, you could have it there on display and readily available to continue on
Have you ever watched the cooking shows on TV?
Cooking is a hot topic. In fact, cooking shows are so popular these days that there are networks that only broadcast shows about cooking.
Pick out a recipe you would like to try.
Pretend you are hosting your own cooking show and video it.
Make sure the whole family participates, in one way or another (you’ll need a cameraperson, a ‘lighting director’, a producer to find a recipe as well as a host or two). You are certain to have a lot of laughs while watching your family episode.
(P.S NCLB would LOVE to see your finished videos, and might share them through our YouTube page #EatingWell)
There are many movies that have sequels. Pick a genre that your family would enjoy. Plan for a whole evening of back-to-back viewing of the movies. Make sure you have plenty of snacks on hand!
If you want to be really creative, find props that go with the movie and set them out. You can even make a dessert that matches the movie theme. May the force be with you!
Set out a picnic blanket and basket of food and eat your dinner as though you were having a picnic, indoors or in your garden.
Just having variety in your family life brings you closer together as a family unit. Events like this are often the catalyst for a fun-filled evening.
Home schooling help
Daily online and iPlayer lessons and home-school planning tips for all age groups.
In response to school closures, The Literacy Trust have produced activities divided up into different age ranges to benefit children’s writing, reading and language development.
Learning resource site Twinkl have made their content FREE for anyone educating from home for the time being. You can get a daily timetable with downloadable resources.
There’s also guidance for parents about how to use the resources on their blog.
Sir Linkalot have animations, games and quizzes to help children with their spelling and grammar and will send you a code to access their content for free for the next 12 weeks.