As lockdown has entered into four months of crippling the usual day-to-day activities, people are finding it exceedingly difficult to bring forth ways for making themselves entertained. Whereas keeping the little ones busy and entertained at the same time with their endless supply of directionless energy is an exponentially tricky task.

If your job is of that kind that enables you to work from home, you need to figure things out to complete the assigned tasks and keep the kids out of the way at the same time, which in any household is anything but easy.  

If you have already found out ways to entertain the kids in creative ways – my heartiest congratulation to you, you can stop reading right now and go back to what you have been doing. Or you can keep reading if you want to compare notes or want to strengthen your arsenal for future applications.

The rest of us, I am afraid, might not be so lucky as you are. That’s why I did a little research and found a few ways to entertain the kids in ways that are creative, not destructive for the house, require a short time to set up, and need little or sometimes no money.

So, before going into full-on panic mode because your kids are running hysterically around the house and destroying everything in their wake, calm yourself by taking a deep breath and thinking about putting the following creative ideas together in your household to entertain the kids in creative ways:

Coloring Pages:

The most obvious, most comfortable, and cheapest way to entertain kids is the use of coloring pages. With the fear of sounding too much of an accountant, let me tell you this – as far as the costs are concerned, you would incur only the fee of printing-papers.

The point is, you only need to download the pages, and you are all set. There is a sea of available ideas on the internet to print, but for my two kids – I always prefer Peppa Coloring Pages. Their collection of Peppa the Pig comprises more than 40 pages of every kid’s favorite pig Peppa and every one of her friends and all her family members. Just give the kids a set of crayons, and you are set for long hours. You can be a little innovative and pursue your kid to choose one pig for a day and color it with different colors. And let them know that the best one will get a prize at the end of each coloring session. You just need a few copies of the same pig.

But if your kids are not interested in the rest of the world’s favorite pigs, you can go for their favorite characters from TV, cartoons or computer games. And you also can get all the superheroes with minions, star wars, paw patrol, Winnie the Pooh, etc. All of those and with many more items like animals, birds, fruits, insects, and everyone’s favorite animal dinosaurs, etc., all are available in Printable coloring pages.

Not only kids love most of them; some of them consist of extraordinary educational value. And they are free.

Re-Cycle What You Are about Throw Out:

Here I am only giving you an idea about how to re-use just one item – the tubes of cardboard that holds the toilet papers. Believe it or not, it is a fantastic thing if you know how to use them. Think about the things that have a resemblance with a tube of cardboard. The list is endless, but to get the kids started, point them out to the trunk of an elephant. My kid’s favorite thing is the binoculars, though, a rather long one without the attachment of any sort with each other.

But if you consider yourself a perfectionist, visit the web. It is full of ideas for spending a substantial amount of time. I would suggest letting the kids decide for themselves. Provide some kids-friendly items like specially-made scissors for the kids, highlighting markers, glue, etc., and take a step back. Take my word for it – your kids will spring up something that nobody has ever thought before, and ‘nobody’ includes the internet as well.

So, find some other objects that pose no harm to the kids and watch them lose themselves in blissful fun.

Let Your Kid Be A Creator Of Beautiful Things:

You just need to spend a few dollars to get a set of pipe cleaners of various colors. But they are safe, reusable, easy to be stored and easy to clean up.

What to make with them? Well, your kids only are limited by their imagination. But if you want some organization, YouTube can be your best pal. Once you learn something and show it to your kids, you are pretty much done. Your kid will take it from there, and you are sure to be amazed in the end. Sometimes there won’t be anything to show off, but please remember, getting entertained through trying is the goal here, not the end product.

Creating Murals Aren’t That Hard:

Don’t let the heading make you confused. Creating a mural may be a bit hard, but not the ones which your kids are going to make.

What do you need to make your kid a Muralist – a mere wall that can be reached by your kids and crayons or pencil crayons? Yes, that’s all you need. Before starting all the artistic things, a silly preparation you need to complete – cover that wall with papers.

You are all set now. Watch the inner Donatello break out and be the witness of breathtaking arts. Or you might attend that zoom meeting with the clients for which you prepared yourself the night before.

A Party for the Fancy-Dressers:

You don’t need fancy dresses to be a part of a fancy-dressed party. Get some old clothes from the back of the wardrobe, which May or may not is waiting to get thrown out. Hand them over to your kids and tell them about the party you are going to have. That’s pretty much everything you need to do.

Let me enrich your ‘kid-knowledge’ with a secret – pretty much every kid loves to pretend to be mommy or daddy. So, when you give them your old clothing, the first thing they would do is to try them on and enact your mannerisms so weirdly you can’t stop laughing. And if you have more than one child, you might be in for an impromptu fashion event in your own home.

Mold with Creativity:

To make playdough, you need flour, salt, water, oil, and other sticky things that you can get your hands on. Or you can spend 15-20 dollars and get it from the stores. It is more fun to involve your kids in making the dough at home but be prepared to clean up the mess afterward.

When you have the finished product – homemade or bought from the store – let your kid deal with it. Before you know it, the day will be finished.

The above are my favorite methods to entertain my three kids. The internet is full of ideas to entertain your kids in creative ways. Some of them are easily applicable, safe, cheap, educational, and creative, all at the same time. Some might not be so much worth applying, for different reasons like health and safety issues, personal preferences, cost, difficulty in application, etc. Have a look at the following list I’ve complied:

• Plant Flowers
• Create A Racetrack
• Indoor Camping
• Build a Fort
• Paper-Chain People
• Paper Airplane Contest
• Cleaning Competition
• Chalk It Up
• Scavenger Hunt
• Make Wooden Spoon Puppets
• Stage A Historical Re-Enactment
• Create Plastic Bottle-Rockets
• Toy Wash
• Bean Bag Target Toss
• Rubbing Art
• Magic Carpet Ride

Parenting is decidedly harsh, so you should get all the help you can get. I can only hope that the above ideas can entertain your kids in creative ways.