
We’re about a month in to strict social distancing or quarantining here in Ohio. If you’re like me, you may be struggling for ideas of things to do with your kids all day. Since Paul and I are both working full time from home, and our kiddos are in very different places developmentally, we need projects or activities that are easy to set up or prep, simple enough to understand for a pre-schooler without a ton of direction, and educational or entertaining enough to capture Ethan’s interest for at least 20 to 30 minutes.
Enter Pinterest. Now, at first I figured that’s what everyone will do, no need to post a list. Then, I spent 20 minutes looking for ideas on Pinterest, pinning everything somewhat interesting, and I was quickly overwhelmed. So, I figured I’d pick a few ideas out to have in my back pocket (and to share with you, of course) so when I’m planning our week, I can just add a few activities from the list to our schedule. For me, this ensures that 1) I can pick projects for which we already have supplies, 2) I can gather said supplies the night before so things move as smoothly as possible, and 3) that we actually do more than park the kids in front of the TV or have free play all day.
I separated my list into three categories: ART, STEM, and MOVEMENT. Then, I added a fourth category for free online resources that are educational and I don’t feel too bad about that kind of screen time.
Each project is a link directly to the source. If you find broken links, let me know! Also, if you have ideas that have worked for you, let me know and I can link to you!
ART PROJECTS:
- FORK PROJECTS: Leprechaun; Chicks
- MARBLE PAINTING: shamrocks;
- MARSHMELLOW STAMPING/PAINTING: Shamrocks; Rainbows;
- PAPER PLATE PROJECTS: Leprechaun; Hats; Flowers; Rainbow Twirlers
- FREE PRINTABLES FOR COLORING: Leprechaun Hats; Easter; Earth Day
- HANDPRINT ART: Leprechaun; Rainbow/Pot of Gold; Butterfly Cards; Alphabet Handprint Art
- SHAVING CREAM: Marble Eggs;
- SALT DOUGH: Eggs
- PLANTABLE SEED PAPER:
- COLOR BY LETTER: Earth Day;
- Q-tips: Planet; Eggs;
- PAINTING: Pulled String; Squeegee; Spray & Squeeze Bottle; with kitchen utensils; With Salt; with dandelions
- HANDMADE POTATO STAMP
- TISSUE BOX MONSTERS
- MOSAICS OUT OF OLD PAINTINGS
STEM PROJECTS:
- COLOR MIXING: Ice Cubes; Jelly Beans; Walking Rainbow; Color Changing Flowers; Baking Soda Color Mixing
- BUILDING: Jelly Beans & Toothpicks; Plastic Easter Egg Towers; Toothpick & Playdoh Shapes
- PEEPS EXPERIMENT
- BEACH DENSITY JAR
- MAKING RAIN CLOUDS
- SINKING SODA EXPERIMENT
- WEIGHTS/MEASUREMENTS: Eggs; Measuring units
- LEMON VOLCANO
- LEGO ICE EXCAVATION
- BAKING SODA & VINEGAR EXPERIMENTS: Fizzing Ice Cubes; Ice Chalk: Exploding Sandwich Bags; Erupting Snow; Erupting Rainbows
- RAINBOW BUBBLE SNAKES
- LEGO SHADOW EXPERIMENT
- EGG DROP PHYSICS EXPERIMENT
- SOLAR OVEN SMORES
- FREE COUNTING PRINTABLES
- FLOAM, FLUFFY SLIME, and RAINBOW SLIME
- 2 INGREDIENT CLOUD DOUGH
GET MOVING:
- SPOON/EGG CARRYING
- SCAVENGER HUNTS: Earth Day theme; Indoor hunt
- PAINTERS TAPE CITIES
- BALL/STRAW BLOWING RACES
- PAINTERS TAPE HOPSCOTCH
- NEIGHBORHOOD HUNTS: collaborate with your neighbors to make rainbows or eggs to hang in your windows or the outside of your house and then take turns exploring the neighborhood to see how many you can find
- AT HOME OBSTACLE COURSE: use what you have, whether it’s pillows and blankets, chairs and broomsticks, etc. to make an obstacle course in your home; you can even make it a family tournament
- SEARCH & FIND HIKING LISTS: list of 100 things to look for on a nature hike
- PLANT A GARDEN: You can buy seeds online or even at the grocery/Target/Walmart; start the plant in an inside container and then transplant with warmer weather
FREE ONLINE RESOURCES:
- CINCINNATI ZOO HOME SAFARI: on FB Live at 3pm EST each weekday
- YMCA FREE CLASSES: from bootcamp to yoga, 60+ classes to stream
- AUTHORS READ ALOUD: list of 50+ authors, who are offering story time where they read their own children’s books
- TOUR A MUSEUM VIRTUALLY: from the Getty to the Uffizi, virtually tour the best museums in the world
- SCHOLASTIC LEARN AT HOME CLASSES: daily classes for students from pre-K to Grade 6+
- EXPLORE BUCKET LIST ATTRACTIONS: from Machu Picchu to the Taj Mahal, virtually explore the coolest locations around the world
- CINCINNATI SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA ONLINE LEARNING: daily activities for your music lover at home
- CIRCLETIME FUN: free classes to take on demand or even live for ages 0-6
- KHAN ACADEMY KIDS APP: free app with activities and classes for ages 2-7
- MCHARPER MANOR DAILY ART LESSONS: at 1pm EST they offer a free art lesson on Facebook Live and you can watch the replay videos on their YouTube Channel
- MINECRAFT EDUCATION EDITION: access to the game-based learning platform that builds STEM skills is free through June 2020 and they have offered a toolkit as well
- SCHOLASTIC TRUEFLIX: online videos about a wide range of topics from the American Indians to the solar system
- SCHOLASTIC SCIENCE FLIX: online videos about all things science, from archeology to the human body, famous inventors to microbes
- SCHOLASTIC WORKSHEETS: for pre-k to grade 8