How to take a child at home? Ideas of simple entertainment for schoolchildren

It can be difficult to find ways to entertain a child at home, especially when they are school age and full of curiosity and energy. Fortunately, there are lots of easy and enjoyable activities that can keep them occupied without requiring a lot of setup.

These educational and entertaining activities range from interactive games to artistic crafts and are meant to be both entertaining and instructive. They can support kids in discovering new interests, helping them acquire critical skills, and—most importantly—making indoor play enjoyable.

Whether you’re looking for rainy-day ideas or simply want to add some excitement to ordinary moments, this guide provides a range of simple activities that will keep kids happily occupied at home.

1. We make milk cocktails and smoothies

A little ice cream, milk, berries or chocolate – and a great snack is ready! Tell children that the tradition of whipping milkshakes appeared in England in the 19th century: then eggs and syrup were added to them, the whites were whipped into a thick foam so that the cocktail was airy. But we are lucky, we have ice cream! Mix it in a mixer with milk and add melted chocolate, banana, frozen berries, honey, orange, kiwi to taste… And instead of ice cream, you can take yogurt, add oatmeal, berries to taste – and you will get a great smoothie. All that remains is to get the tubes. Even a preschooler can mix a cocktail. This way, children will develop a taste for experiments in the kitchen and a craving for healthy food.

6 recipes for delicious milkshakes

2. Cooking cookies in a hurry

• A pack of butter;
• a glass of sugar;
• two glasses of flour.

Melt the butter, stir in the flour and sugar, roll into a half-cm layer, and use cookie molds to create the cookies. Preheat the oven to 180°C and bake for ten to fifteen minutes.

Cookies with shortbread

• A pack of butter;
• a glass of sugar;
• three eggs;
• three cups of flour;
• a little soda;
• to taste – ground ginger or cinnamon.

Mix the eggs and sugar, melt the butter, blend all the ingredients, mix in the flour, baking soda, and spices, and work to form a soft dough. Roll out to a layer that is half a centimeter thick, use molds, and bake for 20 to 25 minutes at 200 degrees in a preheated oven.

Cookies with sponges

• 4 eggs;
• half a glass of sugar;
• half a glass of flour;
• a little powdered sugar.

Sort the yolks and whites apart. Once the yolks are smooth ("eggnog"), beat in half the flour and half the sugar. After creating a thick foam with the whites, add the remaining sugar and beat until glossy. Beat the yolks and the whipped whites together, then stir in the remaining flour. Squeeze the dough into a pastry bag or a plastic bag with a hole cut in the corner to form sausages, pretzels, and hearts that you can place on a parchment paper-lined baking sheet. After using a sieve to sprinkle powdered sugar on top, bake for 12 to 15 minutes at 180 degrees Fahrenheit.

Apart from cookies, there exist numerous straightforward recipes for beloved dishes that hold significance in both the preparation and outcome, such as pizza, hot sandwiches, burgers, scrambled eggs, and fondue.

3. Beautifully fold things in the closet

Keeping things in order is a great skill for a child, it will make life easier for the whole family. Show children different ways to fold T-shirts, socks, tights, jeans and skirts – after all, today this is a real fashion life hack. There are many educational schemes and videos on the Internet, the main thing is to first figure it out yourself, and then amaze everyone with your skill. Our task is to involve children in this game so that they like the order on the shelves and so that the process of beautiful folding itself does not tire them out too much. Then you will continue to be touched and gasp, opening children"s closets.

4. Play board games

Remove all the board games that your kids haven’t mastered and perform an assessment. Perhaps it is time to "update the park" and add a few more kid-friendly games to the lineup. The parents themselves ought to be eager to play as well! These are some of the best board games that kids can play without taking a lunch break, with squeals and sniffles.

• “Manckin” – a card parody of role -playing fantasy -toe, suitable for teenagers.
• “Uno!" – a card game to the speed of reaction and attentiveness, very gambling, simple and prolonging.
• “Carcasson” and “children of Carcasson” is a very cute black strategy in which you need to resettle your men on the map.
• “Alias” is a game of development of imagination and associative thinking, where you need to explain the words with different methods to the team.
• “Lead” and “Young lead” – the game is similar to “Uno!" only more specific, on a pig theme, therefore funnier. What are the names of the special cards worth: Polisvin, Tikhohryun, Perehryushka..
• "Jenga" is a time-tested board game for coordination and dexterity.
• "Dobble" is a fast and funny game with simple rules for attentiveness and reaction.
• “Hive” is a beautiful and bright strategic game where you need to capture the rival bee queen with the help of your insects.
• “Pandemic” – when, if not now, to play such a game? We will have to stop the spread of 4 viruses in the world.
• “Cash flow” – an adaptation for teenagers, in this game children learn financial literacy.

Using a combination of simple, instructive, and creative activities, entertaining a school-age child at home can be enjoyable and effortless. There are many ways to keep your child engaged without having to leave the house, including arts and crafts projects, interactive learning games, and even do-it-yourself science experiments. These are fun and useful activities that not only keep them occupied but also help them develop their minds and promote independent play.

5. Remembering Soviet paper games

Children should be taught how to play classic games on paper inside of a box:

• Sea battle;.
• Tic-tac-toe 3*3 and tic-tac-toe on an endless field.
• “Dots” – an analogue of Go, where you need to put dots in the corners of the cells and connect neighboring dots, thereby trying to surround the enemy"s dots and capture them.
• “Hangman” – a game with guessing the word, where for each unsuccessful attempt the player draws the details of the gallows and the body of a man.
• “Words” – when you need to write down as many short words as possible on a piece of paper from the letters of one long word.
• “Cars” – a game for which a “track” is drawn on a piece of paper, and players take turns holding a ballpoint pen with one finger and moving it along the track without going beyond the boundaries, the winner is the one who drove further. Aerobatics is to captivate two or three children with these games so that they play with each other.

Additionally, introduce your kids to other games from the days before computers, such as making paper dolls and outfits for them, gathering candy wrappers and chewing gum inserts, playing with rubber bands, and keeping questionnaires in notebooks. You have the opportunity to captivate someone with a novel and engaging activity!

6. Watching movies and cartoons

You undoubtedly have a long list of films and cartoons you’d like to show your kids, but you just never had the time. You can now try to bridge all the cultural gaps and give your child a taste for quality films and animation. Fortunately, a lot of sites have made their archives accessible to users, making it simpler for them to endure the quarantine:

• Children"s room Arzamas.
• Video service "Kinopoisk HD" announced that until the end of April it will open access to its media library for free with the promo code POKAVSEDOMA.
• The Premier service, where most of the TNT projects are posted, has given free access to a large part of the content. To do this, you need to register on the official website and update the application to the latest version.
• The more.tv service also gives viewers free access to films and TV series. Register on the platform"s website and enter the promo code sidimdoma in your personal account.
• The Megogo online cinema announced an expansion of the list of free content.
• OKKO launched a chatbot in Telegram (@OkkoBro_bot) and Vkontakte (send the word okkobro in private messages to the official Okko VK group), which issues a promo code for a free 14-day subscription. True, you will have to send a photo to prove that you are sitting at home.

7. Listening to podcasts

Reading aloud to kids or providing them with helpful recordings to listen to fosters creative thinking, improves auditory perception, and gives you something to do while doing easy tasks. You can listen to captivating stories while you cook, clean, walk, or even construct a Lego house. There are a ton of great free podcasts available, including some that were made available to everyone during the quarantine.

• “Pocket Scientist” – a wonderful, kind and cheerful course of lectures about nature and animals.
• “Children"s Room” Arzamas – here you will find not only cartoons and books, but also the coolest podcasts and audio performances, this is the largest educational resource for humanitarian education.
• “Magisteria” – a humanitarian educational resource for high school and university students, high-class lecturers, there is free content.
• “Extracurricular Reading” – a podcast on school and extracurricular literature.
• “I Want to Know Everything. Development of Thinking” – the name speaks for itself.
• Audio Encyclopedia “Chevostik” – excellent productions on a variety of topics from city birds to the treasures of Ancient Egypt.
• Storytel – a huge library of audio books, including children"s, gave free access for 30 days.

8. Reading Books

Give kids books to read aloud, or get them so they can read on their own by grabbing them from the library or bookstore. If the kids are comfortable with e-books, download comics and books! Books have been made available to readers for free while under quarantine by a number of online libraries.

• BUBBLE, a comic book publisher, has made several comic books freely available. You can read them in the app or on the website.
• Boom-Kniga has posted a story from a children"s comic called "Bad Flu" – about the spread of the virus.
• Jellifish Jam has published Alexandra Shevchenko"s comic "Hymn for Pioneers" – a story about what to do if you find yourself in a critical situation.
• Litres: Library has provided access to 50 thousand books. Access will be open while the ban on visiting libraries due to coronavirus lasts.
• Bookmate service has given free access to all new users – 30 days.

9. We go to museums and exhibitions

Surprisingly, you can travel to other countries to visit museums and exhibitions while under quarantine. Virtual, but at their own pace; additionally, the audience has access to the majority of the content. "Take" your kids to the Russian Museum, the Louvre, the Metropolitan, or the Hermitage.

• Google Arts and Culture project – high-resolution images of works of art are stored here.
• Amsterdam Van Gogh Museum with the “Google panorama” function.
• Tretyakov Gallery.
• Vienna Museum of Art History (Kunsthistorisches Museum).
• Digital archives of the Uffizi Gallery.
• Louvre.
• State Russian Museum (St. Petersburg).
• British Museum, virtual tours of the museum and exhibits on the official YouTube channel.
• Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York.
• Salvador Dali Museum.
• NASA video gallery, short videos in high resolution.

Keeping students engaged at home doesn’t have to be difficult. You can make ordinary activities interesting and entertaining for kids with a little imagination.

These activities, which can include interactive games, easy science experiments, or arts and crafts, keep them occupied while also challenging their minds. Another excellent way to kill time is to involve them in household chores and promote independent play.

Always keep in mind that the secret is to discover your child’s interests and modify activities to fit their needs and level of energy. You’ll have no trouble finding happy ways to keep your child busy at home with these suggestions.

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