If you’ve lost track of what day it is, let us help: it’s Friday! That means it’s time to plan some weekend family time that’s hopefully different than all that weekday family time. To jumpstart the fun, we’ve rounded up some activities everyone can enjoy.
The Stickley Museum in Morris Plains has traditionally hosted Family Days where everyone could get outside and enjoy some screen-free time together. With social distancing in place, they’ve decided to put together a Virtual Family Day. Head over to their website and try out some of the fun activities they’re featuring, such as Metal Foil Embossing, Tin Can Stilts, and a One Page Book project.
Here’s a fun one that takes a little work upfront but can continue to entertain for a long time. This felt face activity involves cutting out different eyes, noses, lips, hair, and other features from felt. The little ones can then put them together in all sorts of combinations. If you like your fun to have some educational value, you can easily turn this into lessons on colors or emotions.
Making an indoor spider web should keep the kids busy for a while. Arrange painter’s tape across a doorway in a fun pattern. Kids stand facing the sticky side of the tape and toss things at the tape to see what sticks. Try balled up newspaper, small and lightweight toys, balloons, or even balled-up socks. Create challenges like guessing what will stick and what won’t, tossing things from different distances, or seeing who can get the most things to stick.
Have a puzzle piece hunt! Start by hiding pieces of a puzzle around the house. Send the kids off to find them and bring them back to a central location where they have to complete the puzzle. Older kids may enjoy finding the pieces, but they can also be recruited to do all the hiding. This is a great way to get kids up and moving around with a goal to accomplish.
A color hunt is another fun take on a scavenger hunt. Gather a few sheets of different colored construction paper or color a plain piece of paper with markers or crayons if you don’t have any construction paper. Challenge the kids to find as many things as they can that are the same color as each piece of paper. You can give each kid their own color and make it a competition or try seeing which is the most popular color.
The only thing more fun than a bouncy ball is making your own bouncy ball! Using water, Borax, cornstarch, and glue, it only takes a few minutes for the ball to form. This is easy and safe enough for young kids but still engaging for the older kids.