10 SUPER Easy Activities
So I recently made the move to the UK and am living in a student accommodation. Basically that means I have no space and none of my usual materials to do a lot of the usual activities. My floors are carpeted and my bathroom is the size of a public toilet cubical so water play is out. I have no space to store the usual sensory bin and my kids also can't help with cooking because the kitchen is so tiny that there is only space for one cook at any time. We are also only here temporarily so it didn't make sense (and wasn't environmentally friendly) to buy a whole lot of things just to have to get rid of them again in a few months. So we've had to crack our brains to work with recycled materials and buying only what we really needed and could easily use up in a year. A lot of these activities are also good to do when you find yourself with some time during the holidays and don't want to rely on the tele to occupy the kids! So let's begin!
1. Mini Sensory Bins
Materials:
1. Spoons
2. Bowls or cups
3. Dry Pasta/ rice/ beans/ water
4. Big container
How to:
1. Pour your pasta or rice or beans or water (make sure you don't use a cardboard box if you choose water!😂) into the big container and let the kids scoop away!
Pro tips:
- It's SO SIMPLE but it keeps them SUPER occupied. If you have other things lying around the house you can include it too.
- If you use water, remember to lay down a towel so that they don't slip and fall on the drops that splash out.
- The trick to extending the activity is to start super basic (just a cup or bowl and a spoon) and then introduce something new every time their interest seems to wane.
- Ideas for other things around the house that could work: Ice cube tray, muffin/cupcake tin, tongs, construction vehicles, cooking toys, tupperware containers (kids LOVE to open and close those lids and it works fine motor skills so why not!)
2. Number Recognition
Materials:
1. Paper
2. Writing instruments
How to:
1. Draw a bunch of trees.
2. Add numbers to the trunk of the tree
3. Get the kids to use a pencil to add apples matching the number on the tree trunk.
Pro tips:
- I said trees because it's just something SUPER easy to draw even if you have zero artistic skills. Apples are also the easiest for kids to draw (literally just circles), but you can do anything from dump trucks and getting them to add bricks or shirts and getting them to add buttons!
- You can use small blocks or even a bowl of dry pasta instead of drawing on paper and get the kids to count out the number of items and place it on the picture.
- provide colouring pencils (and stickers if you have any) and let them decorate the pictures to extend the activity
- For younger kids, you can write the same numbers on torn up pieces of paper and have them just match the same numbers together.
- This can be done with letters too! Do uppercase-lowercase matching or beginning letter matching (e.g. picture of an Ant to the letter A)
3. Hide and Seek
Materials:
1. Handful of any of your kids toys or personal belongings
How to:
1. Take a photo of all the items you use.
2. Hide the items around the house.
3. Show the kids the photo and get them to look for the items around the house.
Pro tips:
- The key to this activity being successful is setting your kids up for success by hiding the items and presenting them based on their developmental age.
- Take individual item photos (one per photo) to keep it easier for the younger kids (under 4 years) as they don't have the ability to retain information for a long time. Use a group photo for the older kids so they have to problem solve and mentally eliminate the items they have found from the photo.
- For younger kids, hide the item in plain sight by putting it in places they usually don't find item but not under or behind anything.
- Kids who find hiding in plain sight too easy, the next step is to hide it HALF behind or under something so it still sticks out a little but is not fully in plain sight. Object permanence is a developmental skill and kids under 4 years sometimes just look around the room and if they don't see anything they believe it isn't there.
4. Eye spy
Materials:
1. Toys or anything around the home.
How to:
1. Place all the items on a table and sit around it.
2. Mentally choose an item on the table and go around the circle getting the kids to ask 'yes or no' questions. All questions must be phrased such that they can only be answered with yes or no.
3. The first one to guess what the chosen item is gets to be the next one to choose the item.
Pro tips:
- To make it easier for younger kids, choose items that are VERY different from each other and keep the group of items small (3-4 items). You can swap out the items if they keep wanting to play and things get too predictable.
- To make it more difficult, find similar items or increase the number of items on the table BUT keep it to less than 5 items for kids below the age of 4 years to keep their success rate high enough to keep their interest.
- This activity works observation skills, questioning and answering skills, critical thinking skills and memory.
5. What's in the bag?
Materials:
1. Any bag (I use a spare reusable grocery bag)
2. A bunch of the kids toys or personal belongings
How to:
1. Closing their eyes, let the kids choose something from the bag and don't let them see it.
2. Get them to feel it without looking at it, taking as long as they want.
3. They then guess the item.
Pro tips:
- Choose things that they play with A LOT so they are familiar with it.
- If it seems too hard for them, take a photo of all the items in the bag and get them to guess which of the items it is. This narrows down the possibilities and they can 'feel' out characteristics.
- This works problem solving skills, sense of touch, observation and critical thinking skills.
6. Pass the Tape
Materials:
1. Roll of Scotch tape or anything with a hole in the middle like a hair tie or the extra ring of plastic you get when you open the cap of a bottle
2. Pencils/markers/ any stick like object
How to:
1. Mark out your starting and end point by placing a chair or toy at each point.
2. Have one participant thread the pencil through the roll of tape.
3. Starting at one end, pass the tape to the next person by transferring the roll of tape from your pencil to theirs without touching the tape with your hands.
4. Once you have passed the tape, you need to walk to the end of the line of people continue passing the tape from one person to the next till you reach your end point.
Pro tips:
- For younger kids, try to make sure the hole in your roll of tape can fit two pencils/markers.
- Make it more challenging by doing this with their favourite song playing in the background and try to reach the end point before the end of the song.
- This activity exercises team work, problem solving skills, hand eye coordination, fine motor and gross motor skills!
7. Paper Toss
Materials:
1. Scrap paper that has been drawn on and no longer needed or just any old magazine or newspaper
2. Big container/bin/salad bowl
How to:
1. Crush the paper into a ball.
2. Place the container a distance a way and try to get the ball of paper into the container!
Pro tips:
- Have smaller containers around the big container for an added challenge.
- Have different distances or different angles for added challenge. If you have masking tape, put some at different locations away from the container and write down point marks they get for getting the paper in from that spot.
8. Obstacle Course
Materials:
Anything you can find around you!
How to:
Think about what can be jumped over, what can be crawled under, what can be balanced on the head or on a spoon or thrown into a box and set up your obstacle course!
Pro tips:
- Start with something really simple (2-3 tasks) to get the kids used to going from the start to the end then slowly add more tasks along the way.
9. Musical Shark Island
Materials:
1. Anything you can lay on the floor to mark out an area or just use the sofa: This is the 'Island'.
2. Music on your phone
How to:
1. Play the music for as long as you like. During this time, everyone pretends to be swimming around the room.
2. Stop the music and shout SHARK!
3. The kids have to run to the 'Island'. The last one to reach the 'Island' gets to shout 'shark' in the next round.
4. Shout 'IT'S SAFE!' to start again
Pro tips:
- If you need to tire the kids out with this game, create some sort of obstacle in front or around the island, e.g. throwing a bunch of pillows onto the sofa so it's harder to stay on it.
- Make sure whatever you lay down is safe to run to. If you use a blanket, make sure it's on a carpet so it doesn't slip when they run to it.
- You can use the dining table to be a cave and mix it up by shouting 'BEAR' instead 😅
10. Animal Charades
Materials:
1. Paper
2. Pen
How to:
1. Tear the paper up into pieces and write different animals onto each piece of paper
2. Crush them up and put them in a bowl/cup
3. Get the kids to pick out one piece and look at the animal name without revealing it to the rest and act it out so that others can guess.
Pro tips:
- For younger kids who aren't able to read yet, you can either use drawings instead or you can have one adult sit out of the game to help with the reading.
- Simple to draw animals (usually has very distinctive features) are fish, cat (just draw the face), bear, rabbit, giraffe and elephant.
- To make sure they can read or understand your drawings, go through all the pieces of paper with them before starting to make sure they can understand the words or pictures.
That's it! I hope you have lots of fun with all these activities!
1. Mini Sensory Bins
Materials:
1. Spoons
2. Bowls or cups
3. Dry Pasta/ rice/ beans/ water
4. Big container
How to:
1. Pour your pasta or rice or beans or water (make sure you don't use a cardboard box if you choose water!😂) into the big container and let the kids scoop away!
Pro tips:
- It's SO SIMPLE but it keeps them SUPER occupied. If you have other things lying around the house you can include it too.
- If you use water, remember to lay down a towel so that they don't slip and fall on the drops that splash out.
- The trick to extending the activity is to start super basic (just a cup or bowl and a spoon) and then introduce something new every time their interest seems to wane.
- Ideas for other things around the house that could work: Ice cube tray, muffin/cupcake tin, tongs, construction vehicles, cooking toys, tupperware containers (kids LOVE to open and close those lids and it works fine motor skills so why not!)
2. Number Recognition
Materials:
1. Paper
2. Writing instruments
How to:
1. Draw a bunch of trees.
2. Add numbers to the trunk of the tree
3. Get the kids to use a pencil to add apples matching the number on the tree trunk.
Pro tips:
- I said trees because it's just something SUPER easy to draw even if you have zero artistic skills. Apples are also the easiest for kids to draw (literally just circles), but you can do anything from dump trucks and getting them to add bricks or shirts and getting them to add buttons!
- You can use small blocks or even a bowl of dry pasta instead of drawing on paper and get the kids to count out the number of items and place it on the picture.
- provide colouring pencils (and stickers if you have any) and let them decorate the pictures to extend the activity
- For younger kids, you can write the same numbers on torn up pieces of paper and have them just match the same numbers together.
- This can be done with letters too! Do uppercase-lowercase matching or beginning letter matching (e.g. picture of an Ant to the letter A)
3. Hide and Seek
Materials:
1. Handful of any of your kids toys or personal belongings
How to:
1. Take a photo of all the items you use.
2. Hide the items around the house.
3. Show the kids the photo and get them to look for the items around the house.
Pro tips:
- The key to this activity being successful is setting your kids up for success by hiding the items and presenting them based on their developmental age.
- Take individual item photos (one per photo) to keep it easier for the younger kids (under 4 years) as they don't have the ability to retain information for a long time. Use a group photo for the older kids so they have to problem solve and mentally eliminate the items they have found from the photo.
- For younger kids, hide the item in plain sight by putting it in places they usually don't find item but not under or behind anything.
- Kids who find hiding in plain sight too easy, the next step is to hide it HALF behind or under something so it still sticks out a little but is not fully in plain sight. Object permanence is a developmental skill and kids under 4 years sometimes just look around the room and if they don't see anything they believe it isn't there.
4. Eye spy
Materials:
1. Toys or anything around the home.
How to:
1. Place all the items on a table and sit around it.
2. Mentally choose an item on the table and go around the circle getting the kids to ask 'yes or no' questions. All questions must be phrased such that they can only be answered with yes or no.
3. The first one to guess what the chosen item is gets to be the next one to choose the item.
Pro tips:
- To make it easier for younger kids, choose items that are VERY different from each other and keep the group of items small (3-4 items). You can swap out the items if they keep wanting to play and things get too predictable.
- To make it more difficult, find similar items or increase the number of items on the table BUT keep it to less than 5 items for kids below the age of 4 years to keep their success rate high enough to keep their interest.
- This activity works observation skills, questioning and answering skills, critical thinking skills and memory.
5. What's in the bag?
Materials:
1. Any bag (I use a spare reusable grocery bag)
2. A bunch of the kids toys or personal belongings
How to:
1. Closing their eyes, let the kids choose something from the bag and don't let them see it.
2. Get them to feel it without looking at it, taking as long as they want.
3. They then guess the item.
Pro tips:
- Choose things that they play with A LOT so they are familiar with it.
- If it seems too hard for them, take a photo of all the items in the bag and get them to guess which of the items it is. This narrows down the possibilities and they can 'feel' out characteristics.
- This works problem solving skills, sense of touch, observation and critical thinking skills.
6. Pass the Tape
Materials:
1. Roll of Scotch tape or anything with a hole in the middle like a hair tie or the extra ring of plastic you get when you open the cap of a bottle
2. Pencils/markers/ any stick like object
How to:
1. Mark out your starting and end point by placing a chair or toy at each point.
2. Have one participant thread the pencil through the roll of tape.
3. Starting at one end, pass the tape to the next person by transferring the roll of tape from your pencil to theirs without touching the tape with your hands.
4. Once you have passed the tape, you need to walk to the end of the line of people continue passing the tape from one person to the next till you reach your end point.
Pro tips:
- For younger kids, try to make sure the hole in your roll of tape can fit two pencils/markers.
- Make it more challenging by doing this with their favourite song playing in the background and try to reach the end point before the end of the song.
- This activity exercises team work, problem solving skills, hand eye coordination, fine motor and gross motor skills!
7. Paper Toss
Materials:
1. Scrap paper that has been drawn on and no longer needed or just any old magazine or newspaper
2. Big container/bin/salad bowl
How to:
1. Crush the paper into a ball.
2. Place the container a distance a way and try to get the ball of paper into the container!
Pro tips:
- Have smaller containers around the big container for an added challenge.
- Have different distances or different angles for added challenge. If you have masking tape, put some at different locations away from the container and write down point marks they get for getting the paper in from that spot.
8. Obstacle Course
Materials:
Anything you can find around you!
How to:
Think about what can be jumped over, what can be crawled under, what can be balanced on the head or on a spoon or thrown into a box and set up your obstacle course!
Pro tips:
- Start with something really simple (2-3 tasks) to get the kids used to going from the start to the end then slowly add more tasks along the way.
9. Musical Shark Island
Materials:
1. Anything you can lay on the floor to mark out an area or just use the sofa: This is the 'Island'.
2. Music on your phone
How to:
1. Play the music for as long as you like. During this time, everyone pretends to be swimming around the room.
2. Stop the music and shout SHARK!
3. The kids have to run to the 'Island'. The last one to reach the 'Island' gets to shout 'shark' in the next round.
4. Shout 'IT'S SAFE!' to start again
Pro tips:
- If you need to tire the kids out with this game, create some sort of obstacle in front or around the island, e.g. throwing a bunch of pillows onto the sofa so it's harder to stay on it.
- Make sure whatever you lay down is safe to run to. If you use a blanket, make sure it's on a carpet so it doesn't slip when they run to it.
- You can use the dining table to be a cave and mix it up by shouting 'BEAR' instead 😅
10. Animal Charades
Materials:
1. Paper
2. Pen
How to:
1. Tear the paper up into pieces and write different animals onto each piece of paper
2. Crush them up and put them in a bowl/cup
3. Get the kids to pick out one piece and look at the animal name without revealing it to the rest and act it out so that others can guess.
Pro tips:
- For younger kids who aren't able to read yet, you can either use drawings instead or you can have one adult sit out of the game to help with the reading.
- Simple to draw animals (usually has very distinctive features) are fish, cat (just draw the face), bear, rabbit, giraffe and elephant.
- To make sure they can read or understand your drawings, go through all the pieces of paper with them before starting to make sure they can understand the words or pictures.
That's it! I hope you have lots of fun with all these activities!
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