10 Things to Do At Home With Kids, Gadget-Free!

So you need to work (or get some me-time) but you don’t wanna resort to plopping an iPad in front of your kids. Or maybe it’s been raining for days and your wild creatures are running out of things to do indoors. What do you do?

Don’t worry! It’s possible to entertain your kids without resulting to screentime! Here’s a list of 10 gadget-free activity ideas you can do to get you started!

*Enjoy the “one-up tip” ideas per category if you’re feeling creative!

1. Have family game nights

My almost 4 year old has been obsessed with games lately. From block games like Jenga to board games like Snakes & Ladders, he loves them all. And I don’t mind!

Games are not only fun, but they also greatly improve kids’ cognitive and social skills. (He also gets to learn how to be a good sport when he loses, which did not come naturally, trust me! Haha!)

One-Up Tip: Get quality educational games!

Choose your games wisely though and invest on quality sets that are not only fun but also educational! One of our best finds lately has been this Color Cubed Strategy Game from Learning Resources (Available at STEAM Creatives.)

Each player’s goal is to create as many color matches using just one of their cards per turn. So you have to think about your move carefully. Luke gets really competitive when we play this and has declared this game to be his favorite for the month!

2. Paint

There’s nothing like good ol’ fashioned painting! Give them a bunch of brushes in all shapes and sizes so they can explore. We got Luke a brush set complete with foam brushes and textured rollers, and he goes crazy with them! Don’t forget to make sure you only use non-toxic paints! (The brushes, rollers and paints are all from Ma’am and Moms.)

Painting can be really messy so lately, we’ve been doing our painting outdoors! Luke also has a designated “paint outfit” so we’re not afraid of paint staining his clothes.

One-Up Tip: Hold a mini art exhibit

Display all of those beautiful masterpieces all around a room in your home and invite friends or family over to view them. This will definitely boost your little Picasso’s morale! And if your kid is feeling a little entrepreneurial, maybe he’d even like to sell his paintings to grandma and grandpa (I know mine did, haha!)

3. Have an indoor campout!

Bring the wild outdoors, indoors by having an indoor campout. Set up a play tent (or even just blankets will do!) and get ready for some cozy fun time!

Why not bring up snacks to eat inside your tent and tell stories by the nightlight? Here’s Mor and Luke enjoying their little camping session before his nighttime bath.

One-Up Tip: Tell campfire stories with a twist!

We recently discovered this cute toy called The Storybook Torch (got this from ToyTinkr!) Turn off the lights and use the torch to project pictures from well-loved fairytales! It’s definitely good old-fashioned fun and a great way to spend quality time together.

Ever since we got this, Luke has been asking Mor nightly to tell him the stories… except, it’s not the REAL stories that he asks for; it always has to be “Daddy’s version!” Haha. Mor’s version is always funny, totally unrelated to the original fairytale and most importantly (according to Luke,) there are no sad parts. Yup, Cinderella didn’t have evil stepsisters and The Happy Prince is about a happy bird called Crow-Crow. Go figure!

4. Work on (fun!) workbooks and activity sets

I know not all kids are into workbooks but in case yours are, I can give you some recommendations! My son absolutely LOVES workbooks; so much so that we sometimes spend cuddle time discussing how to work on the activities before he actually does it the next day.

He currently loves mazes and puzzles so I got him Kumon Workbooks that focus on spatial reasoning and logic. (I bet you moms would love that!) They’re not cheap workbooks but as my husband would say, don’t ever feel bad about investing in quality books and workbooks because it’s for his education …especially since he’s homeschooled, and we don’t really pay for tuition yet anyway. Haha!)

One-Up Tip: Invest in unique activity kits

There are a lot of cheap coloring and activity books out there but I always believe in investing in quality ones. As I often quote, children will know beauty if you give them beauty! And they will know how to appreciate things that are wonderfully made if you expose them to it.

One of the latest hits in our household is this Neon Coloring Set from Tiger Tribe (sold by Bright Brands PH) My son normally isn’t into coloring or art books (to my surprise, since that’s my thing!) but this one’s an exception. I don’t know if it’s because of the bright vivid neon colors or if it’s because it’s one of his favorite themes, which is outer space! But whatever it is, I’m happy because I get at least 15 minutes of peace as he colors a page at a time! Haha.

He even plans to bring this with him to the hospital once his baby brother arrives! Aww.

5. Cook, bake or barbecue

I’m personally not well-adept in the kitchen so for this, I enlist the help of my husband and professional friends (like my amazing friend Kim of Wynne’s Cake who has taught Luke how to bake cookies!)

One-Up Tip: Let’s do some Bento!

Don’t just prepare tasty meals, make them look amazing too! Create fun bento meals and cute snacks by using food punchers, food scissors (got safe, ceramic ones from Bonjour Baby) and cookie cutters!

Luke and I recently had a space-themed breakfast where we used rocket and alien-shaped sandwich cutters (these are available at Bright Brands PH!)

You can also get creative with your desserts; just like what we did here. It’s amazing what sorts of little monsters you can make out of marshmallows, breadsticks, Oreos, M&M’s and a tub of chocolate spread!

6. Get creative with dough!

Play doughs have always been a staple in our home, ever since Luke was younger. I love how kids get to explore with their hands and also learn how to be creative as they mold and shape different figures.

Note: Make sure you get food-grade dough especially if you have younger toddlers. We get ours from Ma’am and Moms. That’s also where I get our dough accessories (like the scissors and extruders) and as mentioned earlier, our non-toxic paints, rollers and brushes.

One-Up Tip: Create your own Van-Dough masterpiece!

Sorry I can’t help but use that pun! Hehe. One of my personal favorite activities to do with Luke is recreating famous artworks. You can do this through painting or working on mixed media, like what we did here. We used paper, crayons and play dough to create a 3D masterpiece!

Of course, it doesn’t just have to be Van Gogh (I just wanted to use the pun!) You can work on other artworks by other masters. This would also be a great activity for art studies.

7. Complete puzzles

Did you know that whenever you engage in a jigsaw puzzle, you brain produces more of the chemicals that are engaged in learning and memory? Puzzles are challenging and fun and if you get age-appropriate ones, your kids can spend hours (or okay, let’s be realistic, at least 20 minutes) having fun!

But I know you guys probably expected me to say puzzles already so let me give you a one-up tip for something different!

One-Up Tip: Get puzzles that are more than just puzzles!

We recently discovered this wonderful puzzle that doubles up as a playset! It’s called Puzzle Circuit, available at ToyTinkr.

My son loves completing the puzzle and then creating a story after with all the car pieces. It also helps build their creativity because they need to figure out how to design the tracks in such a way that they link with each other.

I actually had a hard time choosing a puzzle when I was getting from ToyTinkr because they offer other interesting ones too. For example, they have a detective-themed puzzle where you need to use a magnifying glass to look for objects after you’ve completed it and a “secret puzzle” that comes with magic glasses!

8. Get crafty!

Crafting is fun but honestly, I get lazy doing crafts too. So let me let you in on a little secret: I only do crafts with Luke when our monthly box from Oli’s Boxship arrives. Haha! It comes complete with instructions and materials already so I don’t have to plan anything beforehand!

(Use my code: SHEENALOVESOLI to get a 10% discount!)

One-Up Tip: Work on a crafty costume for pretend play!

Make a craft that doubles up as something else, like a costume, for extended fun time! This crafting activity for example doubled up as a superhero costume for Luke. Hmm, he might have had just as much fun running around and jumping from big rocks as he did working on the craft. Haha!

9. Water and sand play

If you’re not afraid of a little mess, treat your little ones to some water and sand activities! Kids love touching and playing with everything and what better way to let your little explorer, well, explore, than by giving him different sensory bins to play with? You’ll be surprised at how much fun your kids will have just by digging their little fingers in on kinetic sand and water beads!

NOTE: I get asked a lot about the mess whenever I post this on my Instagram. To be honest, Luke isn’t usually SUPER messy (on the contrary, he can actually get pretty OC sometimes,) so we usually do this indoors. However, I also highly suggest that you set this up outdoors if you have space. Just bring a kiddie table outside and let them have fun!

One-Up Tip: Create small world play scenes!

Creating small world sensory bins for play can look complicated but I promise you, it’s easier than you think! If you have plastic containers at home, kinetic sand and some waterbeads, you’re already halfway done! All you need to add are some toy figures for your kids to play with.

I highly recommend getting Safari Ltd. Toobs (I get mine from Beluga Dreams,) because aside from the great quality, they have a wide range of themes. I seriously had a hard time choosing which ones I’ll get first. Haha.

I love that each piece on every set can be used for educational purposes too! In the photos above, I used the “Land Down Under,” “Antarctica” and “Space” sets and I surprisingly learned so many new terms together with Luke (emu, taipan and rockhopper penguins, for starters!)

Spice up your small world bins by adding other decorative materials. I usually add rocks which I get from plant or home decor shops. I also use everyday things at home like salt and ice cubes, like for our Antarctica-themed bin!

10. Let them help fix the house!

I love doing renovations at home (as you might have noticed on the blog,) and we try to get Luke involved as much as possible, especially with tasks that he can easily do. We’ve tried letting him help assemble furniture, stick frames on the walls and assemble floormats.

Actually, letting him help assemble our Bonjour Baby playmats for both his and Dylan’s room turned out to be a great idea because he really had to think hard to make sure he fits all the puzzles correctly based on the pattern we chose!

Okay, I know; sometimes it takes longer when the kids “help out” but it’s a good opportunity for them to be involved and develop a sense of responsibility and ownership for the things around the house. So, try to be patient! 😉

One-Up Tip: Let them paint the walls!

Have you always wanted to have your walls repainted? This might be the perfect opportunity to do just that! They might not actually do a lot of “helping” but you can let them do the base coat and just ask someone else to do the finishing coats after. That’s what we did when we had our walls repainted. Luke was so happy to help and felt that he really had a major role! Hehe.

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Do you have other suggestions for things your kids can do at home without gadgets? Let us know in the comments below!