Last weekend I was feeling unseasonably optimistic about the weather and started mentally planning all the outdoor fun we were going to have as a family over the Easter holidays. Alas, today’s fog and cloud has bought me back to reality with a bump so I thought I’d make a contingency plan should the sun be a no-show next week and as an added bonus I thought I’d share it with you – you lucky things.
Here I give you an indoor activity for each day of the Easter Holidays (if you have a two week break) so pop them in your arsenal of things to do and pull them out as and when required!
Day 1
Use masking tape to make a road on the kitchen floor. Make marks on the middle to represent road markings and hunt through your recycling bin and use cereal boxes as buildings and towers.
Day 2
Fill sandwich bags with different combination of paints, seal them and stick them on the window. Let your little one draw pictures on them using their fingers (no mess painting!).
Day 3
Go on a shape hunt around the house. Ask your child to find three things that are circles, three things that are squares and three things that are triangles.
Record them on a clipboard using words or drawings.
Day 4
Have an indoor picnic for lunch, lay out an old blanket and get all the teddies out to join you. Make sandwiches together in the morning.
Day 5
Get an old picture from a charity shop (or one you no longer want) and let your little one paint over it in any colours they like, voila – pre-framed art work!
Day 5
Make a den and go as creative or basic as you like. Fling a sheet over the kitchen table, put a load of cushions under it and read stories whilst eating popcorn.
Day 6
Run the bath in the afternoon and use green food colouring to make it look like a lagoon. Stick all the dolls/dinosaurs in there and engage in some imaginary play. We like to use shaving foam too for some extra mess!
Day 7
Have a treasure hunt. It can be as elaborate (with clues and riddles) or as simple as you have time for. Hide some chocolate coins or even just a teddy and the person who finds it hides it next time. Be inventive with your hiding locating (is teddy hanging from a light?
!)
Day 8
Play bucket and sock basketball. Get one step further away from the bucket every time you successfully get one in.
First person to get all the way back to the wall wins!
Day 9
Stick uncooked spaghetti into play doh and thread cheerios onto it. Great for fine motor skills and if you want to make it into a competition you could have the tallest cheerio tower that hasn’t snapped win!
Day 10
Make a HUGE drawing or paining using wall paper lining as a canvas. let your little stick it up in their bedroom to turn it into their very own art gallery.
Day 11
Put rice in a large bowl or bucket with lots of kitchen utensils and let your child scoop and play with the rice. Use different coloured food colouring to make it look more interesting.
Day 12
Make a mug cake in the microwave and enjoy it with some hot squash for them and tea for you! (We have hot squash if the weather is chilly – we simply add boiling water to blackcurrant squash and top up with cold water for a warming refreshment!)
Day 13
Sort out your wardrobe and whilst you are doing so let the kids have a fashion show – rate their outfits based on creativity.
Day 14
Play some good old fashioned card games – UNO is my favourite and my kids love Top Trumps. Challenge them to make their own card game and then play their own creations afterwards.
So help a mother out – what other quick, easy indoor activities are there to pass a few minutes to a whole morning? I hope you have a wonderful Easter Holiday whatever the weather!
