Activities for Little Ones
Entertaining children can become very expensive. To help protect your pocket we have compiled a list of free activities to do with your little ones!
If you don’t mind mess, lay out some sheets of paper, mix up some ‘child safe’ poster paint and paint your little ones hand. Let them print their handprint across the pages. Messy play is extremely important during the early years as it encourages the development of gross and fine motor-skills, creativity and sensory exploration.
Build a fort. Gather up some pillows, blankets and sheets. Let the fun begin. Let your child’s imagination run wild. Not only is it fun to build, but your child will also have a place to play afterwards.
Go on a bug hunt. Whether it is in your garden or in the park. Take a magnifying glass and go exploring. To extend the activity you can take pictures of all the bugs you find, print them out and help your child create a bug book!
Story time! Create a storytelling game with your little ones. Take it in turns to make up a new section of the story. This activity develops your child’s creativity and imagination. The story options are limitless!
Magic painting. Using a white pencil on white paper draw a picture and get your child to paint over it with watercolour paints to reveal the picture.
Make a magic potion. Let your child collect various wonderful and weird ingredients from around the house - ensure they don’t pick up any cleaning products or other unsafe substances. Mix them all up. Create different combinations and have your child imagine all the crazy things their potions can do.
Create a scavenger hunt to complete in the park. Make a list of things for your child to find in the park such as a leaf, a twig, a butterfly. Take a pen with you and tick off the items when you find them.
Using some of their favourite toys, create a treasure hunt around the house. Write out a couple of clues to give your child to help them find their toys. If you are playing with young children have them attempt to read the clues themselves with some guidance of course! This is an excellent way to get in some reading practise without it feeling like work to your child. It will also develop their problem-solving skills.
Themed sensory tray. This activity is best suited to children aged 3-5 but can be popular with younger ones, or even older children! You can use a washing up bowl, shallow plastic storage boxes or a tray. Or if you are willing to spend the money you can buy specially designed sensory bins. Our personal favourite tray is the PlayTRAY. Fill the tray with sand, rice, flour, ice or anything you have around the house. Using some of your children’s easy to clean toys such as legos or dolls create a themed scene and let your child’s imagination go wild. A popular sensory bin we used to create for sisters aged 2 & 4 was Frozen themed. We would fill a tray with ice and a few drops of blue food colouring mixed into water. We would place their Elsa and Ana Lego dolls in the tray and create an ice kingdom. The girls spent hours engaging in imaginative play using their dolls!
A simple trip to the park. If you can, try going to different parks in your area to mix it up and avoid the repetitiveness of visiting the same playground. Children always love when they have a friend or a sibling to go with.
Have a movie night. We all know that there are differing opinions between parents on how much screen-time a child can have. But, no matter what your views are, a movie night is always popular with children. Get out the blankets and pillows, dim the lights and close the blinds to create a cosy environment. Let your child pick out some snacks and put on one of their favourite films or find something new to enjoy. This activity is perfect for a rainy day or for when your child is in need of a quiet afternoon.
Have a tea party. Have your child make invitations to their tea party that they can give to their favourite toys. Let them set up a tea party at the main table or if you have a child size table even better! If you don’t have a crockery play-set, let your child use some of their own plastic cups and plates or they can use any paper plates you may have around the house left over from birthday parties!
Create an obstacle course. This is something you can do inside or outside! Find various objects around the house and create an obstacle course for your child to complete. You can even introduce a timer to create some competition. If playing with more than one child see who can complete it the fastest. If there is only one child playing you can challenge them to see how fast they can complete the course.
Create a play. Give your child a theme or a basic story line and have them create a performance. You can help them find things around the house to create costumes and even make tickets for their show.
Rock painting. A fun and creative activity for little ones. Go to the park or the beach, whatever is closest to you and collect some rocks. At home set up some paints and let your children create a masterpiece. There are hundreds of things they can paint on rocks. Let them use their imagination. Create a ladybird, a monster, a bumblebee or a hedgehog!
Create a cardboard house. If you have any cardboard boxes laying around give them to your child to colour in and create a masterpiece! Give them paints, pencils or crayons and see where their imagination takes them.
