Boredom Busters: At-Home Activities for Families With Kids and Teenagers

As we’re all spending more time at home, it can be hard to think of things to do as a family if you have older children and teenagers. But don’t just succumb to Netflix. There are plenty of fun things you can do as a family, from cooking competitions to organising old photos. These fun family activities to do at home will keep you entertained during this trying time and take your mind off the news for a few hours.

 

Do Some Origami 

All you need for this is some paper and a little imagination. If you’re a beginner, take look on Youtube for some origami instructions and create all sorts of shapes and animals. You can also make paper aeroplanes and then compete to see whose plane flies the furthest. Because everything is more fun when it’s a competition! 

Have a Cook Off

Both kids and teenagers will love practicing their cooking skills while they spend time at home. Give them a bunch of ingredients and see what they can come up with, or set them a recipe and see who makes it better. Young kids will love making things like flapjacks and homemade pizzas while teenagers might be able to be a bit more advanced and cook up some creative dishes. Make them pretend they’re studying in a culinary school in Paris or Rome!

Test Your Knowledge with a Quiz 

Set up a game show style quiz for you and your family to enjoy. Obviously the complexity level of the questions will depend on the ages of your children, so have a think about what sort of questions are right for their level. But it’s a good way to encourage studying. 

Map Your Family History 

With the internet, the whole world is at our fingertips, so why not use this time to do some personal research? Kids and teenagers will love finding out about their ancestors and where they came from, so spend some time creating a family tree. 

Create a Photo Book

As we all take a moment to slow down, it’s the perfect time to look back on old memories. As most of our photos are now on our phones, we rarely print them. So take this as an opportunity to look back on old family photos and create some meaningful photo books. It’s a fun activity for the kids to sort out the pictures and older kids can help creating it. There are lots of online companies where you can create your photo book and design it yourself using your digital pics, or create a make-shift one using a large scrap book and sticking in photos from the past. 

Plan Your Next Adventure

While you might not be able to travel right now, you can still look forward to future adventures. A great way to engage children is by inspiring them with fun and exciting prospects. Perhaps gather round as a family to watch one of these best travel films for inspiration or maybe even suggest reading one of these travel books. Once restrictions have lifted and travel opens up again, you will be poised and ready to book your next trip. 

Take Part in a Group Yoga Class 

In these trying times it’s important to get some head space. And yoga isn’t just for adults. There are plenty of children’s yoga classes online that younger people will enjoy or you can even try doing one as a group. Just start with the basic poses and go from there. It will calm the mind, provide you with some much-needed stretching and also keep the littleness occupied and (hopefully) quiet for a little while.