Stuck inside the house? Entertain your kids with these 6 tips!

“Moooomm, she’s doing it again!” It was the same story every vacation. After a few days of being on top of each other, my sister and I would start fighting. Now that we are all stuck inside the house, guess what’s happening….. Besides the corona crisis, we are dealing with sibling conflict. Nice. Luckily we have gathered 6 fun (and playful) ways to make this time a little more smooth and even educational!

Absolute winner: “Get along shirt”

A smart mom thought to herself “Screw it, just do it!”. She got some siccors, cut the opening of the t-shirt a little bigger and pulled it over her arguing kids. Not sure if this is educationally responsible but secretly we think this is a hilarious idea. 

Number 2: bingo! 

Wrap some small surprises, like candy or small gifts and the one who has their card full with “blue car”, “dog that’s being walked”, and “mailman” wins! I bet you they will be busy looking out the window for at least half an hour.

Number 3: tablets, phones and (gaming)apps

This works perfectly to get your kids quiet for hours on end. The only thing is that especially in our digital society time off-line and attention for each other is getting more and more important. We are not going to go deeper into the health effects of for instance radiation, but from more and more scientific research we see that it’s not very good for our youngest members of the family. Number 4 is a good alternative to screens!

Number 4: a question card game

A simple question game is fantastic of course! Especially when both parent and child learn from it. The Vertellis Family edition is excellent for being stuck at home for a longer period of time. Guided by fun but triggering questions about yourself and your family, you find out things that normally would not easily be talked about. Besides the fact that it is entertaining, it also generates profound and meaningful conversation. 😊

We have collected five popular questions from the Vertellis Family edition for you:

1. Which customs or traditions of your family do you look forward to?

2. How do you cope with setbacks? Please provide an example for your family members.

3. If you had the attention of the whole world for fifteen seconds, what would you do or say?

4. When it comes to raising children, what do you find or what do you think you might find most fun or challenging?

5. Is there something that you think about, worry about or find exciting? What is that?

Write the answers down on paper, pass them out and I can guarantee you will have some unique and meaningful conversations with your kids!

Number 5: household chores

Who says you can’t be productive while entertaining your kids? You can let them help in the kitchen. Even a toddler can slice some veggies! As long as you hold their hand with the knife and basically are doing the cutting yourself. Or have them join in with your online zumba or pilates class. This way you get your exercise in for the day also!

Number 6: audiobooks

Had enough of chalking the sidewalk, building tents or playing legos? Put on your headphones and listen to an audiobook. Pour yourself some lemonade and before you know it you’re dreaming away on the couch. While normally they don’t even want to listen 😉

High Five

Bart