12 Fun Activities to Do With your Children After School
Children these days tend to spend a lot of their time on a tablet or phone, playing different games or watching videos. Try to keep them away from these digital distractions as much as possible. We propose these 12 fun activities to do with children after school.
12 Fun Activities to Do With Children
After they’ve done their homework and chores, it’s time to get some old-fashioned fun. It will also be great that you get to spend quality time together, talking and joking around. It’s important for your children to feel that you are with them. So, what can you do together?
1. Go outside and play a sport
Physical activity is highly recommended for children. Stock up on some necessary equipment from your local store, and try different sports to see what sticks with them. In the future, you could encourage them to pursue an organised sport with the local youth teams.
However, don’t force your children to do sports if they don’t want to. You can simply fool around, run after a few balls while talking and joking. It’s essential that you are outside and moving.
2. Craft a Comic Book
If your children are fond of Iron Man, Super Man and the likes, and they spend a lot of time playing video games or watching tv series with these heroes, you can challenge them to create their own comic book hero.
Pledge your help. Grab a few sheets of paper, draw a few boxes like in a comic book, and encourage your children to draw their own comic strips. Help them write dialogues and guide their train of thought.
You could make a few copies at the end and share them with their friends.
3. Have a Mani/Pedi Session Together
If your little ones tend to steal your nail polishes, you can buy them their own set of peel-off nail polish. It is hypoallergenic, non-toxic and based on a water formula. Moreover, you can easily peel it off; no need to use a nail polish remover.
So, you can spend some quality time together, doing your nails, telling stories, choosing different nail polish colours and talking about beauty routines.
4. Draw with Washable Sidewalk Chalk
Drawing with chalk might seem like a “dying art” these days.
However, don’t underestimate this fun and educational activity for kids.
Drawing with chalk can help build fine motor control and creativity. Washable sidewalk chalk will easily come off skin and clothing, so it’s not as messy as it might sound.
5. Read together
Children love reading. You just have to help them in the right direction. Try these 10 Children’s Books Ideas if you’re out of children’s books.
Try to make reading time a fun time. Take a walk to the local library and perhaps let them choose one or two books. See what topics they might be interested in exploring and guide them along.
6. Design a Treasure Hunt Together
You can start by telling your children to hide a “treasure” somewhere in the house or garden. It could be their favourite toy or book. Then, they have to create a map with a big red X where the treasure is placed.
Tell them that you have also hidden a fun “treasure” in the house. It could be a new exciting toy. Create a map with a big red X on it. Give each other the treasure maps and start the treasure hunt. You can include different little riddles on the map to make things more interesting. Or you can hide various clues along the way.
7. Have a Make-Up Session
Let your little ones express their fashion and artistic flair with hypoallergenic and safe makeup for children.
Talk about and use different lip balms, nail polishes, eye shadows, or blushes. This way, they won’t steal your makeup anymore, and you’ll get to spend some quality mother-daughter time together, doing some girly talk.
8. Ride bikes
Do you remember your first bike? Your children will do, too. They will also remember the fun riding bikes around the neighbourhood and spending quality time together.
So, whenever they’re sulking in front of the tv or a tablet, take them to ride your bikes around the neighbourhood. You can promise them a treat and a good time. They’ll take it!
9. Build a fort
If it’s cloudy or raining outside, you can do plenty of activities indoors, like building a blanket fort.
Grab a few blankets and chairs, dim the lights, take the flashlights, prepare some popcorn and watch a movie together in your blanket fort. You can give it a cool name, create a flag and titles.
10. Cook together
Take them to the kitchen with you and have them help cook dinner or make a snack.
It will give you plenty of time to talk and check on each other. You could bake some cookies and have your child draw their own face on them.
11. Make an obstacle course
You can do it indoors or outdoors. Set up some obstacles, and invite some friends over to go through the course together.
In the end, everyone's a winner, and they all receive cookies.
12. Build something together
Grab some attractive LEGO models and make it your little precious time where you try to build them together.
Playing with blocks will strengthen your children’s fine motor skills, creativity, and problem-solving.
Don’t give them the answer to any issue that might arise along the way. Guide them towards the best solution. Let them feel like they’ve found it. It will also help strengthen their confidence.
How Will These 12 Fun Activities for Children Help?
We know some of these activities might sound silly, and you already feel like you’ve got a lot on your mind.
But spending quality time with your children should be a non-negotiable activity.
It’s tempting to give your little ones a tablet or just leave them in front of YouTube. It will clear some time on your busy schedule to do all the chores around the house.
But, your children are more important than anything else. So, make time for them, do crazy things together, foolish things, show them you care, and you can have fun together. These are the times they will remember!
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