9 Ways We are Keeping the Kids Busy During this Social-Distancing Time
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If your family life is anything like ours right now, everything is on hold. Kids are home from school for the next 4 weeks. Keeping the kids busy and bringing our family closer are my top two priorities. I am not a fan of allowing too much screen time, so we will be keeping busy other ways! Don’t get me wrong, we will most likely have an electronics time of day each day, but the rest of the day I want to put it to good use learning and experiencing things we are too busy for during regular school days. Check out this list of 9 different types of ways to stay engaged and learning as a family during this uncertain time. If we haven’t already checked out these items on the list, we will be!
- Monthly Subscription Boxes
- Toys that Encourage Movement
- Videos on Youtube to Get the Wiggles Out
- Educational Toys
- Interactive Books
- Educational Websites/Virtual Field Trips
- Recipes to Involve Kids in the Kitchen
- Get Outdoors
- Read, Read, Read
- Game Playing
Monthly Subscription Boxes
A few years ago, we were gifted a 3-month subscription to Kiwi Crate subscription box that came in the mail. The boys truly enjoyed assembling the fun things inside the box. One box was a spin art box, another was a catapult game. The instructions were very easy to follow!
We have also had the chance recently to review and experience the Green Kids Craft subscription box. The box we tested out was all about the Solar System and more on an educational level. My older three boys did enjoy this box. Read our full review HERE.
We are currently testing out a Groovy Lab in a Box. This box is intended for ages 8 and up. Perfect for the older kids! This box includes 6 different experiments, a brainstorm section, a test it section, and a redesign section. Read our full review HERE.
There are so many different subscription boxes out there, even for adults! Check out CrateJoy to find the perfect box for your family!
Toys that Encourage Movement
Since I have 4 very active boys, we are always on the lookout for new toys that will keep them moving. Our criteria usually include toys that can be used in multiple ways, multiple ages, are durable, and affordable. One of our very favorite toys include any of the Stomp Rocket Products! We received the Extreme Stomp Rocket to test out and the boys loved the extreme heights. Read our full review HERE for those. We are currently testing out a set of Blo-Rockets that we just received. So far, we are in love! These can be used indoors or outdoors – which makes them perfect even on rainy days! My kids have tried out 3 of the suggested games that came with the rockets distance launch races, target practice, and dodge rockets and loved each one! You can purchase these rockets at Amazon, Kohls, Walmart, Bed, Bath, and Beyond, and Target!
Another fun, active toy are these foam airplanes. We bought this set at I know this technically is classified under “screen” time, but sometimes I just need to keep the boys active. I love that these videos are fun for everyone, including me! Our favorites videos to search for are: My boys love to read! But, they also love books that they can explore and learn on their own. Word search books, maze books, logic books, and sudoku books are a huge hit here with my older two boys. We recently were sent this book to review, If you are looking for a book to keep your kids minds working, check out this book Below are a few of the recipes I thought would interest my boys enough to try out! Click on the title name to connect to the recipe on the respective blogs! No-bake chewy cookies and cream bars Frozen Chocolate Monkey Treats Probably the best thing we have done off of this entire list is just to get outside! We went to the fields one day just to practice some hitting since the boys were missing baseball. They have been loving playing Gaga Ball on the trampoline. Bike rides and walks are on the agenda too. My kids though have been asking to go geocaching for weeks now. But, between school and baseball there just isn’t much time. Well, now there is! Download the geocaching app and you are set to go! We are going to start finding the local ones in the neighborhood and then we might expand our search. With regular school hours, three boys playing baseball, and two boys in scouts, we struggle to get in much reading before bed. We are taking this break from school and activities as a good time to snuggle up in bed and read stories as a family each night! Some of our favorite books are Pigeon Books and Elephant and Piggy Books by Mo Willems. We have really enjoyed watching his lunch time doodles videos on Youtube lately. If you haven’t had a chance to check it out, go HERE! You won’t be disappointed! And yes, it is screen time again, but I found that after we watched his doodles the boys wanted to read the books he talked about! Our biggest two boys are getting into reading Harry Potter, but the books are very detailed with long chapters which we don’t always have time for on our busy school nights. This break has been perfect to read those as well! The boys also enjoyed reading Series of Unfortunate Events, so we might pick that series back up as well! Growing up, I always wanted to play games! As an adult, I don’t make nearly enough time during the week to play games. Our boys love playing games! We’ve gotten some fun, new games to play as well. Here are some of our favorites! I hope this post finds you all healthy and well, and also that it gives you some resources to fill up the time! Mostly though, my hope is that each of us use this time to bring our families closer together. It may be forced bonding time, but I am very much enjoying having my entire family home. 
Videos on Youtube to Get the Wiggles Out
Interactive Books
Educational Websites/Virtual Field Trips
Recipes to Involve Kids in the Kitchen
Get Outdoors
Read, Read, Read
Game Playing
