33 Inexpensive Yet Innovative Ideas That'll Ensure Your Kids Stay Busy While You Handle Other Things
We all need a break sometimes.
Some parents swear their kids can’t sit still for five minutes, and then they blink and suddenly it’s 3:00 p.m. with everyone bouncing off the walls. The messy truth is, your living room turns into a construction site the second you say the words, “I need a few minutes.”
Now picture this: you’re trying to handle other things, but your little crew is ready to turn colored tape into roadways, chalk into dress-up magic, and chalk-and-sponges into a driveway target course. One kid is making stomp paintings with bubble wrap, another is “camping indoors” with a blanket fort, and someone is already asking for a giant DIY bubble wand.
Here are 33 inexpensive ideas that keep them busy, from exploding paint bags to popcorn Olympics.
1. Make roads for toy cars by using colored tape on carpet
2. Chalk is one great way to play dress-up without the dolls
3. You can turn your driveway into a fun target game by using chalk and sponges
4. You can use tape to create some oversized, fun games
5. Exploding paint bags can be a messy, fun art project for your children
6. You can use plastic container lids, glue, and food coloring for a neat painting craft
7. You can cut up a tarp with scissors to make a cheap throwing game
8. Create a quiet, safe game of Jenga using cut-up sponges
9. You can use foil to make a big river in the backyard
10. You can make stomp paintings if you have extra bubble wrap
11. Tape a paper towel roll to the wall to make a simple game for your toddler
12. "Sew" through burlap using plastic needles to create fun designs
13. Go camping indoors and let your kids’ imaginations run wild
14. Balloon rockets teach a lesson, plus they are fun
15. Let kids practice their letters in this sugar writing tray
This is similar to the AITA where a friend refused to contribute to vacation costs after choosing budget activities.
16. Let your kids experiment with water marbles
17. You can run some pipe cleaners through a colander
18. Create alien bubble science projects
19. Extract DNA from strawberries as a fun experiment
20. Make a mini bowling game with pencil erasers and marbles
21. Pretending the floor is lava can be turned into a fun, educational game
22. Make soap clouds by putting a bar of soap in the microwave
23. Balloon ping pong is a fun activity your kids can safely play indoors
24. Let kids crawl through a safe playground you created with yarn
25. Strands of painter’s tape can form a fun, sticky spiderweb
26. Go outside and let your kids make a rainbow bubblesnake from simple ingredients
27. Transform an old box into an indoor slide
28. Let the kids compete in a Popcorn Olympics
29. Create a giant DIY bubble wand
30. Fill balloons with Play-Doh for a fun new toy
31. Help kids create their own t-shirt designs with crayons and sandpaper
32. Cut a pool noodle in half to make a marble race track
33. Use pool noodles to create a backyard obstacle course
Once the toy car roads are taped down on the carpet, your kids usually forget they were ever bored.
Then the chalk starts flying, and suddenly the driveway becomes a target arena with sponges doing the aiming.
While you’re busy with whatever you needed to do, the bubble wrap turns into stomp art and the indoor “camping” begins.
By the time balloon rockets, bubble snakes, and Popcorn Olympics are in motion, even the loudest kid is focused.
It might be difficult for any parent, older sibling, or babysitter to keep kids occupied during the hot summer months when they are at home. Although almost all of these suggestions call for some parental supervision, they should be enjoyable for everyone involved!
You should give them a try this time around—or at the very least, forward this article to other parents so they can!
Your house stays chaotic in the best way, because the kids are too busy playing to demand attention.
Want another kid-free showdown, read about the AITA post where friends fought over unequal trip costs for luxury preferences.
