Activities While Being “Stuck” at Home
We all are stuck at home right now. This is a new concept for many people. For many years, I was stuck at home since I was so sick but now we all are choosing to be stuck at home to try and prevent the spread of this virus. Many mothers who work full time away from their homes are experiencing something they’ve never experienced before – being home with their children 24/7. I asked the women in the chat room for ideas on how to spend this time. They had many great suggestions!
“We’ll be baking, doing crafts, playing board games, puzzles, working on some cleaning and organizing projects, watching movies, and playing outside now that the weather is getting nicer. I’ll fill the sandbox today for the younger children and maybe get out the trampoline.”
“Teach them to cook, read books aloud, watch documentaries, go for walks/hikes, paint rocks for garden markers, and clean up the yard.”
“Have tea parties, make bread, go on a walk, draw with your children, read to them, watch Bible stories on YouTube, do school work with them, give the dog a bath, clean something together, use it as an opportunity to organize something or start a chore chart, and play games.”
“What I love for my two year old is paint brushes, a cup of water, and colored construction paper. They can ‘paint’ and there’s no actual paint to make a mess. Or big paint brushes and water, and they can water paint outside on the fence!”
“Have family dinners, organize a closet, declutter your home, paint a room, organize the garage and barn, and enjoy conversing with your family and listening to them.”
“Build a fort in the living room with chairs and blankets, then have a picnic in there!”
“Scavenger hunt. We would do outside ones and inside using bible verses.”
“Forage in your own area. Look for plants that are edible. I haven’t done this but it is a remarkable idea with the children.”
“This is a link to virtual field trips. There are many neat ideas where you visit via the web – places like museums, zoos, international locations, etc.”
“We have three children under three so these are their favorite activities that I do with them inside at home. Coloring. Sometimes to make it more fun for them I tape a long strip of paper on the floor and we all lay down and color. My boys love it!
“Dishes – either at the sink or I make their own ‘sinks.’ This is a huge hit! Sensory bins. This has saved us during the winter with a new baby. I have a few different ones: construction trucks with sand and black beans/split peas with dinosaurs/water beads with underwater creatures. I keep them in long bins under our guest room bed so they are easy to access. With younger children, they of course need to learn to keep it in the bin and not to put anything in their mouths, but my younger son learned quickly since if he did either of those he wasn’t able to continue playing with it with his brother.
“Cleaning – my boys love cleaning! They have their own spray bottles (with water) and I let them spray the windows, the floor or certain toys and they get to clean them. Also if you have a handheld vacuum that is a lot of fun for kids!”
“Don’t over schedule. There’s no need for the children to be busy for six hours like they are in school. Look into deschooling. Just relax and enjoy your kids. My boys are 10-14 years old. They do math, Bible, read, and my youngest practices cursive. After that, they do their chores and are outside playing with the neighborhood children.”
“We made homemade cream cheese today and then turned it into a cheese spread to use on crackers. My girls had a ton of fun with it. It’s super easy.”
It’s a great time to help them to memorize Scripture and hide His Word deeply in their hearts.
She looketh well to the ways of her household, and eateth not the bread of idleness.
Proverbs 31:27
23 thoughts on “Activities While Being “Stuck” at Home”
I am so thankful that I’m a homemaker at times like this. I homeschool my children, so schools being closed has no effect on us. We are so blessed that my husband works from home so no issues with not being able to go to work. We practice social distancing every flu season. God inspired me when I got married twenty years ago to stay home and make my home an oasis sanctuary and home has been a blessed,safe,great place for my family to be since day one. I pray that families that are never home together will have a new perspective of God’s design for the family unit when this is all said and done.I pray for every Mom that can stay home but chooses to work will see the benefit of being home full time. I pray that Christian parents that send their children to school each day will see the benefits of homeschool. There are so many great new perspectives that can come from this. I pray for every eye and heart to be enlightened to what is truly important.
Great ideas!
P.S. Check spelling on “six hours”. ?
I am at home, working remotely. However, I am not “stuck” but blessed to be home with my precious wife. I enjoy the extra time with her.
Ideas for those that are single/married without children: home improvement projects if it’s in the budget! My husband and I are painting 2 of our bedrooms, and staining our deck. He travels frequently for work and it’s been a blessing having him home. We’ve been out hiking miles each day together with our pup, and just taking things slow and enjoying time together without his demanding schedule.
Even though we homeschool already this has been a blessing to us. My children were involved in SO many activities. I’m glad most of them are cancelled. So for us there is no boredom at all! We will do school and have PE with Daddy whenever possible.
I also hope many parents will see the benefit of homeschooling and see that they can actually do it! So many mothers say it is impossible for them to wrap their minds around homeschooling and say they don’t know how I do it. I always tell them it is easy. I’m not as industrious as I appear. I always try to work smarter not harder. If some Mamas are industrious AND work smarter, they would easily raise up an army of super humans that would change the course of the future.
We have a big list!
I think this is going to open up eyes for a lot of women…how much of their children’s lives they are missing!
Will be interesting if this leads to some changes in regards to stay-at-home mothering
I agree with you 100%. I believe many blessings will come from this ‘disaster’ and ‘scary time’. Perhaps a God-designed ‘reset’! He can always turn ashes into something beautiful. I share your prayers, Tamara and also each and every morning I pray for our President.
I, too, am a SAHM and I have been decluttering / organizing something each day. If I have lots of energy, it’s a room. When I have little time or not much energy, it is a drawer lol. It has been wonderful. I have been giving each person a 10 minute cleaning job each weekend…nothing overwhelming but it is nice to work together and there is no big time commitment and the house stays tidy. Someone several days back mentioned Flylady. I looked her up and now I’m hooked! Where has she been all my life lol? This is what I do each day as well, and it is a peaceful and productive system to follow.
My family and I have been taking walks outside together for fresh air and exercise. Also, it’s a great time to break out all of those old workout/exericise VHS tapes and CDs.
I sure am praying so!
I am a SAHM to a one year old and she is wonderful. I would watch a 6 month old baby twice a week and then do administrative work for my church for a few hours in the morning on Wednesdays while my mom watched my daughter. I can’t do any of that any more, and so my life hasn’t changed too much, other than just less structure to my weeks. I am still trying to figure out how to structure my days, as I actually have much more time on my hands now. With the activities I was doing, I would have specific times that I would clean, cook, exercise, etc. I am working on a few home projects (reorganizing the pantry, repainting the master bathroom), but things are just kind of out of whack and I’m feeling a little at a loss. Thankfully the weather has been wonderful and we are going on lots of walks, my daughter is playing on the water table on our back patio, and we have had extra time together which has been nice. Praying for those who don’t have the flexibility I do while at home. Sometimes I miss the interactions with my adult coworkers from my job, but overall I am so grateful I was able to quit my job after our daughter was born.
Im a SAHM mom as well, but I really hate not being able to go to church. Its even worse for me bc my late dad and grandad were preacher and they had church no matter what, dad didn’t believe in germ spreading for diseases, we were taught that we are covered by the blood of Jesus Christ and no plague, sickness or disease will come nigh our household and family
I don’t like not being able to grocery shop, send hubs to store for milk and he will come back with oreos, oddles and noodles, sugar cereal for baby and baby toys, skettos etc.
Defiantly not bored, baby just turned 2 last week
Hubby wishes he could be home with us, but thankfully we still have a job, but he has to go in, and its not the same people every day, they are exposed to all of their customers, and their delivery department is still exposed to their customers houses for now until they run of supplies. Praying for protection for him bc he still comes home to us every night, so its like me and the baby are isolating ourselves, but he is still out and about with his job. Praying this ends very quickly bc Palm Sunday and Easter Sunday are so close and it’s a big time for us as Christians to celebrate Extra for Jesus
I think all Christians hate missing church but with technology most churches are capable of streaming service so no one really misses church service through this. Even Christians get sick when exposed to something and God does not want us to test Him by thinking just because we are going to church that we won’t get sick or give our sickness to someone else. It’s like handling a poisonous snake and expecting God to save you from dying when you get bitten. Staying home from church when sick is loving your neighbor and staying home when a lot of sickness is going around is not lack of faith it’s being wise. Do not let ignorance parade around as faith.
I had to chuckle at your husband’s trip to the grocery store experience- I can relate. Being frugal, I know rock-bottom prices and where I buy different products. When my husband stops at the store for a couple of items, I’m never sure what “deals” he’ll come home with. I am always thankful that he’s taken the time to
help-I figure I try to save on a majority of purchases, that should free up some $ for occasional splurges. ?
My prayer has been that God will use this time to draw the hearts of mothers back to their homes and children and lead them to repent. Homeschooling has never looked beter!!
As for us, my husband is now working from home, so we’ve been figuring out how to fit that into our daily rhythm. He offered to help organize and declutter the basement while he’s home (yay!) and asked to spend the evenings exercising together since we can’t get out.
I love the idea of foraging in your backyard. We have an abundance of chives this time of year that I always use in cooking. I dug some up, replanted them in a mason jar, and brought them in for the kids to watch grow. We’re letting them go to seed and then will harvest the seeds and plant more. A fun little science experiment. 🙂 Dandelions are useful too. And I have herbs and berry bushes planted around the yard that we also “forage” from.
We’re planning on doing lots of gardening soon, and I may put in a “kid’s garden bed” for my oldest to work on his own. Also, we’ll be ordering some indoor summer friends like caterpillars (to watch change into butterflies) or an ant farm for the children to enjoy and break up the monotony of being “stuck at home.”
Lots to do at home and never full moment. Personally, I’m glad for a reason to be closer to home for awhile.
Maybe this will be a wake-up call for those full-time working moms to actually decide to stay home with their children! (If they are able to that is). The virus lockdown is making a watershed in our lives for all of us, and while this may sound counterintuitive, I believe it is a good thing in many ways.
Kati, I believe that this can result in good things as well. One, I believe is this is a great opportunity for families to learn to do church together again. With churches doing online services, families are having to watch church together in their living rooms instead of going to the church building and Dad and mom dropping kids off at kids church and the family worshipping separately. I am a huge advocate for families being in church together, that’s how God intended for it to be. I believe He is using this to bring families together where they need to be.
Remind your children that they are living through a future history lesson. Encourage them to think or write about what they are thankful for at this time.
Great idea, Lynn! Whenever we finish a book we are reading together I always write the date, and a favorite chapter or part of the book. This time I also wrote that we finished the book during the Corona Virus pandemic that originated from Wuhan and noted that we were fine, what it was like at the grocery store, and a few other memories. We will often re-read a book every few years, and later when I have grandkids reading this same book they will get a glimpse of our history.
Life is continuing pretty much as normal for homeschooling families, but for others it is a shock, and I agree with those comments about it being a watershed moment for many.
I’ve always encouraged women at home to “prepare like Joseph” in case of her DH’s layoff, or other emergency, and for those of us who have it sure is a lot easier to self-quarantine.
lol, same here :). He is willing to go at times and I figure if he is going rogue and not working off of my list, then it’s ok, since it’s his hard earned money anyway.
also, he is darling when I ask for mushrooms, for example, and he is not sure what kind, so if he cannot reach me, he comes home with button and a package of baby Bellas. This sort of thing happens frequently, but only because he aims to please.
Great advice! It was mentioned to me (from an Amish folk, actually), that our younger ones will be watching and remembering how we deal with this historical time in our lives – let’s give them something positive to remember! Counting our blessings is always a worthwhile activity.
I enjoy staying home and making love to my husband 🙂 the kids can take care of themselves! At least that’s what my husband says <3
One thing I enjoy about everything closing down is that I have no where to go! I wake up feeling lighter because I don’t have any time constraints, we literally have all day to get things done. We homeschool anyway, so it hasn’t been a massive change in our lifestyle, but I’m definitely enjoying not running around to extracurricular activities! One thing we have started doing together is coloring…it’s very therapeutic and we plan to frame our best pictures, making a giant picture collage for our wall
This brings back so many wonderful memories of time spent with my children. It hurts my heart to hear parents complain about having their children at home with them. Now, my children are grown. I say treasure every minute of the growing up years!