At-Home Indoor and Outdoor Fun Activity Ideas From GetKidsInternetSafe

We at GetKidsInternetSafe love fun, educational, and safe screen time. But even better than that? We love creative offscreen play activities that help family members get to know and bond with each other, teach initiative and problem solving, and make forever memories. Sometimes great ideas are hard to dream up on-the-run with busy families. Enjoy these fun at-home indoors or outdoors activities that we at GKIS are sure your kids will love!

Indoor Fun

Let Your Kid be the Media Star

Record your kid as their favorite video star doing fun activities
Create an old movie recorder from cardboard boxes and black paint, don’t forget the director’s board so you or your kids get to yell “cut!”
If your kids like do it yourself videos, set up a station and let them surprise you with the results
If your child wants to be a movie star, let their imagination run wild and have them do small skits of their favorite scenes
Share videos with friends and family and have them comment and let them “like” the videos as fans
Don’t forget to follow up on their roles and nominate them in their own awards show for a later idea.
A thank you speech from your kid is highly encouraged

Up-Cycle Old Games

Give your old board games new meaning by breaking them apart and making a new game
Create cards with inside jokes that only friends and family will know
Use a Jenga game and tape truth or dares to pull out for twice the amount of fun
Create fun Loteria cards! Customize cards to make up members of your family such as the overprotective father or the daughter who says “like” in every sentence
Update trivia games and have your kids teach you a thing or two about new pop culture words and celebrities
Need Inspiration? A blogpost by Claire Harmeyer demonstrates how games are currently being reused with an old Guess Who game!

At Home Art Gallery

Let your child show their artistic creativity in a variety of ways by hosting an art gallery!
Remember that there are various forms of creating art, encourage them to complete at least three different “sections” to their gallery which may include the following:
- The painting room
- Play-dough or moon sand sculptures room
- Origami room
- The Barbie fashion showcase room
- Photography room
- The popsicle architecture room
- Live art with temporary tattoos or a henna kit
- Food art room
As the art critique, give reassuring feedback to encourage their creativity

Home Lab

Have your kids play mad scientist with some of these fun science creations

Follow scientist Joe and create a storm in a glass.
- You’ll need: shaving cream, large glass, water food coloring, and a spoon
Help your kids create a baking soda volcano by following Science Bob’s easy steps
- Something to put the liquids in, baking soda, liquid dish soap, food coloring, water, vinegar
Create a tornado in a bottle by looking at the young Youtuber Ryan lay out the steps with his dad
- You’ll need: 2-liter soda bottles (same shape), duct tape or connector, water, lamp oil (any color)
Make a sundial and practice reading times
- You’ll need: Stones, a pencil, and a piece of clay

Outdoor Fun

Backyard Scavenger Hunt

Set up an imaginary scenario that will fit your child’s interests whether that be finding a treasure chest to a vial that will cure the zombie apocalypse
Entice your child: add something of interest to their treasure
Set up a list of instructions that may include:
- Riddles
- Math problems
- Guessing an image outline
- Word association games
- DIY puzzles
- Connect the dots images
- Phone a Friend! (have them call a loved one for their next clue)
Create steps such as stacking stones or doing cartwheels to unlock the next set of instructions
If you’d like to play along, act as a helping hand and create a character that will help them

Balcony Garden

For those in apartments, set up a small garden for your child if you have a balcony available.
Be sure everything is easily accessible so that there is no need for leaning or climbing on the railing
Consider easy to maintain plants such as succulents
Customize pots with markers/paint or give them name tags to personalize
Make paper insects like butterflies and prop them into the plants for decoration
Use stick skewers for food or popsicle sticks to glue to your paper insects and stick them into the edge of the pots
Color skewers green to act as plant stems
Set up Christmas lights around the balcony so your child can admire their plant friends at night

Home Triathlon

- Set up a backyard triathlon using whatever sports equipment you have or can make.
- The idea is to do each obstacle non-stop until they reach the finish line
- Get creative and work with what you have!
- Ideas for challenges include:

Pitch up a tarp/sheet and have your kid’s army crawl under
Draw a challenging hopscotch segment
Set a designated amount of hula hoops swirls
Have two volunteers be ready with a double dutch jump rope obstacle
How low can you limbo station
Basketball into a hoop
Making a soccer ball into a goal that’s
guarded
Jumping jacks
Backward walking

Set up a finish line using items such as ribbon or even tied up rags

Outside Movie Nights

Pull up some chairs, snacks, and whatever else you’ll need to be comfortable
If you have a projector get a flat white surface to hang to a wall
- If you’re trying this on a balcony, prop the backdrop on the sliding door
No projector? No worries, this idea will work fine with a device that’s big enough for you and your kids to see
Watch your favorite films under the night sky
Or make your own movie story
- Grab a flashlight and have the family show their storytelling skills.
- Give the group a movie genre they can work with
- In a bowl you can add random folded words they will need to incorporate into their story
- Set a timer that works for everyone
- Deem the new storytelling king or queen of the night
- The newest king or queen will get to be the judge for the next game
Added bonus! Stargazing till your kids are pooped and ready for bed
- Wrap-up: These stars have a story, share a one constellation story and have them excited for the next one

Special thanks to Aroni Garcia for researching and co-writing this article. If you liked these fun tips and want to stay updated on new fun ways to keep your kids entertained follow GKIS on social media! Follow our @GetKidsInternetSafe Instagram and Facebook pages and @drtracybennett Twitter for our latest posts! And, as always, thanks for sharing us with friends and family. Cheers to happy memory making!

Onward to More Awesome Parenting,

Tracy S. Bennett, Ph.D.
Mom, Clinical Psychologist, CSUCI Adjunct Faculty
GetKidsInternetSafe

Work Cited

[1] Haymeyer, C. (2020).”You can buy Friends-themed Guess Who-so could game night be any better?” Retrieved from https://hellogiggles.com/news/friends-guess-who-game/

[2] SFFE. (2017). “Storm in a Glass”. Retrieved from http://www.sciencefun.org/kidszone/experiments/storm-in-a-glass/

[3] ScienceBob. (2008).“Make an Erupting Volcano with Science Bob”. [Video] Retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vNz4DyUOsAw

[4] Ryan’sWorld. (2019). “Ryan create Tornado in the bottle science experiments for Kids!!!”. [Video] Retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=21joF6lt0aY

[5] Yeats, W. (2010). “Otherwise Educating: Sundial”. Retrieved from http://otherwiseeducating.blogspot.com/2010/12/sundial.html

Photo Credits