Simple and Effective Strategies to Plan a Fun Day of In-Home Activities

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Feeling stuck in a rut with your home routine? Seeking fresh ideas to stimulate fun and happiness in your home?

In this blog we aim to bring you a few simple ideas that can be used to support a routine filled with fun and learning for all family members. It may seem like the stress free way to plan a day would be to allow your child to freely choose what they want to play, go outside when they feel they need to, or grab a snack when they feel hungry, though, we caution against this; without a routine or structured play time children can become accustomed to relying heavily on parents, electronics, or the same few activities as a source of entertainment. In turn, they may experience an unorganized and unpredictable daily routine that can cause behavior concerns. The result: stressed out parents! Read on for some tips and resources for providing a successfully structured day that in turn will help support the mental well-being of you and your children.

  1. Create a flexible schedule for the day. This can be done by listing the times that are already easily accounted for such as breakfast, lunch, dinner, and snack times. Other times can then be included such as napping, if applicable. From there, the day can be broken down into smaller increments, similar to that of your child’s school day.
  2. Movement and exercise. Within your daily schedule, we suggest incorporating some exercise time. There are a ton of sources out there to assist with these kinds of activities. Does your child like yoga? There is a great yogi with a popular YouTube channel called Cosmic Kids Yoga. Each yoga video includes a story told by the instructor that goes along with the yoga poses. She even covers popular kids’ movies such as Frozen, Alice in Wonderland, Wizard of Oz, and more! This could help stimulate the interest of your young ones. Does your child prefer numbers over movies? Then  Jack Hartmann’s videos may be of interest as they include different variations of counting that may be motivating for some kids.
  3. Unleash your creativity and energy by creating a safe obstacle course! If YouTube is not a preferred option for your home, then obstacle courses are a classic stimulating activity! Your children may enjoy helping to create the course, too.
  4. Schedule time for reading and play. This recommendation provided by Time.com and supported by SBS was written by a former teacher. She encourages parents to set time aside specifically for reading and play (Allison, 2020). With more time being spent at home, we can make more time for reading to our children or having them read to us! This time is encouraged to be scheduled in segments. For instance, if the goal is to have your child read for a total of 1 hour a day, then there could be twenty minutes scheduled in the morning, twenty in the afternoon, and twenty sometime in the evening. If your child is not yet reading, you can read to him/her. Additionally, their suggestion for play is to assign specific play activities within your daily schedule. These activities should be more open-ended (i.e., not having a specific beginning or end to allow for creativity within) such as building blocks, kitchen play, or doll play. They are the activities that foster creativity, imagination, and overall brain development (Allison, 2020).
  5. Schedule music time. Include music time into your schedule where either everyone listens to music or puts on a concert with homemade instruments.  We recommend checking out Dawn-Marie’s Toddler Jam on Facebook live Monday-Saturday and dancing your hearts away!
  6. Schedule screen time. Finally, it is also suggested in the article previously mentioned that preferred screen time such as iPad or T.V. be scheduled as well (Allison, 2020). Time dedicated for electronics should be strategically used for when parents need a child to be independent (e.g., parent needs to be on a conference call; prep meals; etc.). It is best if parents create a pre-established start and stop time, so your child learns what to expect. Getting into a routine like this may take some time and a bit of creativity; however, in the end, most people benefit from strategies like these that bring structure and predictability to our days.
  7. Sensory-based activities. Lastly, below is a list of some other sensory-based activities that are enjoyed by many and may help fuel creativity, independence and, most importantly, FUN for your children!
    • Water play in the bathtub; have your child put their bathing suit on and pretend to take a swim/play in the tub!
    • Practice writing letters in shaving cream with fingers (or toes!)
    • Fill a bin with rice or beans and hide toys in them
    • Create a mystery box where items cannot be seen and only touched so the child has to guess what’s hiding inside
    • “Trash art” where a child can use recycled materials to create their very own recycled masterpiece

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