Top 35 Cheap Activities For Bored Kids

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Posted 2020-03-24 by Sue W ⇒ follow

Are you kids climbing the walls with boredom? Then take a scroll through this list to find some ideas that suit your child's interests...

Things To Do Using Technology

1/ Print out activity sheets and get craft ideas from your favourite TV show such as ABC KIDS .

2/ Do kids yoga by following a video from Cosmic Kids Yoga on You Tube.

3/ Make your own video of the Water Bottle Flip Challenge. Watch Dude Perfect on You Tube for more creative ideas.

4/ Google kids jokes and make a joke book to keep for themselves, or make as gifts for their friends.

5/ Learn magic tricks from You Tube videos and get them to put on a family magic show.

6/ Play card games and look up You Tube videos to learn new ones.

7/ Learn how to draw by following Art For Kids Hub on You Tube.

Educational Ideas

8/ Google common terms in another language (eg. Japanese) and get your kids to make a poster so they can learn a new language. Put the poster on their wall so they can practice it.

9/ Do you have a musical instrument lying about your home? A recorder? A harmonica? Teach your kids how to play a song or look for instructional You Tube videos.

10/ Are you going on holiday this year? Ask your kids to Google the destination and give the family a presentation on 10 interesting facts about the place and 10 things to do.

Outdoor Ideas

11/ Play on your driveway - start up a game of cricket, draw on the driveway with over-sized chalk or start a handball competition.

12/ Create a bird feeder with a terracotta plate and buy native seed mix from the supermarket. Watch the birds feed from it and then get your kids to look up what birds they are.

13/ Go for a walk and collect feathers or flowers to press into a special book.

14/ Plant vegetable seeds in a pot or take cuttings off succulents and plant them in the garden. Water them every day and watch them grow.

15/ Collect interesting leaves and take them inside to paint, then press onto brown paper to make wrapping paper.

16/ Get your biggest cooking pot and fill it with water and take it outside for water play. For younger kids, play with measuring cups and funnels and for older children, get them to fold up paper boats to see which ones float.

17/ Collect interesting rocks from your garden and paint them and add googly eyes, to make cute rock pets.

18/ Look up playgrounds in your area which have basketball courts. (eg. see these playgrounds in Canberra) .

Indoor Ideas

19/ Make little treasures boxes using materials from around your home. See here for details.

20/ Make a Lucky Dip Activity Box for your kids. See here for details.

21/ Find clothes that they have grown out of and cut them up into small squares to make fabric pieces. Glue them onto cardboard to make a collage picture. Frame the good ones!

22/ Cut potatoes in half and create potato stamps. Stamp onto blank cards to make cheap birthday cards for family and friends.

23/ Create a play-doh challenge. Ask your kids to build an animal, fruit, vegetable or building and see what they come up with. If you have two kids, get them to compete with each other to see what they can make in 2 minutes!

24/ Make a plastic cup piggy bank. Get a plastic cup and trace around the mouth of the cup onto pink paper. Add "flaps" to the outside and cut out. Fold the flaps in and tape it to the mouth of the cup. Draw on a face and add googly eyes. Add feet, ears and a pipe cleaner tail. Cut a hole in the top of the cup to put the money in. See image below.

25/ Fill up jars with lids with rice (vary the levels) to make home-made maracas.

26/ Teach your kids how to feather dust or do other housework for pocket money.

27/ Write a story together. One person starts it and writes a sentence, before passing it over for the other person to add to it. Watch the story get wilder and wilder!

28/ Make a wind chime using a coat hanger, different lengths of string and beads, shells, leaves or whatever you have around home.

29/ Tape empty toilet rolls together to make ramps to roll marbles through.

30/ Teach your kids skills in the kitchen. See here for recipe ideas.

31/ Cover your dining table with a large sheet and create a private "quiet area" underneath the table. Make it comfy with pillows and they can retreat to it when they want a break.

32/ Wrap empty cereal boxes and boxes from your pantry in wrapping paper to make organisers for your child's room. Get them to decorate them with their favourite stickers.

33/ Make an obstacle course inside your home with placemats as stepping stones and cushions to jump over. Time them and see if they can get faster!

34/ Fill the bath with all their toys that float and have a bubble bath.

35/ Blow up your summer paddle pool and fill it with balloons for a balloon pool party!

Did you find any ideas? If you have any more, please leave a comment at the bottom of this article and share your tips. As parents, we can never have too many cheap, affordable or free ideas! Which ones will you do today?