5 Quick Ways to Keep Your Children Busy

With the summer just around the corner, it’s time to start thinking about ways to keep your kids busy while they’re not at school. Here are 5 quick solutions.

1. Set Up a Staring Contest

This tip is great. You just tell your kids that they have to have a staring battle, and the winner gets an amazing prize. All being well, they’ll spend the afternoon (or 10 minutes at least!) staring at each other in silence. You may think I’m joking, but if you can pull this one off, you’ll be thanking me later. If the plan fails though you can still salvage the situation. Try turning it into an arm wrestling contest! Make sure it doesn’t turn rowdy though.

2. Start an Art Project

If you give kids a pile of paper and a set of paints, they’ll be satisfied to play for a good few hours. You’re probably going to have an almighty mess to clear up afterward, but it’s guaranteed to keep them busy for a while. It’s always good for children to be given the chance to get creative though, so don’t let the mess involved put you off. You set them specific tasks to complete if you want to make a whole day out of it.

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3. Let Them Play Games

Don’t listen to those parenting books that warn against letting your children sit in front of screens. Yes, they shouldn’t do it too much. But every parent sits their kids down in front of the television or computer sometimes. It’s a good way to keep them busy and distracted! There are loads of free online games that can keep them busy nowadays, so you don’t even have to pay for the games. Use sites like Playberry and they’ll be engrossed while you do other things.

4. Use them as Car Washers

This isn’t slave labour, honestly. Every child loves washing the car, so why not let them go for it? You keep them busy for a while, and, who knows, maybe the car will even end up a little bit cleaner by the end of it too! Fill a bucket with warm soapy water and give them a couple of sponges and let them get to work! It’s how I spend many summer days as a child. If you’re particularly protective of your car, you might want to supervise it though.

5. Tell them to make a movie

There are so many new opportunities afforded to parents by modern technology. So, make sure you use them to keep your kids busy. You probably have loads of video cameras around the house, on your phone or tablet. Give them to your kids and set them the challenge of making a movie. This is great fun and will keep them busy all day long. It also inspires them to get creative, forcing them into using their imaginations. And that can only be good for their overall development. Use these easy tips and you’ll find that keeping your kids busy is easier than you might have thought!

Elyse