Top Ten Lockdown Activity Ideas

Here is my weekly round up of activities to help keep your children entertained during lockdown! We are two weeks down and your patience is most probably starting to dwindle. Fear not Mama’s & Papa’s I’ve got your backs. Number 1: Indoor Bowling The girls love this Melissa & Doug Monster Bowling set. They are soft and cuddly and the ball is soft too, so you don’t have to worry about your children lobbing hard balls or skittles around the house. I brought ours on Amazon but the price has seemed to rocket, so here is another site you can buy it from https://www.toysmegastore.co.uk/gb/melissa-doug-monster-bowling-toy/ Number 2: Fossils This is such an easy activity idea and your little ones will love making fossil type prints in play doh. The girls love playing with their Tinker Tray Play insects https://www.tinkertrayplay.co.uk and they enjoyed squishing them into the play doh to see what print it would make. You could even make Dino footprints in the play doh. Number 3: Relax A lot of you are working hard to homeschool your children. Bella doesn’t start school until September so I don’t have that added stress. Try and remind yourselves that you are parents, not your child’s teacher and give yourselves a break, you’re doing an amazing job! Don’t forget to have fun, I made the girls a hot chocolate the other day and they really enjoyed it, they had a blast dunking their biscuits! Number 4: Gelli Baff Gelli Baff by Zimplikids is always a winner! There are so many colours and scents to choose from, they are non toxic, 100% biodegradable, non irritant and stain free. Simply pour the Gelli Baff powder into bath, wait 10 mins for the magic to work and voila your bath water is turned into Gelli! Check out Zimplikids website https://www.zimplikids.com Number 5: Blind Bags The one thing that is always guaranteed to put a smile on the girls faces is Blind Bags! There is a big variety of Blind Bags in supermarkets and online that you really are spoilt for choice. They make great boredom busters and are a nice treat to give to reward good behaviour. Number 6: Chalk Chalk is cheap and cheerful and it provides endless fun! The girls love drawing chalk pictures in the garden. It’s a great activity to get them out in the fresh air and to also practice fine motoring skills such as drawing and writing. You can also create games using the chalk like hop scotch. Number 7: Theme Play Plan a whole day of fun and theme your play, stories and activities around a subject. We went on a Space adventure recently and the girls loved it. They got dressed in their space suits, learnt Space facts from Bella’s Encyclopaedia, picked their favourite planet from Little Boo Learning Space Flash Cards https://www.littleboolearning.com, saved the earth by keeping the planets (aka space balloons) in the air and they made their very own rockets. Number 8: Little Boo Learning Flo really enjoys playing matching games now and she particularly loves this Weather Matching Mat by Little Boo Learning https://www.littleboolearning.com/products/weather-learning-mat-version-1 which is currently in the sale for just £4! Your little ones will love marching the correct weather, plus they get to learn about the different seasons at the same time. We also have the name learning mat. Number 9: Splat Planet We were recently gifted a Splat Shirt https://splatplanet.com and the girls love them. The Splat Shirt comes with 6 non-toxic, washable, magic Splat Pens and there are so many different themes to choose from. The girls Splat Shirts have been washed twice already and they are as good as new everytime! This would make a great activity for parents who are having to work from home. Number 10: Letterland Phonics Touch & Textured Flash Cards These Letterland Phonics Touch & Textured Flash Cards are brilliant! I love the fact that children can feel and trace the letters with their fingers. We’ve been using Letterland for a few weeks now and Bella can now spell words simply by me calling out the name of the Letterland characters, (for example, Annie Apple, Bouncy Ben and Clever Cat). This technique really works wonders, check out their website www.letterland.com