Yeah, me too!

I homeschooled for many years, but I didn’t have to work full time while homeschooling back then.

Homeschooling while working full time is HARD! But even if you aren’t working full-time, we are all stuck at home right now due to quarantine and if you’re like me, you are tired of hearing “I’m bored!”. “What can I do?”

I have to admit, if I’m in the middle of a work deadline, or heck even just eating my lunch, and I hear those words “I’m bored,” I have yelled too many times for my comfort level.

They have a whole room full of toys! Thousands of dollars worth.

They should never say “I’m bored!” Right?

Well, if you know me, I’m a problem solver. When I am struggling with something, I deep dive into it and try to find a solution.

So that is why I came up with this Master List of What to do When Bored at Home with Kids!

It’s my handy dandy list that I can refer to when my children come to me and say “I’m bored”.

You also know I LOVE TO ORGANIZE! So I organized the list by age groups so it might be more helpful for you too!

Check back to this post often as I plan to add to it as I find new kids activities to do when they are bored.

Or better yet PIN THIS POST FOR LATER so you can have it on your Pinterest board!

Master List of What to Do When Bored at Home with Kids

The first items here are great for ages 10 and under for when they are bored and whining there is nothing to do!

1. Board Games

I asked my 5 and 8 year old daughters what their favorite game they play with their big sister was and my 5 year old said Headbanz and my 8 year old loves to play Charades. If you have more than one child, these games are great for them to play by themselves with no help from you needed. That is the great thing about them so that you can get some work done or tasks around the house completed.

2. Indoor Picnic with Stuffed Animals or Baby Dolls

My girls have a play kitchen that they love to pretend to fix food for me or their dolls, but sometimes that even gets “old”. So let them spread out a blanket in the living room or kitchen floor and have a indoor picnic with real food. Let them pick out a few snacks and let them serve their baby dolls or stuffed animals real food on paper plates with small cups of water. If there is a spill, then water is easy to cleanup. This will keep them occupied for a while.

3. Crafts Kids Can Do By Themselves

I bought several crafts on Amazon over the last few weeks for my 5 and 8 year old daughters to do. The key is to buy crafts they can do without your help if you need to get some work done or just want some quiet time to read a book!

4. Watch a Movie

I try to limit screen time as much as I can, but it is fun to watch a movie together with popcorn or other snacks. I think we have watched Frozen 2 at least 10 times on Disney+ since this quarantine began. I’ll wake up singing “Into the Unknown” song in my head for some reason several times a week!

5. Set a Timer and See How Fast They Can Clean

This might be a little selfish on my part, but my kids love a good competition. So I use this to my advantage. I will give them a dust rag and set a timer and tell them which pieces of furniture I want dusted and say “1-2-3 GO!”. And off they go dusting as fast as they can. The key is to set rules in advance though. Each piece of furniture can have no dust left on it to earn points. Whomever earns the most points, gets to pick the movie we watch later. Or any prize you wish to give then do so.

6. Play with Play Dough

What child doesn’t love play dough? If they are bored with the Play Dough activities they currently own, then give them a butter knife to “cut” with and a paper plate and tell them to make as many food items that they can think of and serve you their masterpieces.

7. Paint Rocks

Go on a hunt in your backyard or neighborhood for rocks then let them paint them. Washable paints are best and you can leave them to it while you get some tasks completed. My kids love to paint!

8. Set Up a Store

My kids love to cut up tiny pieces of paper and put prices on them. They pick out toys from their room and tape the price tags on them. Once their “store” is set up, I come shop with Monopoly money and they practice counting the money and if they are older, I give them too much and they have to count back the change to me. It’s great math practice and fun at the same time!

9. Make Foil Jewelry

If you don’t mind them using up some of your foil, tear off several pieces for your kids and have them make jewelry like rings and bracelets out of the foil. They may even take it a bit further and create animals or items for their barbie dolls or superheros to use. Spark their imaginations with some ideas like this.

10. Build a Fort

As I’m typing this post, my little ones are building a fort. They are calling it “Neverland” from Peter Pan. They have to enter through the portal only and no adults are allowed. I love seeing them using their imaginations like this. Sometimes you just have to give them a nudge to do these things and get off the screens.

What to Do for Teens Bored at Home

11. Puzzles

Remember sitting with your grandparents working those huge 10,000 piece puzzles? This is such a lost art of great quality time. Set up your dining room table with a large puzzle and have your tweens and teens work together on them. You’ll be amazed at the family conversation that will go on when working a puzzle. You might find out some stuff and learn more about your older children during these special times.

12. Walk the Dog

This will give them exercise and quality time with the family pet. They could even listen to their favorite music while walking the dog.

13. Bake a Treat

Cookies are a great treat to bake. Look up a simple recipe online they can follow and let them go in the kitchen. Don’t worry about the mess! That’s part of the fun. If your child is capable of baking without supervision, then just walk away and come back when they are done. This way the mess won’t bother you so much!

14. Wash the Car

This is great exercise and they can work on their suntan too! Let them put their bathing suit on while washing the car and make it a fun experience.

15. Take Pictures

Give them a camera you have on hand or let them use their iPhone to take pictures of nature or random things in the house. Let them take a photography course on how to make professional photos. Who knows? It may be a new source of income for them taking photos for friends and family.

16. Exercise with YouTube

17. Learn How to Draw using YouTube

18. Paint Using an Inspiration Piece

Pull out the paints and look up something online that you like and try and paint it. I’m not painter, but I love going to the Paint with a Twist studios around here. All they do is show a finished picture and you sit and try to paint the same thing. It never turns out exactly like their’s, but it’s fun!

19. Make a Wall Collage for Their Room

I thought this was such a neat idea. Get a kit that has everything you need to create a unique wall display for your teens room. They could use it as a vision board also with their favorite pictures, quotes, or dreams for the future.

20. Design Temporary Tattoo Art

This is a cool idea. I didn’t even know they made this type of thing until today. You can buy printable temporary tattoo paper on Amazon and your teen can design their own tattoos, print them out, and apply them to their skin. That would make a cool Instagram post for them to share with friends!

No Longer Wondering What to do When Bored at Home I Hope!

I hope these ideas sparked some interest for your younger and older kids alike. I plan to keep adding to this list as we try them all and they get bored with these too!

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