13 Ways to Keep Your Family Entertained During Lockdown

On a day-to-day basis, mothers across the world struggle to keep their families entertained. During lockdown, the challenge is even more difficult

As families across the country come to terms with the reality of life in lockdown, it is crucial to find ways to remain stimulated and entertained and avoid being glued to screens all day (tot that we’re here to make you feel guilty if they are – we get it.). From at-home workouts to crafts and virtual, cultural entertainment experiences, we put together an essential list of ways to ensure you and your family remain stimulated, happy and positive in the coming weeks.

Implement a routine

It can be extremely hard to maintain a routine for both adults and children when you face an entire day spent in the house. However, both you and your kids are used to following a schedule. Mapping out everyone’s responsibilities and activities for the day helps keep things structured.

Tour the world’s leading museums

Although the coronavirus has limited your ability to travel, you can still visit cultural sites online using Google Arts and Culture. The tech company has 3,468 virtual museum tours from around the world, along with history and context for many pieces of art. Some of the museums you can tour include the Louvre in Paris, the Guggenheim Museum in New York, The British Museum in London, the Acropolis in Athens, the Vatican in Rome and The Smithsonian in Washington.

Board games & puzzles

There’s nothing better than a challenging puzzle or good old-fashioned board game. Loved by both young and old, these are an ideal way to pass the time as a family. Sales of board games and jigsaw puzzles soared by 240% during the first official week of coronavirus lockdown in the UK according to The Guardian. Check out some great board games and puzzles (if you’re prepared to wait for delivery).

Baking and cooking

Lockdown provides the ideal opportunity to hone your and your family’s cooking skills. Cooking is comforting, brings families together and teaches valuable life skills. Come up with theme days to create a sense of fun and excitement, collectively cook a delicious family meal, allow your children to experiment in the kitchen, and let your kids help you meal plan.

Get Active

Getting active not only improves physical health but can have a significant impact on our mental health. Make exercise in your home a daily family affair. There are hundreds of apps and websites offering both free and paid exercise streaming options from yoga, to pilates to dancing. If you’re prepared to wait, we’ve got some great merchant partners who offer awesome gear for home workouts. Check out the health & fitness section of our store directory.

Go on a virtual game drive

Djuma Private Game Reserve in the Sabi Sand is offering two game drives per day which viewers can watch live on YouTube. The morning drive is from 5:30 until 8:30 am and the afternoon drive is from 3:30 until 6:30 pm. Individuals can also ask questions and have them answered by the rangers. This is an amazing way for your children to learn more about South African wildlife and flora and fauna.

Crafts

Crafts provide endless ways to keep your family entertained during lockdown. Pinterest and Instagram offer a wealth of ideas of crafts to do with your children regardless of their age or interests. Many of these exercises are ideal for learning, problem-solving as well as important in the development of fine motor skills in smaller children.

Gardening

Whether you have a garden, balcony, or backyard, gardening is an ideal activity for both parents and children. Whilst trying to minimize your trips to the grocery store, plant some herbs and vegetables that you can use in your daily cooking. Growing herbs and vegetables is also a fantastic educational opportunity for children. In addition to teaching them responsibility, gardening is an ideal activity to reduce stress, frustration and anxiety.

Create a scavenger hunt

A scavenger hunt is an ideal way for keeping small children (or older kids if they still have a sense of adventure) entertained. You can even encourage your kids to create their own hunts in an effort to encourage creativity and out-the-box thinking. Decorate areas of your home with little surprises and create clues for children to guess where things are hidden.

Socialise virtually

The popularity of apps such as Houseparty and Zoom have skyrocketed in the face of social distancing. Instead of putting social events like Friday night drinks, family lunches, and playdates on hold, these apps are helping people of all ages stay connected and retain their social lives during isolation. For the extroverts among us, this is a critical way of staying entertained during lockdown.

Create home obstacle courses

This is one of the more hardcore ways to keep your family entertained during a lockdown. Children need to burn off some of those seemingly endless energy supplies. Unfortunately, with parks and playgrounds closed, parents need to get creative. Obstacle courses are a fun way to keep your children active. Get creative and use various household objects including dining chairs, cushions, boxes and tables. Create obstacles for kids to climb, go under, wind around, crawl through and jump.

Knitting

It’s not just for little old ladies. Knitting has experienced a resurgence in popularity in recent years, with many younger people embracing the activity. The monotony of wielding those needles has also been known to lower one’s heart rate and reduce harmful blood levels of the stress hormone cortisol (source). Set a family goal to create blankets to donate to the less fortunate in preparation for the upcoming winter months.

Decluttering as a way to keep your family entertained during lockdown

All this extra time at home makes it an ideal time for decluttering and tidying. This is a cathartic and mood-boosting activity that the whole family can get involved in. Make the tasks fun by encouraging each person to go through their own drawers and cupboards, and create piles of what will be donated, sold and thrown away.