DETROIT – We’ve spent months staying home, staying safe and staying indoors. Unfortunately, that can lead to those magic words: “Mom, I’m bored.”
It’s hard coming up with fun things to do with the little ones since they’re home all the time and it’s an even bigger challenge on those rainy days.
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Jeeyoung is a mother of three boys who works from home. On those rainy days when they can’t get outside, she gets creative.
She made a bin full of the boy’s old Halloween costumes and even she was surprised by how much it sparked their imaginations.
“Those are one of the things that they’ll go have their own accord, pull them out and it’s probably at least a good 30 minutes to an hour of imaginative play acting out all sorts of different things,” Jeeyoung said.
Another easy idea is to turn your kitchen table into a craft station with whatever you already have around the house. Jeeyoung likes to use a roll of paper -- the bigger the better -- and then add to it.
“That seems to hit all three ages enough to keep them enticed or interested,” Jeeyoung said. “I usually do it following like a snack time or whatever since they’re already sitting down.”
Jeeyoung said the simplest ideas tend to go over the best at her home.
“One of their favorite things to do is grab an empty box, draw all over it, cut out things and make you know their own costumes boxes. I know it’s like the stereotypical parenting thing about toys and how, from babies on may reach for the box, it is still true,” Jeeyoung said. “You can use it for simple like arts and crafts. Even with gardening and things like that, but it was even with the bigger boxes, my kids have had a blast. Once I took one of the larger boxes, I drew like a little dark sign on them, and they took some of their outdoor toys and played that as an outdoor game for a little bit.”