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Top 5 fun activities for kids to do while you are busy

  • Pallavee Mar 22, 2018

Raising kids is no mean feat!

Who knows it better than the parents, especially a mom who has to multitask all the while just to keep her home, her job and her personal space in tandem.

Wouldn’t it be wonderful if you can plan some activities for kids while you handle the rigours of daily life? Imagine you are not interrupted or have to keep watching over your little one while paying bills, managing project deadlines or just running around the local market for daily provisions. How about having a blissful half an hour girlie talk with your best friend over the phone?

Ah! Seems like a dream!!

Yes, it does, but with just a bit of thoughtful and smart planning, you can actually engage your little champs in fun activities for kids that not only keeps them busy but also helps them learn new skills.

Try these top 5 activities to engage your kids while you are busy sorting out other things:

Toys

Toys are the first companions that we give to our kids. Toys not only engage and entertain kids but also develop their motor skills, boost their creativity and help with social, emotional and cognitive development. Right from the rattle and soft toys for the infants to the stacking rings, shapes and boxes, musical toys, play vehicles, doll and dollhouses, action figures, puzzles, assembly toys, LEGO blocks etc. help your children learn new things during different phases of their growth.

By choosing the right toys for your kid's age group you can easily keep them engaged in self-created kids games which spares you the time to streamline and finish other tasks at your disposal.

Games

Games and happy kids are synonyms. Games, both indoor and outdoor, increase the mental and physical capabilities of your kids. Also, when busy playing games, kids tend to forget everything around them allowing you enough space and time to complete the important things that need your uninterrupted time.

Playing games also teach a practical lesson in social competence and emotional maturity in children. Playing alone or with other children also helps in developing the imagination, dexterity and cognitive abilities of your little ones. Indoor kids games like puzzles, ludo, monopoly, snakes n ladders, scrabble etc help kids to be calmer and free of anxiety. Outdoor games like cricket, hockey, volleyball, football etc develop their leadership and competitive skills.

Engaging kids in a combination of indoor and outdoor games not only give them good mental and physical exercise but also frees you from constantly monitoring or engaging them.

Art and Craft

Creativity boosts the intelligence and imagination of children. It not only engages them but also enhances their fine motor skills and improves bilateral coordination. It also teaches them social and behavioural skills like patience, self-control, flexibility etc.

Crafts for kids
can be really engrossing and once your child develops a liking for creative hobbies it can give you a good amount of free time to streamline and carry out your work, household chores or any other activities. To engage your kids you can choose from a variety of creative stuff like drawing and painting, paper art, origami for kids, coloured clay sets, jewellery making kits, candle making kits, quilling kits, mechanical kits, robotics kits, educational aids, sand art kits and much more.

Art and craft help your kids’ imagination and once they develop a liking for creative pursuits they usually crave for lesser attention and keep themselves self-occupied. Inculcating a creative habit can help you free a lot of spare time for yourself.

Books

Developing a love for reading can turn out to be one of the most fruitful activities for kids. Books and stories calm down children and stimulate their imagination. They also create curiosity and make the kids more inquisitive. Reading multicultural books exposes children to a variety of diverse locations and cultures which help them grow into more understanding and socially aware citizens.

Reading habit increases your kid's vocabulary and also helps them concentrate better when they are studying. You should introduce books and stories into your kid’s routine at a very early age by reading out stories to them. You can let them read on their own and come to you with whatever they have read. This habit will create a special bonding with your children and also free your time. Also, the stories they read aid them in creating role-play and other imaginative activities for kids which keeps them busy by themselves.  

Create a diverse library for your child by having picture books, comics, picture storybooks, interactive books, fairy tales, adventure books, Panchatantra, mythological books and a host of other books on diverse cultures and topics.

Cooking

Cooking is a fun activity and an essential life skill. Kids instinctively find cooking a fun activity as it allows them to explore various utensils and gadgets in the kitchen which is yet an explored territory for them. You can create simple and fun recipes for kids and ask to assist you while you are cooking.

You can give leafy vegetables to your kids and get their help in tearing lettuce for a salad or assembling a simple pizza. Gradually you can ask them to create their own sandwich or smoothie by choosing the ingredients they like. This activity makes your kids more experimentative with different food categories and helps them have a diverse palate. As they grow older you can ask them to help with baking and more complex forms of cooking.

However, for the safety of your kids never allow them to be alone in the kitchen operating any of the gadgets or the gas stove. Cooking under your supervision can be one of the greatest fun activities for kids and help you keep them engaged.

Conclusion

Keeping your kids busy can be a daunting and challenging task. But by trying a combination of these activities you can not only keep them engaged but also help them learn new skills.

Next time, when you have something important to do, try out one of the above activities for kids and have some uninterrupted time to yourself. Comment and share with us if you have some other ideas up your sleeves to keep the kids busy.
Until then, Happy Parenting!

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