Spending time at home may be fun for adults particularly those who yearn for much-needed rest and time away from work. However, this may not be the case for children who have boundless amount of energy. Parents may find it challenging to keep young ones happy at home during school breaks or even over weekend. To keep them from getting bored, here are some creative ways to do at home with your kids. Families who are looking for a child-friendly community, they may want to consider purchasing a house and lot for sale in Cavite. The area is teeming with endless possibilities for both indoor and outdoor child-friendly activities.
THINGS TO DO WITH KIDS AT HOME
There are a lot of activities kids may engage in while staying at home. Their talents and passion may be discovered when parents allow them to do activities at home.
MORNING EXERCISE
Encourage all family members to participate in a group exercise or even Zumba done either indoors or outdoors. This is a great way to start the morning for the family. This is a fun as well as a healthy activity for everyone. Walking or jogging within the village is another fun and healthy activity the family may engage in as a group or individually.
OUTDOOR BARBECUE
Who does not love barbecue? Schedule a family bonding over barbecue. Children old enough to assist in preparing the food to be grilled may be requested to assist in preparing the food like marinating, putting the meat in skewers and the actual grilling. As a special treat, allow the kids to prepare their own smores.
GARDENING
One of the perks in owning a property in a thematic-inspired community in Cavite is having a space to start a garden. Kids along with their parents who are interested in growing their own plants and crops may be able to do so. This activity is a great way to keep the kids’ boredom at bay. After planting the crop of their liking, they will have the responsibility to water them regularly and take care of them. This may develop in them a love for nature and the significance of planting trees, ornamental plants and edible plants.
PLAY WITH THE PET
Allow children to play with the pets. A game of fetch in the backyard may be a fun way to spend an afternoon.
BACKYARD GAMES
A friendly game of basketball, baseball or soccer may make a boring afternoon come alive for athletic kids. A game of hide-n-seek is also a great way to have an outdoor fun.
SANDBOX PLAY
Younger kids would love this sensory game. Set up a place in the backyard to accommodate the box and there is no need to visit the beach as they can play with the sand in the convenience of the home.
RIDE THE BIKE
For younger kids, the backyard space might be enough to go around in their bikes. However, if the backyard space is not enough, a trip to the village park may be the solution. For kids who no longer need adult supervision, they may go biking along the streets inside the village.
KITE-FLYING
During windy days, this is an activity the children may want to engage in. Since it requires a larger space, the village park may be an ideal place to fly a kite.
PLAYING IN THE RAIN
Have fun when it rains. Allow children to play during heavy downpour and let them experience getting soaked from rain water. For their safety, ensure there is no lightning when they do so.
MOVIE NIGHT
Children of all ages as well as adults would love this activity. Set up a projector and a lounging area in the backyard and the family is set to enjoy an outdoor movie night during warm summer nights. Or gather around the tv and watch a favorite movie as a family. Refreshments may be served to complete the fun.
READING
Introducing the life-changing habit of reading is a great way for a kid to spend his downtime with. Reading is important in cognitive development as well as gaining knowledge, increasing vocabulary and improving language. For children to consider this as an exciting activity, tag them along when visiting a bookstore and allow them to choose the book they want to read. A library may also be set up in one of the rooms in the house. It will be a great way to house all the books. A cozy and brightly-lit reading corner may also be set up within the house to encourage reading among the family members.
BAKING AND COOKING
An adult-supervised activity in the kitchen that will bring out a child’s passion for either baking or cooking is one of the fun things to do with kids at home. They may assist an adult preparing for meals for the family or bake their favorite cookie or pastry. The family may even come up with a bake-off or a cook-off to challenge their culinary skills.
BOARDGAMES
Schedule a family game night in a week. Playing boardgames with the family is another fun activity to do at home. Choose age-appropriate games that will keep the kids interested and involved. To make it extra fun, rewards such as exemption form a chore or additional time playing outdoors may be given.
PUT TOGETHER A PUZZLE
Take a 1000-piece puzzle and involve the whole family in putting it together. To make it challenging and exciting, choose a complex design. For a big family, divide the members into two groups and turn it into a contest as to which group will finish first.
TALENT NIGHT
For families who have a knack for singing and dancing, schedule a night to showcase these talents. For added fun, snacks and refreshments may be served or it may be an added activity for barbecue night. Prizes for the best performer may also be an added feature for this activity.
LEARN TO PLAY A MUSICAL INSTRUMENT
With the help of tutorials in YouTube, kids may learn to play the ukulele or guitar. Musically-inclined kids may enjoy this activity.
TAKING CARE OF A PET
Depending on the age of a kid, the responsibility of taking care of a house pet such as a fish, a turtle, a hamster, a rabbit, a cat or a dog may be an activity they will enjoy. This may also teach them a sense of responsibility on how to take care of a living being.
TIE-DYE SHIRTS
Children may enjoy this fun project as they would be able to come up with their own designs and choice of colors. Added fun to this activity is they get to wear the finished product.
ROOM MAKE-OVER
This activity may be extreme for some but with DIYers this activity may be challenging yet fulfilling.
ARTS N’ CRAFTS
Parents and children who are blessed with creative hands will never run out of ideas. From painting to knitting, crocheting, jewelry-making. Name it, they can create it.
SOAP-MAKING
Another fun and worthwhile activity is to be able to make their own soap. Soap-making kits are available online to cater to this activity.
PREPPING FOR CHRISTMAS
The kids may be involved with preparations for Christmas by involving them in putting up of Christmas decors. They may hang ornaments in the Christmas tree or create their own Christmas ornaments or Christmas cards. Another fun activity is Christmas gift wrapping.
CHORES
From time to time, allow the kids to participate in household chores such as cleaning their room, washing the dishes or carwash. For the younger ones, putting back their toys in the toy bin after they finish playing may be one way of teaching them simple chores.
WATER THE PLANTS
One way to inculcate love of nature as well as taking care of the environment is to allow children to take care of the plants by assigning them the chore of watering the plants. This also gives them the chance to care for a living thing.
PLACES AND ACTIVITIES TO EXPLORE IN NEARBY AREAS
Kids love to explore. They learn from using their senses. They should be allowed to roam around and explore the outdoors from time to time to learn and discover new things. Their appreciation of plants and animals may be developed when they get to be exposed to nature as well as farm and zoo animals.
VISIT KID-FRIENDLY FARMS IN CAVITE
- Yoki’s Farm. Located in Mendez, Cavite, this 10-hectare farm offers a guided tour that allows its visitors to gain knowledge regarding farm animals and species of plants found inside the farm. They even have an antique museum which is also a part of the guided tour. Aside from the tour, the farm also offers an animal encounter allowing the kids to feed the farm animals. Parents and their children may bond over a hands-on farming experience where the family may enjoy harvesting the vegetables planted in the field. This farm is gaining popularity as one of Cavite’s tourist spot in recent times.
- Paradizoo Theme Farm. Still in Mendez, Cavite, another 10-hectare property which houses a zoo and a theme park is yet another fun place for the whole family. Inside the property, enclosed areas for bees, butterflies and farm animals can be found. The kids may enjoy feeding the rabbits as the farm allows them to experience a close encounter with them. For children who loves to play, there is a playground where they can have fun all day.
GO ON A STAYCATION
The kids can learn from playing as well as from physical activities. They may be able to discover the sports they want to engage in when parents allow them to be exposed to various activities.
- Twin Lakes Hotel. This kid-friendly hotel has 126 rooms that has a great view of the Taal Volcano and the lake. Depending on the type, the rooms can accommodate a family of four to six members. As the parents enjoy some R&R, the hotel has a Kids Corner where they can play with a variety of toys which including but not limited to building blocks and stuffed animals. The whole family may enjoy swimming in the infinity pool and a wading area for the younger kids. Whether indoors or outdoors, the kids will surely not run out of fun things to do.
- Farm Hills Garden Bed and Breakfast. This cozy place for the whole family located in Silang, Cavite is a home away from home. They boast of themed rooms that will fit a family of four or more. They have a kiddie pool as well as an adult-sized pool where the whole family can have a fun time swimming or playing pool games.
EXPLORE NEARBY TOWNS AND PROVINCES
- Toontown Park. A quick drive to Cabuyao, Laguna will bring you to a toy museum your family will enjoy. Toontown Park houses an impressive collection of figurines of popular movie and cartoon characters specifically action heroes of DC and Marvel Comics. Picture-taking is allowed and the family may pose for selfies or group pictures with their favorite action hero as these figurines come in all sizes.
There is a long list of kid-friendly activities the family may choose from. Parents would just have to set aside a time to do them with their children. At times, some of the activities would just need a bit of creativity for the whole family to enjoy them. These activities will not just be beneficial for the kids but they will foster a stronger parent-children bond.
