25+ Simple and Easy Ways to Entertain Kids

When holidays strike, kids rejoice, and parents start wondering how they will keep their kids engaged throughout the holiday season. Keeping kids entertained can sometimes feel challenging, but it doesn’t have to be complicated. In today’s digital age, gaming devices are present everywhere. But keeping kids entertained with online games and videos isn’t the best thing to do. There are plenty of simple and easy activities that can keep children engaged and happy without requiring fancy materials or too much effort. From imaginative play and crafts to simple games and outdoor adventures, these activities are fun and great for developing skills like creativity, problem-solving, and teamwork. Here are some ideas to entertain kids that will not only keep them engaged but will help them grow as well.

27 Easy and Free Ways to Entertain Your Child

How to keep kids entertained doesn’t have to be complicated or costly. Here are some fun and easy things that you can most definitely try for entertaining kids at home. Believe us, they will be handy for you, so no worries.

1. Dance It Out

Welcome the holidays by celebrating them with your kids. They would be hooked to the screens, so engage them with one of their favourite songs, raise the volume, and dance it out with them. This might seem tiring to you at first, especially if you don’ like dancing,  but when they see you dancing along with them, they will be all excited and gives you a teeny bit of a workout, too.

2. Good Old Reading

Even if your kid does read articles or blogs on the Internet, reading a book is a very intimate and distraction-free activity. Take your kid to a library and let him peruse it to his heart’s content.

3. Brain Teasers

Puzzles come in all shapes and sizes, right from jigsaw pieces to paper-pen riddlers that make you rack your brain for solutions. These are excellent at helping your child understand to work on his own, and when he needs help you can also double up as a team activity with friends or family working on puzzles together and make it a fun experience.

4. Clean It Up

Although it might be tough to get your kid to agree to get involved in cleaning activity, once he takes up, he will surely enjoy it. Allot him a specific section of your house or a room and ask to clean it in the best possible way. Put on some music and it won’t be long before he smiles while cleaning it.

5. Snail Mail

Email seems dead in today’s world of instant messaging and video calls. Let your kid write a letter to a relative, a friend, a fictional character, or even to you. Let him sit down, pace his thoughts, and express them eloquently on paper.

6. Get Out in the Open

Staying inside the house or in your surroundings isn’t entertaining much. Take a trip to the nearby beach, or maybe a small mountain hike, or just around to the nearest park with your child. The change of atmosphere is something everyone can benefit from.

7. Family Tree

Understanding your lineage and knowing the origins of it is quite a fun activity in itself. Let your kid start from his own and trace it back up to as far as he can. By crafting a tree and sticking photos and names on it is an interesting activity for him to discover how vast the family is.

8. Budding Picasso

Let those fingers hold paint brushes for a change and illustrate what their mind comes up with. Painting is not only calming but one of the most expressive activities. Even if your kid doesn’t paint, take him to an exhibition or introduce him to the world of paintings.

9. Origami Art

Making paper aeroplanes is one thing. Folding paper to create a swan is a totally different ballgame. By understanding the principles of origami, your kid will have a completely new world open in front of him.

10. Take a Dip

Make a family plan and take everybody out to the local swimming pool. Teach your kid to swim or have some plain water-splashing fun. If you do have a natural pond or a lake nearby, nothing beats like a quick picnic ride out to the blue.

11. Treasure Hunt

Kids love finding things, especially when they know there’s a surprise in the end. Set your kids for a scavenger hunt or let them get their group together and build a larger one around your surroundings.

12. Museum Montage

Kids yawn the moment we mention “museum”. Pair the museum visit with some initial research or tell them relevant stories while they observe the ancient artefacts.

13. Theatrical Magic

Take your child to a movie in the theatre. Make it a fun experience for everyone. Once you’re back home, have a discussion about the film and ask him to write about it.

14. Cycling Circuits

The best way to explore an area is by foot or by bicycle. Ensure your kid wears proper safety gear, and let him loose on a small ride that helps him see the surrounding areas that he never noticed before. Let him explore outdoors on his own.

15. Board Games

The good old board games are still popular for a reason. Rather than shooting monsters on the phone, introduce your kids to popular games of your time and newer ones of today. The variety of rules and inter-personal activities will make them see the fun of a wonderful game right away.

16. A Plant Party

Connecting back to nature and Earth is a great way to relax and to learn something new as well. Bring saplings or sow seeds in your garden or even in a small box. Teach your kid to care for the plant and look after it over the entire duration of its growth.

17. Sun Sights

All kids wake up early morning to rush to school. But let them wake up once to witness the sunrise in all its glory. If you can drive to a spot in your city where you can witness the sun setting over the skyline and let your children see the beauty of it.

18. NGO Volunteering

Kids will grow to be great adults only when they interact with a variety of people. Get in touch with an NGO to enrol your kid in a volunteer programme, where he gets to work on a grass-roots level and help the society at large.

19. Kite Craze

All kids are enchanted when they see kites soaring the skies. Get your children their own kite and teach them to fly a kite. Let them learn and try hard to find the best way to keep the kite soaring high. Not only is this extremely fun, but it makes them quite aware of the mechanics of the act, too.

20. Toy Telephone

Remember when you would talk to each other via string-connected cups? Do the same for your kids, too. Let a connection run from their room to yours, and have a “top-secret” discussion on what dessert you should eat for dinner.

21. Master Chefs

Get help for the kitchen with those eager to learn hands. Let your grown-up kids learn to chop vegetables and understand the nuances of salts and spices. For younger ones, give them safer and easier tasks of washing vegetables, peeling fruits, and being the taste-master.

22. Bubble Boom

Making soap bubbles is an activity that never loses its fun. Let your kid make his own soap solution and ring. Challenge him to make the largest soap bubble. Keep your phone at the ready to take a great photo of it.

23. Story Sessions

Turn down the lights, light some candles, and get ready for a nice comfortable story session. Tell real stories or fictional ones. If you’re looking to make things exciting, light only one candle and make for a scary story night.

24. Countryside Farms

Get out of the city limits and take your kids to a nearby village. Let them observe the lifestyle there, interact with domestic animals, and enjoy a lunch under the shade of a tree.

25. Gifting

Let your kids learn the art of gratitude. Ask them to make a list of people they are thankful for this year. Let them come up with handmade gifts for each one of them and give it to them with the topping of a great smile.

26. Puppet Show

Help your child make puppets out of socks or paper bags, and put on a puppet show. They can write their own scripts or retell their favourite stories. It’s a wonderful way to encourage storytelling and performance skills.

27. Build a Fort

Use pillows, blankets, and chairs to create a cosy fort in the living room. Kids love having their own little space to play, read, or just hang out. It’s a simple activity that sparks imagination and keeps them busy for hours.

FAQs

1. What can I do to entertain my child if I have limited space?

In small spaces, you can entertain kids with compact activities like building with blocks, doing puzzles, or having a mini indoor picnic. Games like Simon Says, indoor hide and seek, or creating an art station at a small table are perfect for keeping kids engaged without needing much room.

2. How to entertain kindergarteners with good educational activities?

Educational activities like reading together, doing simple science experiments, or creating arts and crafts are great ways to engage kids while they learn.

3. How do I entertain kids while travelling?

Simple activities like playing “I Spy,” bringing colouring books, or packing small puzzles can keep kids entertained when travelling. You can also create a travel scavenger hunt, give them a notebook for drawing or journaling, or let them fold paper aeroplanes to pass the time easily without needing many supplies.

Kids will get bored of the same activities rather quickly. But if you mix and match them together, and keep the fun at the core of it, keeping kids entertained can be quite simple and your kid will come back to you with ideas of things they would want to do. Nothing like having kids take care of themselves.

Also Read:

Fun Indoor Games for Kids
Learning Activities for Kids
Role Play Ideas for Children
Unique Hobby Ideas for Children
Listening Activities and Games for Kids

Our Editorial Policy

Parenting is a huge responsibility, for you as a caregiver, but also for us as a parenting content platform. We understand that and take our responsibility of creating credible content seriously. FirstCry Parenting articles are written and published only after extensive research using factually sound references to deliver quality content that is accurate, validated by experts, and completely reliable. To understand how we go about creating content that is credible, read our editorial policy here.