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You’ve heard that expression that kids spell love t-i-m-e. Well, if you’re like me, you spend so much t-i-m-e doing school with your kids that it can be hard to make quality time for the non-academic things. That’s why I wanted to make a list of fun ways to spend time with your kids – it’s my cheat sheet when I’m out of ideas and I wanted to share it with you.

Color (It’s relaxing and gets your creative juices flowing.)

Paint

Draw

Sculpt with Play-Doh

Make collages from old magazine photos or fabric scraps

Watch TV (Let them pick the show!)

Make s’mores – indoors or out or make fake s’mores with graham crackers, Nutella, and marshmallows

Crunch leaves

Go for a walk around your neighborhood

Take a nature hike

Play video games (even if you stink at them)

Bake cookies

Fix a meal – for yourself or someone else

Play board games (Flat Traveler optional)

Teach them a new card game

Go out for ice cream

Make milkshakes at home

Toss a ball (football, baseball, tennis ball)

Have a Nerf gun war

Have flashlight wars

Have a pillow fight

Make shadow puppets on the wall

Make paracord bracelets

String beads or buttons to make jewelry

Draw on the window with dry-erase markers

Read a book together

Build a fort with boxes or pillows

Stay in your PJs and watch a movie (don’t forget the popcorn!)

Make puppets and a puppet theater, then put on a show

Go grocery shopping, just the two of you (and let your child pick out some candy or a small treat)

Make Shrinky Dinks

Pick flowers for a bouquet

Ask them about their hopes and dreams…and listen

Visit the library

Play dress-up or have a fashion show

Learn a new skill (They can teach you!)

Chat with each other by text message (Yes, it sounds crazy, but my oldest will often tell me things by text that she feels uncomfortable saying to me face-to-face.)

Build something (Yes, with hammers and nails…boys like that.)

Take your cameras (or cellphone cameras) and go take pictures of stuff

Clean their room together (Maybe not on the top of the list, but productive, helpful, and they often don’t mind doing it, they just don’t know where to start and don’t like being in there alone.)

Turn some music up – LOUD – and dance

Use fingerprints to make ink stamp pictures

Tell stories

Play Legos

Go for a drive

Do a craft project

Do a service project

Melt old crayons into nifty-colored new ones

Blow bubbles

What suggestions would you add to the list?

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