Boredom Busters for Kids (of All Ages)

For most everyone, staying at home to help slow the spread of COVID-19 is the new normal. All those fun activities your kids were doing—sports, visiting friends, dance, museum trips—have all been shut down to keep everyone safe. We know you love your kids, but they’re probably going nuts being confined to the house, which is probably making you nuts! You can only watch so many movies, right?! 

Although The Children’s Museum of the Lowcountry remains closed until it’s safe to open, we have great activities to do at home. And, remember to check our Facebook page for updates. In the meantime, here are a few ideas for things to do that may help curb boredom:

 

Have Fun with Science

A few household items are probably all you need to spark the imagination of budding scientists! Check out these great ideas for easy projects you can do at home. You can also make a lava lamp, have fun with Skittles or astonish your kids by making water walk.

 

Take A Virtual Tour 

No matter how much you love your home, staring at the same walls day in and day out can make anyone fidgety. But with these boredom busters you’ll find yourself exploring new places all over the globe! These are great options for keeping kids occupied while stimulating their creativity and sense of wonder, but adults will find themselves equally entertained and enlightened.

TravelAndLeisure.com has compiled a list of 12 famous museums from around the world that offer virtual or video tours.

If museums aren’t your thing, you might enjoy taking a virtual tour of a zoo. You can enjoy cute animal antics without the heat or mosquitoes you’d usually encounter! The Atlanta Zoo offers a live “Panda Cam,” and the Georgia Aquarium lets you watch an assortment of underwater critters, including beluga whales, penguins, and sea lions. One of the most complete virtual zoo tours is offered by the San Diego Zoo, but if you’re looking for full zoo immersion, Good Housekeeping has compiled a long list of live animal cams you can track.

If you like the thrill of roller coasters, a quick search for “virtual amusement park rides” will bring up hundreds of links to rides at Disneyland and Disney World, Six Flags, Sea World, and Universal Studios. Or you can download RollerCoaster Tycoon (available on Steam) to build and ride your own!

 

Try A Free Trial To Take a Fun Course or Develop A Hobby 

Many companies are currently offering free trials to give customers an incentive to stay home. These boredom busters can also help you alleviate stress and improve your health or creativity. Some of these trials are considerably longer than typical free trials last, so this is a great time to test out a service you’ve really been interested in or one you’ve never even heard of.

Interested in trying your hand at photography? Nikon offers some great online courses (currently ten of their most popular courses are free) covering topics like photographing pets or making the most of lighting. Most courses last for about an hour, after which you can start documenting your quarantine experience for posterity. And if you manage to master all of those courses, you can still check out Nikon’s live events where you’ll hear from professional photographers about their experiences capturing everything from weddings and conventions to wildlife.

Fender has online lessons for acoustic and electric guitar, bass, and ukulele. For a limited time, you can get three months of lessons absolutely free. The typical length of a trial on Play is 14 days (some of their guitars come with a 30-day trial if you purchase them new), and the service costs $9.99 per month or $89.99 for a 12-month plan after the trial ends.

For those who are young—or young at heart—another great option for online learning is the newly-launched Hogwarts is Here. Users have the option to enroll in different Hogwarts classes like astronomy or charms. Although Hogwarts lore is woven into them, the courses actually involve real learning. In the astronomy class, for instance, students will learn about real “muggle” tools for studying space, while the charms class has a section on learning to focus one’s attention.

We hope you enjoy these suggestions and we hope to see you again soon!