In case you missed the memo, I am not the the most ambitious of parents when it comes to setting up activities and projects with my kids. I like simple, low prep ideas the best. The following collections of ideas will help you spend quality time with your kids without a lot of hassle.
Note: some of the links below are affiliate links, which means I might receive a commission, should you decide to make a purchase. These are all items I have experience with, love and recommend whole-heartedly.
Activity planners:
Having ideas at your fingertips is a life saver for busy parents, or parents who wonder how they can increase the quality of the time they spend with their kids. All of these include hand-chosen EASY activities for you to do with your kids.
- Exploratory activities to do with your one year old
- Playful activities to do with your 2 year old.
- Engaging play activities to do with your preschooler
- Learning play ideas to do with your preschooler
- Christmas activities planner
- Get more details about the planners here.
Summer Camp lesson plans:
Subscription boxes:
This is our favorite monthly crate. My kids LOVE it and putting together the projects has become a very special mother-son time, especially with my tween son. Use code SHARE30, to save 30% of your first month’s subscription.
- Tinker Crate, STEM based activities for kids ages 9 and up
- Doodle Crate, art and craft based activities for kids ages 9 and up
- Kiwi Crate, for kids ages 5-8
- Koala Crate, for kids ages 3-4
- Cricket Crate, for kids ages 0-2
Activity Books:
If you are the kind of parent who likes to peruse collections of ideas in order to prepare for activity time, these are a few of my favorite books. I have used all of them!
- Learn with Play: 150+ Activities for Year-Round Fun and Learning (I contributed to this book!)
150+ Screen-Free Activities for Kids: The Very Best and Easiest Playtime Activities - The Toddler’s Busy Book
- Tangle Art and Drawing Games for Kids: A Silly Book for Creative and Visual Thinking
- The Artful Parent: Simple Ways to Fill Your Family’s Life with Art and Creativity
- Tinkerlab: A Hands-On Guide for Little Inventors
- Read, Create and Share, A Year of Growing with Young Children
- When Your Child Hates Handwriting
Books and More:
You may have noticed we are big readers! Don’t forget to bookmark the index of all of our book lists. In addition, here are some quick links to my favorite posts.
- Picture books to inspire kids to change the world
- Easy readers that are actually easy
- 35 multicultural early chapter books
- A read aloud book for every type of parent
- How to choose early chapter books for kids
- 8 ways poetry calms kids and bring joy to family life
Activity Ideas:
- You’ll want to bookmark our gigantic list of indoor activities for your next rainy day. This is the biggest list you will find anywhere! It’s sorted by category and age group and most of the ideas are easy to do on a moment’s notice.
- Games are a great short notice activity. Find our essential family games here.
- Find many more ideas on our YouTube channel.
Finally!
Don’t forget you can subscribe to our newsletter and get new ideas every week, delivered straight to your inbox. What could be easier than that?
