Family Adventures: Top 10 exciting activities to do with the kids

With families everywhere spending more time together than ever before, parents are searching for new, creative ways to keep their children entertained, engaged and enthusiastic.

Although many children want to play on tablets and game consoles, there are lots of interesting and exciting ways to have fun both inside and outside the house that you can explore together as a family.

So, it’s time to get creative and let the adventure begin!

1. Build a fort/den:

There is not a single child out there that doesn’t enjoy building and playing in home-made dens/caves/forts! Get your children’s imaginations going – let them decide what they will use to build the fort and let them gather the materials. This will probably involve living room cushions, sheets and a torch. And there may be some furniture-moving involved!

Once they’ve built their den, they can enjoy a change of scene in their own little cave. Let them bring their toys in with them, and once they’ve created this space for themselves you could let them watch their favourite show on their tablet while they are ‘hidden away’ inside their new den!

2. Make a treasure hunt

This is a great way to get their brains ticking. Whether it’s a a treasure hunt using toys and objects or a hunt for their favourite sweet treats, make up rhymes and clues, hide the objects and watch the kids enjoy working out the clues and discovering their treasure.

Another tip to making the treasure hunt more interesting include creating a map of your home and marking some pieces of hidden treasure on the map. This is a fun way to combine a quiz and a hunt. After they’ve discovered all their treasure, you could encourage them to organise their own hunt for you to complete! Let them take over by drawing maps and coming up with cryptic questions so that you can both have some fun.

3. Build a fun gym

There are some great online P.E classes that you and your kids can get involved in and that will help the whole family keep fit and healthy. However, to make exercise that little bit more adventurous, you could build your own little gym at home!

Try to create some fun and age-appropriate sports stations. One station could have a paper trail on the floor which the kids have to walk over without touching anything else but the paper. Another could be the jumping jack station, then the planking station, and if you have enough space and it is safe, a station for their favourite gymnastic moves. To make things more engaging, you could time the duration of each station, and maybe even get involved yourself. Provide incentive for completing each ‘gym’ station, like a nice snack, that you can then all enjoy together once you’ve finished the workout.

4. Camp in your garden

If you have a grassy area or garden, why not plan a little camping trip? You can get creative and encourage the kids to pack up their favourite things and let them get involved with setting up the camp site. This is a simple way to get some fresh air and have some fun in your own garden.

Bring out your sleeping bags, a tasty picnic and a radio to play some music so you can create the ultimate happy campsite. Let your kids come up with stories to tell, have a little sing-along and enjoy the outdoors together.

5. Make an obstacle course

Make play time that little bit more challenging by creating an obstacle course! You can do this inside or out in your garden.

Think of all the things the kids can crawl under, jump over, tiptoe on, etc. You can build your course with things you already have around the house. Use sheets, piles of pillows and other items to create different challenges that the kids need to overcome. They’ll love the challenge of having to complete each task, and they are having fun and exercising too! If you’re outside in the garden, you could use your inflatable swimming pool, sprinklers, buckets and house planters to create a brilliant outdoor adventure obstacle course.

If you would like, we can always come to you and bring some of our fantastic mobile activities! Perfect for all ages.

6. Start Lego Challenges

Encourage your kids to put together the LEGO sets you have from their instructions or make your own creations!

There are also endless LEGO building ideas, challenges and instructions online – they can build characters, animals, machines and more. LEGO building is lots of fun and helps inspire some imagination, logic and problem-solving. Open-ended fun and a brilliant way to let your kids show off their different creations.

7. Don’t forget the classic Hide and Seek!

This one is an oldie, but a goodie…especially when you have to stay indoors. And with the Northern Irish weather, this is sure to be a common occurrence. Kids love Hide and Seek, and you could find yourself playing this for hours and really enjoying it together.

Make sure you encourage them to get creative with their hiding spaces around the house. And always switch places and let them try to find you too! This is another great way to encourage some problem-solving and create adventures.

8. Play board games or build puzzles & jigsaws

Board games have always been a brilliant way to bond as a family on a rainy day. There’s the classics like Monopoly, Cluedo and Guess Who, but you could also play some more interactive games like Jenga and Twister.

Puzzles and jigsaws are also a great way to stay entertained indoors. This will keep their brains stimulated and keep them focused for hours!

9. Visit the Zoo (Or Watch the Live Streams)

As well as a great family bonding experience, a trip to the Zoo allows your kids to get up close with the animals, which helps them build their imagination and creativity.

But you don’t have to actually get to the Zoo to enjoy the wonders they behold… Zoos all over the world have started to show live streams so that you can tune in and watch the animals 24/7. Kids can experience the excitement of the zoo from their own homes – live streams include pandas, penguins, tigers and koalas.

And, while you might want to limit ‘screen-time’, you can still use the wonderful online world to create adventure indoors.

10. Create the ultimate ‘at-home’ cinema

When you want to wind down in the evening, the go-to is for the kids to get into their pyjamas and watch a movie. This doesn’t have to become a boring or monotonous activity every evening.

Why not try to create the ultimate ‘at-home’ cinema? Try moving the furniture closer to the tv, making some popcorn and turning off the lights to create a real cinema atmosphere. Let the kids take turns picking the movie each night. If you have a projector and a sheet, you could even watch movies on the wall of your house outside in the summertime.

There is always adventures to be had. You simply need to think outside the box. This way, you can get creative and make memories as a family by creating truly unforgettable experiences.