Daily free ideas and activities for families at home during coronavirus
Stuck for ideas or overwhelmed by everything that's out there? We've got tried and tested daily (yes daily!) ideas for babies, toddlers, preschoolers and schoolchildren that are fun, educational and easy to do
Every day at MadeForMums we share new ideas and suggestions, for things to do, learn, watch, listen, build, try out, teach, relax to, grow, make and laugh along with. We’re busy checking and testing them, highlighting the best ones and hearing from you, our brilliant MadeForMums users, about your own ideas and recommendations.
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Activities to do TODAY (Day 16)
1. Get a personal Shout Out from Andy and the Odd Socks band!
Andy Day of Andy’s Wild Adventures and the band Andy and the Odd Socks has announced on his Facebook page and Twitter that he and the band are looking to “spread a little cheer” by organising personal shout outs.
“If you’ve got a birthday party that’s been cancelled, or you want to say well done to someone in your family or you just want to cheer someone up then how about a Shout Out from Andy and the Odd Socks!” Andy explains. “We’ve decided to try and spread a bit of happiness over the next couple of months with our brand new Shout Outs. All you have to do is email the details to us at shoutout@andyandtheoddsocks.com and we’ll send you back a video message from Rio, Moxy, Blu, Cousin Mac or me.”
You’ll need to know the name and the age of your child and what the Shout Out is for – to cheer them up, wish Happy Birthday or something else.
You can check out lots of the band’s videos on YouTube – they’re really good fun to sing along to.
Fantastic wild workouts with Andy – for toddlers and pre-schoolers
Andy’s Wild Workouts on iPlayer are proving a really popular exercise plan for under-5s who are finding it hard to keep engaged with Joe Wicks.
Download Andy’s fantastic free activity pack!
Don’t miss Andy’s brilliant activity pack which includes a word search, spot the difference and lyrics to some of the band’s biggest songs so you can all sing along.
More singing fun for babies and toddlers
Another favourite to get toddlers singing and babies clapping is Mr Tumble!
2. See your art on TV!
We were SO excited when we heard ITV had launched this brilliant campaign to get kids to colour in their logo and share it on social media for a chance for it to be included in a very special version of the logo, featuring artwork from kids across the nation.
To take part, simply download and print out the logo outline, available on the ITV website.
Next, get your child to draw, paint or sketch on the logo (and generally make it look awesome!), take a photo of it and share it on Twitter or Instagram with the hashtag #ITVKidsCreate and @ITV: if they’re keen to use it, they’ll direct message you.
The competition runs until Sunday 19 April at midnight: good luck!
No-mess finger painting
Yes, there really is such a thing as no-mess finger painting! Check out this ingenious hack on YouTube by Kids Activities using a plastic zip file – and watch your little one have artsy fun without getting paint absolutely everywhere…
3. Step-by-step video on how to draw fluffy chicks in time for Easter
We are in love with this step-by-step art tutorial from illustrator Lizzie Martell.
Lizzie uses watercolours to produce these gorgeous chicks – which are so great to do in time for Easter.
The video is around 16 minutes long – so short enough to keep your child’s attention and easy to follow.
Do some Easter chick face painting
Get ready for Easter by seeking out the face paints and turning your little one into a chick! Encourage them to wear a yellow t-shirt and any other yellow clothes they have too and they’re ready to go!
Activities to for Day 15
1. The brand new Trolls World Tour movie is released TODAY – and you can watch it at home!
The highly anticipated sequel to the Trolls movie was set to be a big Easter hit in the cinemas. But, of course, the cinemas are closed and so today Trolls World Tour hits the small screen instead.
Justin Timberlake and Anna Kendrick return as Branch and Poppy, while Ozzy Osborne is King Thrash, and you’ll be able to watch the brand new film from the comfort of your living room.
You can rent Trolls World Tour for 48 hours for £15.99 from most of the major streaming platforms including:
- Amazon Prime Video – get 30 days free sign-up
- Sky Store
- BT TV Store
- iTunes
- Google Play
It’s not cheap especially if you only have one Trolls fan in the home, but it could be a popular Easter treat. BAnd if you want to catch the original Trolls movie before watching the sequel, you can buy or rent it on Amazon Prime and Sky Store along with other streaming services.
Free Trolls colouring sheets and singalong video
Print lots of free colouring sheets from Supercolouring and Crayola featuring Trolls characters including Poppy, Branch, Biggie and Mr Dinkles.
Sing and dance along to Can’t Stop The Feeling on YouTube from the original Trolls movie, sung by Justin Timberlake and Anna Kendrick. Just expect to hear it on repeat!
2. Play music with Myleene Klass and her kids this morning
Your kids can now have music lessons from a popstar with live online classes hosted by singer and broadcaster, Myleene Klass.
With her daughters, Ava and Hero, Myleene hosts her ‘Music Klass’ on Instagram live and YouTube at 10am on Mondays and Fridays.
So far, music lessons from the Hear’Say singer and classical cellist have taught us about rhythms, the difference between major and minor keys, how to turn TV music themes into lullabies and how to ‘colour’ music. Your kids can catch up with them all on Myleene’s ‘Music Klass’ YouTube channel.
You don’t even need a musical instrument to join. Children can simply bang along with a wooden spoon on some cooking pots as a makeshift drum (ear plugs may be required).
Make an instrument for babies and toddlers
Create your own colourful homemade maracas for your toddler using this simple video tutorial from Today’s Parent. All you need is a plastic bottle, cardboard toilet roll (or just cardboard) and something to fill the shakers with such as buttons, beads or paper clips. Rice and pasta will do just as well – although you may be taking care of these store cupboard essentials!
Fill the bottle a third of the way up, glue the lid on securely and stick on the cardboard handle. Your little music maker will love shaking the maraca and exploring not just sounds but also movement.
3. Brilliant craft you can eat – Create painted toast
Take your toast to the next level with this super simple craft idea shared by mum, Lizzie Amy, in the Facebook group Family Lockdown Tips & Ideas.
Chances are you’ve already got everything you need at home – just grab a cupcake tin (or any small pots you have handy), pour in a dash of milk, add a couple drops of food colouring and mix to create your edible paints.
Your child then gets to paint their slice of bread using the different colours. Then pop it in the toaster and ta-da, there’s the most brilliantly coloured toast that your child has helped to create!
MadeForMums Virtual Easter Egg Hunt
Collect the daily keywords for your chance to be in to win a £500 bundle full of goodies to help keep babies, toddlers and kids entertained!
Today’s keyword is: BABY BASKET
Psssst: Have you read our Cybex Eezy S review? A little chick told us there’s another keyword hidden on this page!
Activities for Day 14
1. Explore inside the Pyramids and watch the most amazing free-running in Cairo (including camels)
Are your children interested in the Pyramids, the Pharoahs and mummies? Now you can ‘walk’ inside Ancient Egyptian landmarks through amazing 360° virtual tours on this popular VR museum Facebook page Egypt Cradle of Civilisation.
And that’s not all. You can also watch some fast free-running around Cairo from the breathtaking sites to the bustling markets, with a few camels to bounce over along the way.
Don’t miss these videos
- The Great Pyramids from the air – incredible aerial shots
- How the Egyptians made their mummies – a fantastic video explaining mummification
- Inside the Tomb of Nefertari – try to work out what the hieroglyphics mean
- Breathtaking Ramses II statues at Luxor Temple – virtually explore these iconic features
- Temple of Abu Simel – see incredible statues
Horrible Histories activity sheets!
Download this free printable Horrible Histories activity sheet where your child can learn how to draw a Pharaoh, a scary Egyptian mummy and other Awful Egyptians characters.
Don’t have a printer? Try these…
We found a great website called Supercoloring which lets you colour images like the one above on line – so no printout needed!
2. Have a dance party in your living room with Big Fish Little Fish at 2pm today
Get your Sunday off to a lively start by raving with Big Fish Little Fish, as they host a live stream for you to dance along to in your living room.
This is something the whole family can get involved with – just head to the Big Fish Little Fish Facebook page at 2pm this afternoon to catch the live stream.
Kids will love the bubbles, confetti and dance moves to follow along to and parents will no doubt recognise a song or two.
Ahead of this afternoon’s live stream, Big Fish Little Fish also posted this fun tutorial of how to make your very own rave crown. All you need is some cardboard and whatever craft supplies you have handy to make this fantastic accessory for your living room rave!
Activities for Day 13
1. Saturday quiz time
Which countries are these?
The first one’s OK but then it gets harder, so how many countries can you name?
Answers all the way down at the bottom of this article!
2. Join the lions and tigers live today with Big Cat Week Live at Paradise Park
When you can’t go to the zoo – the zoo can come to you! Paradise Wildlife Park will be streaming live on Facebook this morning (and if you miss the live stream you can watch the video on their Facebook page later). Today, the keepers will be spending time feeding and talking about the Park’s majestic white lions.
The last live streaming featured some incredible jaguars.
Big cat activities with The Tiger Who Came To Tea
If you enjoy this why not continue the big cat theme with some downloadable activities on The Tiger Who Came To Tea official website.
As well as dot to dots, colouring sheets, word search and drawing, there are also beautiful quote cards from Judith Kerr’s much-loved children’s book.
3. For you – Have a Bingo rave with the wild Bongo’s Bingo
Bongo’s Bingo is anything but a quiet eyes-down affair. If you’re craving some noise, disco karaoke, crazy dancing and hollering, then tune in tonight to Bongo’s Bingo on live streaming platform Twitch.
Bongo’s Bingo ‘Live from the Bungalow’ kicks off at 8pm and you can expect some adult-flavoured fun.
Before the lockdown, Bongo’s Bingo were running 50 events a week, which they describe as:
Like many, they’ve now moved to holding live online events (on Saturdays, Tuesdays and Thursdays). Last weekend they partnered with LadBible and more than 1 milliion Bingoers tuned in, raising £7K in donations for the UK’s NHS heroes.
All you need to join in is WiFi, a mobile phone and paper.
Activities for Day 12
1. Free live magic fun for toddlers and magic science for homeschoolers
There’s a whole party of online homeschooling classes and entertainers popping up right now on Facebook Live and YouTube. Some are good, some are, hmmm, not so good, and some are fantastic – like Captain Fantastic. An established party company who were running 50 parties a week until we all stopped having parties, Captain Fantastic is now throwing brilliant online events.
Today sees a couple of our favourites:
- Science and Magic Show for 5-8 year olds featuring Dr Zob (above) – every Friday at 2pm
- Daily Toddler group for 2-4 year olds with Paul and George (below) – daily at 10am
These guys are bursting with energy and so are their furry friends! But don’t just take our word for it. One fan said on their Facebook page:
2. Kids cook-along today – bake Chocolate Chip Cookie Monsters (Yum!)
Home chef James Bailey is running a live kids cook-along in the kitchen TODAY at 3pm. He’s making the most delicious chocolate chip cookies that sound tasty and are easy enough for kids to bake along with James on his Suits You Stir Instagram page.
And to get you started, he’s listed out the ingredients so you’re ready to get the kids cooking along.
Ingredients
200g Chocolate Chips/Chunks⠀
160g Plain Flour⠀
150g Brown Sugar (Preferably Soft)⠀
120g Butter⠀
100g Granulated Sugar⠀
1 Egg⠀
1 teaspoon Salt⠀
1 teaspoon Vanilla Essence/Flavouring⠀
1/2 teaspoon Baking Soda/Powder⠀
Equipment⠀
Plain Paper and Colouring Pens (you’ll see why on the day) ⠀
Saucepan, Glass Bowl (that sits on top of the saucepan), Spatula, Whisk⠀
Greaseproof Paper and Baking Tray⠀
So we know you may not have all of the ingredients but this could still be a fun watch to give you some ideas for when you are able to get everything and baking’s back on!
- For younger kids, why not watch an episode of I Can Cook on YouTube.
3. Use our templates to make an easy Easter Egg basket
Easter is definitely still on, and if you fancy making your own little Easter baskets to put eggs and other gifts in – we’ve got a set of really handy templates that you can print out and within minutes turn into lovely baskets using our step-by-step guide.
We’ve got 4 designs to choose from and if you don’t have a colour printer there’s a black and white option to colour in.
We think these little baskets could be great to put eggs in during an Easter egg hunt.
For babies and little toddlers – try this Easter basket game…
If you make a few of these baskets, why not use them to play a sorting game? Have some soft toys or other baby-friendly items in different colours and see if your baby can put the different coloured items together in the same basket.
…Or this simple sock sorting game
We love this homemade game where you cut out simple sock shapes and make a ‘tumble dryer’ out of a cardboard box. In the spirit of Easter, you could use an Easter bonnet and cut out Easter egg shapes and get them to put those in instead!
Enjoying these? Please share your own ideas and how you’ve got on with these ideas at contactus@madeformums.com. We’d LOVE to hear from you!
Activities for Day 11
1. Join in lambing live today – you may even see a lamb being born!
Bockett’s Farm Park is opening its doors at 10am today for live streaming just as lambing season is in full swing! The farm is hosting a Facebook live at 10am with Farmer Martin in its Animal Discovery barn where you can learn all about the new arrivals.
Farmer Martin shows how they’re taking care of the lambs, how they’re being fed and potentially even lambs being born.
Don’t worry if you miss the live at 10am as you can go back and watch all the previous videos on Bockett’s Farm Park’s Facebook page.
The farm has also been posting other short learning videos on its Facebook page with worksheets to go alongside, starting off with ‘The Life Cycle of a Chicken’.
Make a farmyard cockerel
Get your kids to have a go at making their own farm animals with this craft tutorial from DIY Hacks. Grab your craft supplies that you have handy (you’ll mainly need coloured card and googly eyes) and follow along to make a rooster, bunny, ducks or a bee hive.
This is a great activity for older kids to get creative with, while younger kids may need help drawing and cutting out the shapes.
Farm fun for toddlers
Sing along to one of the most well-loved nursery rhymes and learn about animal sounds with this animated video from Super Simple Songs.
There are lots of other great versions of ‘Old MacDonald Had a Farm’ on YouTube for your toddler to sing along to, including this one from CBeebies’ lovable clown, Mr Tumble.