10 things to do with 2 kids during lockdown

Let’s face it, we’re 2 weeks into lockdown now and we’re all running out of ideas and energy aren’t we? Well, I hope I’m not the only one! I’ve got 2 kids: the first is 4 nearly 5 and the second is nearly 2 – and it’s a blimmin’ nightmare keeping them both entertained! Their demands are so different and it’s a proper juggle. I consider myself an “average” parent…not in my ability as a parent. Oh no, I’m way above average in those stakes because I love and care for my kids deeply BUT, I’m average in the sense of kid-friendly creativity and energy for activities! So I’ve compiled this list of 10 things to do with 2 kids during lockdown, for all you other average parents out there. It’s stuff that’s creative and developmental, but doesn’t take much talent or out-of-the-box thinking. I hope they help you too…

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10 things to do with 2 kids during lockdown

1. Make a sticker reward chart and schedule together

We’ve only used sticker charts when potty training and I know lots of parents use these to keep their kids motivated. It’s been a fantastic focus for our 4 year old during lockdown and it helps to shape our days together. We came up with “rewards” together, so we knew they were things she wanted (eg. “baking Frozen cupcakes” and “mummy paints my nails”). I bought this set from Amazon, but there’s loads of different ones on there:

2. Cosmic Kids Yoga mornings

I think this has been my favourite discovery of things to do with kids during lockdown! My daughter loves yoga and does it at school, so I knew she’d be interested, but we’d struggled to find an online yoga class that captured her imagination and attention for more than 5 minutes. Then someone recommended Cosmic Kids Yoga and both kids absolutely loved it! Because the yoga sessions are based around a story, with graphics and run movements, even the nearly 2 year-old enjoys it! We’ve done the Gruffalo session twice this week!

3. PE with Joe Wicks

I know everyone in the world knows about the 9am PE with Joe Wicks sessions, BUT, it wouldn’t be a lockdown list without it, would it? Personally, I think these work better for older kids. It’s a pretty intense HIIT session (I find them hard!), so my daughter gets a little bored and my little boy just stands staring at the screen. But the idea of getting the whole family moving every morning, is a fantastic and important one! So we dip in a couple of times a week, to make sure we’re getting our heart rates up!

4. Crafting with Toucan box / recycled amazon boxes

As I said, I’m totally average when it comes to crafting with the kids, so I’ve had a subscription to Toucan Box for well over a year now and I’m so glad we’d stockpiled a few, as we’ve been enjoying them during lockdown. They’re very affordable, are tailored towards your kids’ ages and arrive in the post. Simple! Our box has 2 different craft kits and tasks to do and there’s always a little paper book of activities, drawing and quizzes etc. to accompany them. Highly recommend!

5. Drawing tutorials on youtube

This has been a recent discovery of mine and it keeps both kids entertained for a good 20 minutes! My boy just sits with us and scribbles on paper, but my eldest loves copying and seeing the drawings come to life on the page. We started by searching things like “easy kids drawing tutorials” on Youtube and things like drawing Peppa Pig popped up, and we were both hooked. Grab a scrap piece of paper and a sharpie and get going! So far we’ve drawn dinosaurs, unicorns and fish!

6. Face-painting

I’m going to preface this with the fact that I’ve never face-painted a kid before! Yes, I did Art A-Level, but no, I am not the best artist 😉 But I’ve really enjoyed painting the kids faces during lockdown and it’s something we do nearly every day. I get the kids to tell me what they’d like to be and I just google-image search the chosen animal, eg. butterfly, and find an easy-ish one for me to copy. I do better on the 4 year old as she can at least sit semi-still. The nearly 2 year old tends to be a looser interpretation, but they both love it! I bought a kit similar to this one:

 

7. Bake a cake (hummus cake)

It is hard thinking of things to do with 2 kids during lockdown that they both enjoy and keeps them both entertained at the same time! I find baking is one thing that does seem to work with both OR, I do it just with my daughter, when my little boy is napping. But there’s no getting away from the fact that kids like to get messy and they like to eat cake! 2 weeks into lockdown, I’m already worried about my calorie-intake and the kids sugar intake, so I try to pick healthier bakes where possible. I downloaded the Yummly app (amazing and addictive!) and look for inspiration. We even baked hummus bread last week, as we had a 1kg tub to get through! It was fab and healthy!

8. Have a picnic in the garden

Easy peasy one, that’s pretty self-explanatory and always a winner with the kids. As long as it’s not raining, wrap the kids up, get a big picnic rug/blanket, grab whatever snacks and leftovers you have in the cupboards/fridge (it’ll undoubtedly be a random selection now we’re on lockdown, but that’s even more fun!) and head into the garden. Don’t have a garden? Do it in the living room instead – they just love the idea of informal eating, on the floor!

9. Play with kinetic sand

I’m not very domesticated and hate cleaning-up. We bought a sand-tray for the garden a couple of summer’s ago and the sand got everywhere and depleted within days. But there’s no denying, kids of all ages, love playing with sand and building sand castles. So, after a quick amazon search, I came across kinetic sand! It’s a-mazing! Less messy, you don’t need to add water to be able to build with it, easy to put away and tidy up. It’s a win! It’s not cheap, but if you keep looking after it, it’ll last ages. We started with this folding sandbox, as I figured it’d be easy to tidy and I’ve since bought a couple of extra bags of sand (as you don’t get a lot with the pack!). Both kids play with this together and separately:

10. Build a den and watch Disney+

A winner for kids and parents across the land! The ultimate thing to do with 2 kids during lockdown is? Dun dun duuuun…. watch films! It’s the build-a-den part that they love the most. Grab all the cushions, blankets and cuddly toys you can find. Arrange into some sort of den/nest on the living room floor, grab some popcorn (if you have some) and nestle-down with the kids in front of the telly. We’ve got Sky and have recently invested in Disney+ which is great for both kids! Us adults are also enjoying re-living our childhoods and catching-up with Disney films we haven’t watched in years. Winner all round!

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