Entertaining Kids

Ideas for fun – even in small spaces (and with limited waste!)

For many Australian’s this week is school holidays! However – for most Victorian’s this week looks not so very different from the last many months of having kids at home during the week for remote learning!

A few mummas have reached out for ideas on how to keep kids entertained these holidays! For some, they already feel like they are completely out of ideas!

Thankfully Spring is here (well kinda! We had snow here this week! Like actually proper floaty snow and freezing cold temperatures outside haha!). Here are some of my favourite ideas to keep kids busy – and produce as little waste in that process as possible!

I’ve tried as much as possible to make these ideas self-sufficient for kids to play (with some supervision) after they are set up. It works really well in our house to set up an activity and then let them play for a time while I work on my own tasks.

Treasure hunt!

There are 2 ways to do this! You can hide one treasure and give them clues or a map to find your hidden treasure (for some family fun try hiding the movie for the night, a voucher for a meal out, or tickets to your next family outing!). OR you can do more of an orienteering session and give them a list of treasures to find. Again this can be inside or out. Get as creative as possible here! “A leaf that looks like a heart” and/or “a reminder of your favourite holiday” might take a bit more hunting than “a smooth rock” or “a teddy”.

Obstacle course!

Sometimes our kids will set this up themselves and sometimes they will look for help to set up something more challenging. This often means lengths of timber and milk crates have been dragged around the yard in rather creative ways! But it is a fantastic way to use what you have and challenge their gross motor development at the same time. This can be done outside or inside. Hello the floor is lava!

Cubby houses/Forts

This was a favourite even in the Tiny House!! On the coldest days we would hang up a blanket inside from the loft and turn the couch into a fort! On warmer days we would throw that blanket over the top of some saw horses outside and make a cubby house outside. I found the addition of some books and snacks made this a pretty popular idea even with some older primary school aged kids

Shadow sketching.

Sketch around the shadow of any object. You can either hold an item above the paper or tie it up and suspend it! Sticks, leaves, cutlery, flowers or even the shadow of their own hands/arms/feet can make for some fun creation.

Make some story rocks

This is a super simple idea! But essentially you decorate rocks to be able to tell a story. So maybe a smooth oval rock with a drawn on face and hat could be a character to tell stories. You can even have the kids draw scenes for them on paper (so maybe a bed to lay in, a gym to work out at and a table to eat at for example). You could decorate stones to be food items, insects/animals, or other characters and use them all together to tell new or familiar stories. We first did this over a year ago and the original rock person still features in the girls’ backpacks for fun when out and about.

DIY’s

I’m loving all the eco-friendly DIYS lately! I’ll link to some of my favorite accounts – check out their variety of recipes on everything from food, slime, eco glitter paint, playdough, face paint and much more! Once the DIY creations are made this can then set up for some fun outdoor craft time on some scrap paper too.

The Inspired Little Pot

Inspire.Learn.Teach

Kids in Lockdown

The Eco Party Place

Audio Books and podcasts

There are some great audios designed for all ages of kids! Check your local library for electronic borrowing of audiobooks! This is a great way to access free audio content. You can also access a bunch of content on various apps too. I’ll link some of my favourites here

The Musical Story of Peter Pan (this is on the list as I have fond memories of hearing my grandad singing the tunes out of this story. He still sang them many years after my mum used to play her record as a small child. I grew up with this one and my kids love it too)

ABC Kids Listen has a bunch of stories, podcasts and music sessions. It’s our go to!

While I haven’t listened to many of these podcasts; I found this blog from Kidspot to be a really helpful list of podcasts for all ages of kids.

I have tried to make these ideas as friendly as possible for small spaces. My number one suggestion though is to try get them outside for some play time. However – there is often plenty we need to do as adults even in school holidays, so there are plenty of suggestions to set them up for playtime inside too.

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Meco Blue Tiny Home Specialists

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Progress Not Perfection

Overcoming Discouragement when Faced With a Huge Project

Those that know me personally know that I am a bit of a perfectionist. Ok, maybe a bit is too small of a word. I have always been both a perfectionist and a people pleaser. As a result, I am very familiar with the feeling of feeling so overwhelmed by not knowing how to do a job/task perfectly that I quit before I even start. There have been so many times that I looked at something that I want to do or that inspired me but I got so discouraged that I wont be able to do it perfectly that I didn’t even try.

This past week has been Zero Waste Week 2020 and there has been SO much good content shared! Tips, resources and advocacy. Stuff meant to inspire you to bring in some changes into your life and home.

But, I know many people will have looked at that content and felt so overwhelmed by the idea of “Zero” Waste – that they felt discouraged this week.

I want to say that I see you. I hear you. And I know what you are feeling.

But, I also want to say that I believe that change in this world is made by people who take action no matter how small that action or result is. They KNOW that sustainable change sticks. And that their small actions encourage others to take small actions – and the ripple spreads.

What I do advocate for is making small sustainable changes and integrating them into your day, your life and your habits. 1 swap at a time. 1 habit at a time. 1 purchase at a time. Integrating those choices into your life little by little means that when life throws us a curveball and forces us to adjust our time, priorities or commitments; we can still hold onto those changes that we have made. If you go all out and do it all at once but then a huge time commitment is put on your plate – you will probably find you end up having to drop some of those swaps.

Plus – I think it is really important to be aware that the most sustainable items we can have in our home are the ones that we already have! So, rather than running out and trying to swap everything over to ‘eco friendly’ items; just work on finding 1 better alternative at a time as something runs out or is broken. (The exception to that though is if you are no longer comfortable using a product after finding out what it is made of. If you are not going to use the window cleaner in your cupboard because you don’t want it around your kids – its ok to pass it on to someone else and find a better alternative now.)

We don’t need to do anything perfectly. The reality is we are all human and we are all working life out together. I still sometimes wonder if I’m actually an adult now as surely someone else is ‘Adultier’ than me. None of us really have life perfected. So give yourself permission to start small. Just do one thing at a time. Get started and watch those small changes slowly add up.

Its ok to look at a big task and feel a little scared of the enormity of the job. But you don’t need to do it all today. No more giving up before you start in fear of not being able to do a job perfectly ok? One step at a time – we will see the ripples grow!

I don’t actually advocate for “Zero” Waste. I honestly don’t even expect our family will ever be 100% Zero Waste. Why? Because we are a young family with 2 businesses, 2 homeschooled children and multiple food intolerances in our family living in modern suburbia in 2020. And I also know my own limitations and energy output – I know that giving myself some grace is essential to my wellbeing.

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Meco Blue Tiny Home Specialists

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