Staying home for young boys need not mean being glued to their gadgets for hours on end! Here are 9 cool ideas for them to get up and active, both physically and mentally. Some you can DIY with a few household materials, while others are fun games or kits buyable online (*this post contains affiliate links). All can keep the kids happily occupied either indoors at home or outdoors in your backyard while getting some fresh air and sunshine!
Activities Boys Can Enjoy and Learn From While at Home
1 – Play House Painting – A creative activity that can be done either indoors or outdoors, this crafty project—styled by Bellenza—needs just some old cardboard boxes, packing tape to assemble, and pots of paint and brushes. (Tip: The structure can be painted as a castle, fort, space station, science lab, or whatever your youngsters are into.)
2 – DIY Mini Bowling Game – From Julia DIY on YouTube, you can check out this tutorial on making your own tabletop bowling lane out of cardboard, with mini bowling pins molded from air drying clay. Strike!
3 – Pirate Treasure Hunt – Eight rhyming clue cards from Open Chests for you to download, customize (if you wish), and print—for an exciting pirate-themed hunt around the house or out in the yard.
4 – DIY Mickey Mouse Balloon Dart Game – Got spare balloons from past parties? Try this dart game found on Mama to 6 Blessings. The balloons can be arranged in any shape your youngster will enjoy. Safest if played outdoors, of course, and with adult supervision!
5 – Mini Basketball Game – Have the boys shoot baskets with this homemade hoop assembly from Yuri Ostr on YouTube. They can help you make it, too, using a wooden floor tile, a cardboard box, plastic sheet mesh, a metal strip, a bottle cap, and a pingpong ball
6 – DIY Castle Building Blocks – Fashioned out of ready-made wood shapes from Hobby Lobby plus blocks cut from a 2″ x 2″ piece, this homemade building set could spell hours of Medieval times make-believe! Thanks, Frugal Fun 4 Boys.
7 – 1000 Piece Outer Space Jigsaw Puzzle with Planets and Solar System – Not just hours but days of challenging fun for the whole family! That’s what you can look forward to with this out-of-this-world puzzle, available on Amazon.
8 – Indoor “camping” or storytime gets even more thrilling if it’s inside a Love Tree Kids Play Tent / Portable Playhouse like this one from Amazon! Your child could also help improvise a tent or teepee out of a blanket or bed sheet.
9 – Outdoor Science Lab for Kids – Learning fascinating science facts together is such a neat use of homebound hours! Try out this kit of “52 Family-Friendly Experiments for the Yard, Garden, Playground, and Park”—also available on Amazon.
Raring to go now with these ideas for at-home activities for boys? Expect a lot more homebound things-to-do inspiration in our upcoming posts!
