Stuck at Home 2: More activities to keep the kids busy

"Why don't you just tell everybody to read a book," said my older daughter when I mentioned that I was going to write another post about indoor activities for kids. (I shared some ideas on Monday evening too). When she wasn't doing any of the above, she did spend most of the day with her nose in a book.

1. Build something: But don't use blocks, Legos or other standard construction toys. My older daughter is very involved in Odyssey of the Mind, a great program that requires kids to think outside the box. As part of the program, kids do quick challenges. She's built structures out of paper, paper clips, small pieces of clay, marshmallows, straws, toothpicks, playing cards, spaghetti, sticky labels and more. Odyssey of the Mind in northeast Pennsylvania has some ideas to get you started. These are really fun!

2. Make something: I'm sure a few of you pulled out the brownie mix or made some chocolate chip cookies on Tuesday. Have you tried our recent recipes for baked snowflakes, spiced pear muffins (which are good with apples too), or baked cinnamon sugar donuts? 

3. Get in shape: This is more for the moms out there, but my nine-year-old and five-year-old have fun doing burpees, jumping jacks and other moves with me. Boot Camp Moms, based in north Raleigh, has shared lots of great, quick workouts that you can easily do from the comfort of your own home. 

4. Board Game Championship: This is something that I believe we'll be doing with the neighbor kids before long. At my house, we have a lot of board games. A few favorites get played all of the time. The rest sit in the back of a closet. We'll be pulling them all out and inviting some friends over to play them all. Once we're done, I'll have my kids figure out which ones are the favorites and then get rid of the rest.

5. Consignment Sale Tagging: Speaking of cleaning out those closets, consignment sale season is right now and there is still plenty of time to sign up to sell items at one of the region's sales, clean out those closets and get items ready to sell. My kids love helping me sort through old clothes and toys and get the tags ready. Our consignment sale database will hook you up with sales in the area.

6. Treasure Hunt: I love Clued in Kids, created by Wake Forest mom Helen Bertelli. She's created treasure hunts that you can buy online and at stores across the country. But she also has a free puzzlemaker on her website. These are fun for all ages. Older kids can even take charge and create the hunt on their own for their friends or younger kids.