7 Top Creative Activities To Do at Home

Whatever the season, whatever the weather, finding fun activities that you can do at home can feel stressful and a little daunting. At Night Zookeeper, we’re all about learning while having fun, so we wanted to share with you some of the best creative activities to do at home to entertain the whole family - from parents, to older kids, to preschoolers!

1 . Seasonal Arts and Crafts

Practical activities are a great way to work on creativity, but also on your child’s fine motor skills, and who doesn’t love a good DIY?! Seasonal arts and crafts will for sure get the whole family in the spirit of the season - whether that's Summer, Autumn, Thanksgiving, Halloween, or something else....we promise you’ll have a fun-filled day if you give this indoor activity a try!

If it's summer, you could make handheld fans; if it's a festivity, you can make thematic decorations. Not only will this activity encourage the whole family to work together (and for sure create some good memories), but it will also encourage your children to improve their perception of time and offer them an opportunity to learn more about the origin of each holiday.

To try this indoor activity, set up some art supplies on your living room floor, including stickers, masking tape, pieces of paper, paper plates, playdough, plastic bottles, crayons, and any other materials you can find and have fun! You can even search up some printable resources, including coloring pages and origami templates and follow tutorials online!

Craft idea: draw/create your family tree!

2. Illustrate a Written Piece

Sometimes, written imagery is not enough to stimulate imagination. Every child is unique and each of them learn in a very special way. It is a known fact that, as we grow up, our ability to imagine is replaced by logical thinking, so it’s important to encourage your child to use their imagination and creativity as much as possible!

And what better way to spend a cosy day in, than with a drawing activity?

To set up this activity, you’ll first need to choose a book - this could be your children’s favorite book or a piece that is included in your child’s school curriculum. Then, choose a particular chapter, character or section of the book for your children to imagine and draw. The next step would be to read this particular section of the book (independently or as a group) and get to work! It’s amazing seeing different interpretations of a story, setting or character and it can really offer you a better insight into how your children think and see the world.

Top tip: to make it even more fun, get your child to try finger painting!

3. Write a Song

Music is an awesome way to help kids to focus, be creative and learn! 🎶

To write your own song, pick a topic (this could be related to what they are currently learning at school, their favourite colour, … - the possibilities are endless!) Then, you’ll want to choose a song that your children recognise to use as the instrumental for their brand new hit!

Alternatively, if you happen to have your very own rock band at home, we encourage you to create a brand new sound to go with your lyrics. 🎸 Finally, get to work - get your children to come up with different verses and, once they’re done, share your ideas and put them together! You can even get your child to dress up as their favorite music artist to perform their new song!

4. Create a TV Gameshow or Board Game

Who hasn’t thought of hosting their own gameshow on TV? 📺 For this activity, all you have to do is think of your favourite gameshow and incorporate educational questions for the whole family! If there is a particular topic your children may be struggling with, this might be the perfect way to get everyone involved and learn together - you may even want to arrange a video call with the grandparents and let them in on the fun too!

For those of you who aren’t big fans of the silver screen, here’s an old-school suggestion - why not create your own board game or even an original card game to play with the whole family? Not only will this encourage your child to use their imagination to create an original game, but it might result in a family tradition! How cool would it be to create a brand new game that your family plays together every Christmas? 😎

5. Make your own Comic Book

Over the past year, most of us have read more books than ever before, so why not write your own?! This is another great way to improve creativity and encourage your children to use their imagination! Firstly, you’ll want to get your children to write a short story. To do this, get them to think about the following:

• characters
• setting (are the characters at home, at school, at the beach, …?)
• season (is this story set in Winter, Summer, Autumn or Spring? How can we tell?)
• action (what’s happening? Did the characters find something unexpected? )

Once they have a clear idea about the storyline, get writing! 📖

When they’re done writing, encourage your child to draw the key moments in the story and label each drawing with the corresponding action in chronological order. Comic books often use speech bubbles and onomatopoeias to express dialogue and actions, so be sure to get your child to include these!

This may well result in the creation of a stunning piece which you’ll get to keep forever!

Story starter: It was a warm sunny day when a group of friends decided to go on a treasure hunt to find something they’d been looking for all summer. As the sun was setting, and just when they were about to give up, they came across an old-looking, rusty box. They’d finally found it - the long-lost time capsule their grandparents told them about...

6. Create your very own Book Club

This might just be the greatest kid activity to encourage your child to become their own favorite author! Why not set up a weekly book club to discuss your child’s favorite book, or even their own stories? You could even set them weekly writing prompts to complete by your next book club meeting! Here are some great, creative writing prompts to try:

Write a short story about a mad scientist and their craziest science experiment yet.

Who wins the treat battle - ice cream or cupcakes? Why?

I spy with my little eye, something beginning with the letter C. What’s the first thing you see that begins with this letter? Can you describe it to someone who’s never seen that before?

What’s one fun thing you like to do with your family? Why is it so fun?

Write an epic story about an adventurous scavenger hunt. Who is the main character? Why are they part of this scavenger hunt? Is there a villain?

Whether you do this every Monday morning, or every Friday evening (it would also be a great activity to do over the weekend), cosy up with your favorite warm drinks and encourage your child to read and engage in meaningful discussions about their favorite books! 📚

7. Use Technology to your Advantage

Technology has become a crucial tool for education and communication, especially during the past year. While it’s very important to regulate your child’s screen time and monitor their online presence, it is also essential to teach child how to safely and effectively use online resources.

From educational content developed by independent creators to online learning programs such as nightzookeeper.com, the internet offers endless resources that can make for days full of creative and fun activities at home! 🏡

Summary

Whether your child is completely onboard with these fun activities, or whether they’re reluctant to take part, we guarantee that, in the end, the whole family will have had a wonderful time together! The most important thing to remember is that every child is unique and you should encourage them to come up with their own fun activities to do at home.

If you try any of our suggestions, please let us know! Your children's work may even be featured in a future blog post or campaign!

Looking for more creative and educational activities for your child? Check out Night Zookeeper's reading and writing program today!

Would you like to share your creative activities with other parents and educators? Be sure to reach out to us via social media for the chance to be featured in future articles!

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