Are you struggling to find out how to keep kids busy while working from home?
If you’re a stay-at-home mom who also works from home, you know just how hard it is to keep kids busy at home.
I’m sure you’ve often looked up ‘how to keep my child busy at home‘ in order to calm your nerves and get some practical tips.
Between doing the laundry and cleaning the house, to cooking what seems like endless meals, you sometimes wonder how you manage to stay sane!
On top of that, you have the grocery list to tweak, bills to pay online and you haven’t even started attending to your at-home job.
It can seem almost impossible to keep up with your side hustle while you manage your kids, but I can tell you from experience that it can be done.
Just how can you manage your home-based business on a hectic schedule and with kids driving you up the wall?
With just a little planning and some good old entertainment and fun!
Entertaining your kids and keeping them busy while you work can be a challenge, but with these awesomely fun activities, your kids might not even remember you’re there!
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How To Keep Kids Busy While Working From Home
1. Spot it Book!
My son absolutely loves these! We bought the first one, Spot-A-Lot: Vehicle Adventure (he loves cars) and he loved it so much that we bought a second one, Spot-A-Lot: Animal Escape.
These books are not only filled with cute pictures, but they also teach kids counting concepts on every page.
What I love about them too is that they are not too easy or too hard, just somewhere in between.
So while your little one is on the hunt to find missing items, you can work without any distractions!
2. Camping Fun
Almost every kid will love to do some camping, even if it’s on the inside.
An indoor tent is a pretty simple process to set up and you can get creative with useful items you have laying around the house.
You can set up a tent with blankets and add their teddy bears and toys, then have them play camp.
Give them some tasty snacks and a nice treat and have them pretend they’re out in the woods on an epic adventure!
You can even play it up by adding some nighttime audio with cricket sounds and a calming stream running by.
Give them toy binoculars so they can ‘watch’ the wild critters go by.
To add a bit more fun and creativity, you can try to build a fort and have your kids pretend they’re the king or queen of the castle!
3. Indoor Scavenger Hunt
What’s more fun for kids than a scavenger hunt?
This will be an especially fun activity for kids who love getting into everything.
Grab some ball-shaped toys and hide them in some not too hard to find places and have them search for them!
You can also print and cut out some cute animal-shaped cards and have them search for them on their ‘map’.
Make sure to print two copies so that one set can be used for the scavenger hunt and the other pictures are listed on their ‘map’.
You can even have them dress up in cute outfits that add to the play.
You can even try a scavenger hunt online with Riddle Me.
They have an awesome virtual scavenger hunt program that’s great for parties or homeschooling fun.
4. Toy Car Wash
This is one of the best activities to keep toddlers busy and engaged while you work.
Get some toy cars and make them dirty with a little sand.
Then your kids can use a bucket of water to wash the cars and make them sparkling clean.
To add a bit more fun to the game, you can have your older kids make their own car wash entrance with cardboard to drive the cars through.
5. Make Some Slime
Slime is a nice way to keep your kids entertained and get their hands dirty at the same time.
Kids absolutely love using slime and they can even make their own slime recipes easily.
Have your kids stay at their workstations or table and mix their slime ingredients and make shapes.
This is an excellent creative outlet and it also helps as a sensory activity.
If you don’t want your kids to get too messy making their own slime, you can buy one of your choosing for some good old sliming fun.
6. Backyard Games
As a work-from-home mom, sometimes a change of scenery is best. Switch things up with some fun outside and keep your kids busy with some backyard activities.
Simple games like dodgeball, tug of war, playing frisbee with the dog, and even mini-golf can keep your kids active while you’re working online.
7. Fun With Legos
This is another one of my family’s very favorite things to do together.
Legos are not just for kids, but almost any age group can enjoy this activity.
When you’re taking a break from work, you can join them.
Your kids can stay occupied with legos for hours because there are a hundred different things they can build.
They can get creative making cars, flowers, an apartment complex, or a cute little bunny.
8. Do a Puzzle
Would you like fun toys to keep a 5 year old busy? I would know, because it worked well with my son.
Puzzles come in all shapes and sizes, so you can find the ideal fit for children of any age.
Having a fun puzzle or a small collection of puzzles can keep your kids busy for an hour or more.
You can find unique puzzles for kids on places like:
Just make sure your kids have ample space on the ground to fit their puzzle pieces correctly.
I also recommend choosing larger puzzle pieces to avoid choking with small kids.
Once they’re all set up, you can head to the laptop to work in peace and quiet.
9. Kinetic Sand Kit
If you have a rambunctious toddler on your hands, you can settle them down with a fun kinetic sand activity.
One way to do this is to make a sandbox filled with kinetic sand.
Your toddler can then fill small buckets with sand, draw in the sand, or do scooping activities.
This type of activity is pretty fun for toddlers and will engage them in play for a long time.
Add to the fun with some play dough animal shapes where they can form their favorite animals and play farm animal games.
10. Rock Painting
Who says rocks aren’t fun?
Head out to the garden and find some smooth, sizable rocks for your kids to do some rock painting. Kids of all ages will love this fun activity!
Let your kids get their painting set and use a variety of colors to get those rocks looking super-duper cute.
They can express their creativity by drawing on some sunglasses or by adding some crazy patterns.
11. Draw a Cartoon
This is a pretty creative way to keep a child busy at home without much effort.
Your kids can have some fun drawing their own cartoons. They can either free-syle it or you could give them a book as a reference to draw as they like.
I often use Art for Kids Hub, which is a website for kids where they can draw anything from animals to flowers and even RV’s!
12. Listen To an Audiobook
This has worked for me lots of times and is a great way to get your child into reading even when they don’t love it.
You can have them listen on a phone or tablet and they don’t even have to watch the audiobook if it does have animation.
This can give you some much-needed time to work on your blog or your other side hustle.
13. Science Experiment
Doing fun science experiments can be a really exciting way to keep kids busy at home. It can be a fun research project for kids who love finding out stuff on their own.
Your child can explore something new about nature or build their own flower garden with papercrafts.
Give them all their materials and leave them to work at their mini workstation.
You’ll be surprised at the number of inventive things kids can come up with!
14. Easy Crafts
Your kids can have a lot of fun making some quick and easy crafts independently while you work.
Subscriptions like Green Kids Crafts make this super easy.
Still, you don’t have to head to the store to make any purchases.
Use little trinkets you can find around the house. I’ve used clothespins to make airplanes and even beads with thread to make wind shakers.
If you need some inspiration, check out this post of quick and easy crafts anyone can make!
15. Play On Dry Erase Boards
Using dry-erase boards is a great idea for your kids to play teacher or practice their letters and numbers.
Your kids can easily carry them around the house and write or draw whatever their little hearts desire.
Add some learning flashcards to the mix so they can write the words or numbers they see.
16. Board Games
Family night is not the only time to pull out those board games. These are simple yet fun toys to keep kids busy for a long time.
If you have multiple kids, this is a great way to keep them engaged and all in one place. ????
Use board games that are simple and that everyone can do.
This is especially the case if you have kids of varying ages.
A definite go-to is Guess Who!
17. Use Sticker Books
If you need activities to keep preschoolers busy, here’s something they will enjoy!
Your younger kids will love using sticker books. They can choose from holiday-themed sticker books, age-based sticker books, or vocabulary-based ones.
To get them more involved, your kids can create sticker books with their own imaginative stories.
If you’re feeling extra kind that day, they can even make their own stickers.
18. Measuring Items
Believe it or not, your kids can be entertained by measuring items.
This is something my son thought of himself and wanted to do on his own.
Because he loved it so much, we used it in our homeschool math lessons and it really helped him learn!
There are a number of creative ways for your kids to measure and have fun. Have them use a ruler to measure items around the house, and write the amount.
After you’re done working, you can check them together.
19. Picnic Play
Picnic play activities will give kids the outdoor experience they crave without all the mess. Make some space in your living room or a convenient area in the house, and lay out a blanket.
Print out some food items on paper like sandwiches, cupcakes, and fries and cut them out. Your child can now enjoy a play picnic on their own or with a sibling. Get out some sensory bins and toys so they can have more fun in the ‘sun’.
20. Indoor Obstacle Course
Nothing screams fun like an indoor obstacle course for kids. It doesn’t have to be anything complicated at all. Shift your chairs and table into a maze of sorts and add some obstacles in the way. Then let them find the path to victory!
You can add little quests for them to find along the way so they get bonus points. Once they get to the finish line, they get a prize of their choice.
Keep those kids busy
Now that you’ve learned how to keep kids busy while working from home, let’s put it into action. I’m sure your little ones will enjoy these activities because they’re super duper easy! Even though I didn’t include any tips on how to keep a baby busy, I do hope it was helpful. I know that a lot of new moms would love ideas on this, but babies often choose when to keep themselves busy and we don’t have much of a choice!????
Do you have any creative ways to entertain your child while you work? Shoot me them in the comments below. I’d love to try a few!
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