Entertaining your children during the weirdest week of the year

Your bin is overflowing with cardboard and paper, and your children are already losing interest in their new toys. Everyone is beginning to get cabin fever, and the prospect of spending another week in each other's company is weighing heavily on your mind. 

Well look no further! We've delved into our app and picked out some of our favourite activities to give you some ideas of how to entertain your children in this, the weirdest week of the year. 

Ideas for babies 

Festive lighting fun – great for sensory development 

What you need  

• • Christmas lights 

• • Muslin cloth 

What to do  

• • Place the lights in a place where your baby can see them. If they’re a bit bright, diffuse them by placing a thin muslin cloth over them. 
  • Position your baby so that they can see the diffused light by turning their head.  
  • See how they respond. You might notice them watching the shadows the light creates or choosing to look for the source of light itself.  

• • This can be a wonderful time for a lullaby about light, such as Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star.
    

Catching up with family or friends – great for language development 

What you need  

• • A friend or family member 

What to do  

• • Place your baby on their tummy in between you and a friend, so that they can see both of you. 
  • While you’re talking, notice how your baby moves to see you both. 
  • Bring them into the conversation by speaking to them and smiling at them. 

 
Good to know  

Conversations do not need to be face to face. If your phone rings, put the caller on loudspeaker. Your baby may be interested to hear where the sound is coming from and listen to the sound of a different voice. You could also make a video call, including your baby in your chat. 

Ideas for toddlers 

Paper rip – great for fine motor development 

What you need 

• • Large pieces of scrap paper, like leftover wrapping paper, magazines or letters 

What to do 

• • Explain to your toddler that it’s ok to rip this paper, as it is going to be thrown away. 
  • Show your toddler how to hold one side of the paper and tear it with the other. 
  • You might need to start the tear first. 

• • Use the torn paper as bedding for toy animals, or to make papier maché objects with.
    

Chill out den – great for social and emotional development

What you need 

• • Cushions 

• • Sheets or blankets 

What to do 

• • Make a den using sheets, blankets and cushions. You could drape them over the sofa, chairs or anything else you can find around the home. 
  • Suggest the den could be a quiet space, where you could sit together and read stories. 
  • You could also go into the den and do some ‘starfish breathing’. Starfish breathing is a simple breathing exercise. You hold one hand in front of you, then use the index finger of your other hand to trace up and down your thumb and each finger. As your finger moves up your thumb you breathe in, and as it moves down breathe out, then do the same with each finger.  

Good to know 

Teaching your child techniques like this when they are calm and relaxed will give them strategies to use when they are upset. Even if they cannot quite trace around their hand with their finger yet, this will help them to begin to think about their breathing. 

Ideas for children 

Crawling challenge – great for gross motor development

What you need 

• • Large boxes 

What to do 

• • Open both ends to make a tunnel or arrange some chairs in a row with a sheet over them to make a tunnel.    

• • Tell your child you are going to have a crawling challenge. You are going to see how many times they can crawl through the tunnel in the time you agree. Set a timer on your phone and let your child start crawling.   
    

Good to know 

• • Some children might find the timer challenge too much. If so, hide some toys in the tunnel and the challenge can be crawling through and collecting toys.  
     
    If you have a smaller space, make bridges rather than tunnels, so that your child crawls under a chair, table or box to collect a toy on the other side.
    
    

Memory game – great for cognitive development 

What you need 

• • You and your child 

What to do 

• • Play a simple memory game. This can be a good way to pass the time in the car or on the train. Think of a category such as food, dinosaurs, characters, or favourite stories.  
  • Someone goes first and says one thing from the category, then the next person says that thing as well as something else, and so on. Your child might find it quite hard to remember a long list of things, so you might decide to have two goes each and then choose a new category at first, so that they can practise.   
    

For new activity ideas every day, download our app My First Five Years on the App Store (apple.com)