25 Free Family Activities to Do During Shelter-at-Home
Whether it’s a rainy day or an order to shelter at home, you’re inside right now thinking about how to keep the whole family entertained. I get it! Spending day after day at home is enough to drive anyone stir-crazy.
You need ideas for things to do to bust the boredom and have some fun. Try one of these 25 activities for families to do while sheltering at home. These activities can be done free!
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1 | Learn new card games
Many children nowadays love video games, but card games can be just as entertaining and even more educational. I whittled away hours of free time playing cards by myself and with others as a child. These are some of the most classic games. All you need is a deck of cards.
Crazy Eights
Speed
Go Fish
War
Pig
Solitaire
2 | Play board games
Board games are another way to pass hours of quality time and fun with family. These are some classics with a few newer games thrown in. Keep costs in check by looking around the house for the games you already have and start playing those again.
Young children:
Hi-Ho! Cherry-O
Candy Land
Chutes & Ladders
The Sneaky Snacky Squirrel Game!
Connect 4
Older children:
Monopoly
Clue
Sequence
Trouble
Operation
Battleship
Teens & older:
Settlers of Catan
Ticket to Ride
Codenames
Scrabble
Charades is another game for children who are wanting more physical activity. Word games like hangman and crossword puzzles can be fun to solve as a family too.
3 | Workout online
Keep your spirits up by working out. The internet is filled with workout videos.
YouTube is a great place to start. A quick search for “workout at home” brought up a no-equipment workout, an upper body workout, a ballet barre workout, and a HIIT cardio workout. All for free!
Gyms like Orange Theory and Planet Fitness are hosting daily workouts online.
Many companies provide free access to their programs for a limited time in hopes that you will become a paying customer. Try it out and see if you like it. Be sure to cancel before your time is up if you don’t want to continue.
Bar Method – 14-day free trial
Daily Burn – 60-day free trial
Peloton App – 90-day free trial
4 | Play outdoor games
If you have access to a private outdoor space like a backyard, you can enjoy time outside with some fun outdoor games.
Water balloon toss
Lawn games like bean bag toss and ring toss
Bowling with plastic bottles and a ball
Dodge ball
Capture the flag
Obstacle course
5 | Play hide and seek
The children in my family love this game! If you have young children in the family, you don’t even need deep hiding places. Just hiding behind furniture is enough to get them laughing.
Do you have a dog? Teach the dog to play hide and seek for items or people. Then reward him with a treat or some playtime when he finds what you want.
6 | Teach the dog new tricks
Many dogs are eager to learn new tricks as long as there’s a reward involved. Use this free time to teach the dog new tricks.
I’m teaching my dog to jump over a broomstick, zigzag through cones, and play hide and seek. We play for 5-10 minutes at a time at least once a day to keep things light and fun.
Another way to entertain the dog and yourself is to engaged the dog in a scavenger hunt. I’ve made my dog hunt for pieces of dry kibble around the living room. They’re in plain sight for us but require the dog to sniff around to find them.
7 | Make a fort
Forts are easy to set up. Drape a blanket or sheets over chairs and then go inside with your belongings. You might spend hours in there playing games or reading a book. Everything is more fun in a fort!
8 | Camp inside or outside
Turn that fort into a camping experience. Pull out the sleeping bags and pretend to be out in the woods for a night.
If it’s warm enough in your region and you have a backyard, you could turn the experience into camping outdoors. While it might not be as comfortable for the adults, the children will enjoy a different experience.
9 | Have a picnic
Picnics don’t have to wait for a sunny day at the park. Gather up picnic foods in a basket and take lunch as an indoor picnic. Children might like it in the fort or tent.
10 | Visit places virtually
You don’t have to travel to see the world. Let the world come to you virtually. Google Arts & Culture lets you explore museums, national parks, street art, and so much more.
If you love exploring the world, this will keep you busy for hours. I got taken away from writing this post learning about US national parks.
11 | Make a short film
Does anyone in your family like making videos? Now’s the chance to be a movie director. Use a cell phone to make videos about anything that entertains you. Then play them back for some good laughs.
Take this a step further by having family members write a script, act out scenes, film them, and edit the scenes to put together a full homemade movie.
12 | Call friends and family
During this time of social distancing and staying at home, people may feel isolated and depressed. Check up on friends and family with video calls to let them know you’re thinking of them.
This is true for children too. Let them call up their friends and ask them how they’re managing right now.
13 | Have a movie night
Movie night is easy to throw together. Pick a favorite movie and grab a bunch of snacks to munch on while watching it. Then curl up together and enjoy.
14 | Read as a family
Reading with children helps improve literacy and listening skills. It also helps foster conversation and vocabulary growth. You may find that the children really enjoy being read to.
If you get tired of reading aloud, have the others read to you. Even children without the ability to read words can make a story out of pictures.
15 | Clean up the house
It’s springtime when many people do a thorough deep cleaning of the house. Have the whole family join in.
Cleaning doesn’t have to be boring either. Make it a race or offer prizes for finishing cleaning tasks.
Children who don’t like to or aren’t able to clean can still help. Given them a box and tell them to fill it with toys and clothes they don’t want or fit anymore.
16 | Put together a family photo album
One of the best ways to spend time with family is to reminisce while looking at old pictures and videos. You can pass a whole afternoon or evening looking at old photos.
Whether you have physical photos or digital ones, a family project could be to put together an album. In the past, I’ve made a scrapbook album of my cat and dog. You could make one of the past school year or the last vacation you took.
17 | Try out new recipes together
With many people stuck at home and reducing their spending, this is a great time to stay in and cook. Try out new recipes to keep meals interesting. Older children can help select recipes and prepare parts of the meal.
My cousin was welcome to help his parents in the kitchen when he was growing up. He developed an affinity for cooking and now cooks family dinners regularly. A child with cooking skills pays off in the end!
18 | Bake a treat!
Do you enjoy baking but rarely have the time for it? Now’s your chance. Spend an afternoon baking a batch of your favorite cookies or making a new cake. I bet your family will love it!
19 | Make a collage
At-home arts and crafts are an easy way to pass the time at little to no cost. My favorite craft growing up was to make collages.
Start by thinking of a theme such as animals or vacation destinations. Then cut out magazine pictures or print pictures from the internet. Gather related trinkets and decorations from around the house.
Glue them all onto a large piece of paper or poster board. This can double as a vision board if it’s an inspirational tool for something you want to do or somewhere you want to go.
Playing with homemade playdough is another fun and frugal activity.
20 | Make a mystery box
You can make a mystery box by placing an unknown item in a box. Then other family members can feel it, smell it, or just ask questions about it to guess what it is.
I once did this to my husband using a floral scent in a bottle. I didn’t realize he was allergic to flowers and had him sneezing the rest of the day. Be careful what you have people smell!
21 | Try origami
Origami is another fun pastime. All you need is paper and tutorials, which can be found for free online. I only got as far as folding a box or a crane. You might find that someone if your family has a talent or interest in it and will be able to fold much more intricate things.
22 | Create homemade gifts
Prepare for future holidays by making gifts now. Do you know of someone with a birthday coming up? Perhaps that person would treasure a homemade card. Other ideas for homemade gifts include scarves, jewelry, and holiday ornaments.
23 | Have a dance party
With everyone stuck inside for days on end, you’re bound to have lots of bottled up energy. So turn up the music and dance it out! There aren’t a lot of people at this party, but it’s still fun to move to your favorite tunes.
24 | Scavenger hunt
Scavenger hunts are fun for children of all ages. Give a list of basic items for younger children to find. Make it even more fun by pretending to be pirates looking for treasure. For older children, make the hunt harder by given them riddles as clues to the objects.
25 | Sell things online
This may not sound exciting off the bat, but it can be everyone knows the money is going towards something they like. The profits from sales can go towards a pizza night or a new game. Children can get involved by finding things to sell and taking pictures of the items.
You don’t have to leave the house to sell online either. You can post pictures of items up on sites like Poshmark and eBay. Once they sell, wrap them up and place them outside your front door for USPS to pick up.
Spend some time enjoying these activities and you’ll keep the family busy without spending money.
What activities are you enjoying at home these days?
