Bored at home? Grab up our top 10 ideas for at home adventures. Fill your days with fun without having to leave the house!
Fun At-Home Adventures for Your Family
Looking for some fun at home adventures?
Need some new ideas for kids activities at home to mix up your daily routine?
I get it. Whether you’re stuck at home due to an illness, need rainy day activities at home, need family date night ideas…adventures are still possible! Just because you can’t get out of the house or travel doesn’t mean you can’t fill your days with fun.
Adventure is a mindset. So change up your routines, try something new, and fill your soul with some fun and exciting at home adventures!
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50+ Fun & Unique At Home Adventure Ideas
I’ve been a stay at home mom for…ummm well, 15 years! And sometimes we have had to get really creative with our days and activities.
Sometimes budgets have been tight, sometimes we’ve had bad weather to keep us home, and sometimes we’ve faced illness forcing us to stay home. I’ve always found that keeping kids busy keeps everyone happy!
Just because kids get older doesn’t mean you don’t still need a good arsenal of fun things to do at home. So, I’ve put together a list of some fun activities for families at home to keep families with children of all ages busy! (Besides, who doesn’t want a little more QUALITY family time!)
Have Fun In the Kitchen with Kids
Spending some time in the kitchen with your kids and teach them how to bake and cook. This is a fun and educational way to teach them basic cooking skills while also creating some delicious treats.
I tend to turn to the kitchen when I’m in a creativity rut. One of our favorite things to do with kids at home is getting them involved with cooking! No matter what your child’s age, you can have fun in the kitchen. Here are a few ideas:
- Have a cupcake or cookie decorating extravaganza.
- Have a cooking competition.
- Make homemade ice cream in a bag!
- At home sensory activities. Create sensory bins with things like pasta, rice, beans, or whipped cream.
- Sorting activities- use empty ice cube trays or a muffin pan for little fingers to sort things (beans, jelly beans, blueberries, anything!)
- Have a blind taste test competition.
- Make gingerbread houses for all holidays and seasons.
- Science experiments- Encourage your kids’ curiosity with some simple science experiments that you can do at home. You can find plenty of ideas online, from making your own slime to creating your own volcano.
Having fun in the kitchen has always been one of my go-to rainy day activities at home.
Bonus Idea: If you have younger kids, set up a mud kitchen outside. Water play at home can be messy, but it’s oh so fun!
Kids Scavenger Hunt
I love a scavenger hunt!
Scavenger hunts for kids don’t have to be complicated. And trust me, kids of all ages love a good scavenger hunt! You can search for colors, sounds, items in your backyard, or in your neighborhood. Here are a few FREE printable scavenger hunt ideas OR feel free to hop over to my Pinterest account for some more awesome ideas!
Scavenger hunts can be one of the best activities to do with friends at home too!
BONUS IDEA: Dig out all those plastic Easter eggs and have an egg hunt! Don’t want to give your kids more sugar?? Fill them with money, stickers, small dollar tree toys, or IOU’s. Even my teenagers will hunt for Easter eggs when money is involved!
Get Active!
Whether you can get outside at home or if you’re stuck inside, you can still get active as a family!
If you can get outside, try these fun outdoor activities at home:
- Set up an obstacle course.
- Have a good old fashioned water balloon fight. These are the BEST water balloons!
- Set up a sprinkler or slip and slide.
- Play capture the flag.
- Have a trampoline competition. Score each family member’s tricks and choose a winner.
- Go old school and play four square, jump rope, or hopscotch.
- Have a field day- do a potato sack race, tug of war, and egg and spoon race!
- Get your hands dirty and work in the garden together with your kids.
If you have to stay inside, try these fun inside activities to do at home:
- Try yoga (Just search for a free class on YouTube!)
- Play good old fashioned hide and seek.
- Play indoor baseball with a balloon and fly swatter.
- Have a dance party! (Neighbors close by? Try a silent disco- everyone jams to their favorite tunes wearing headphones. Download a free disco app on your phone and party!!)
- Have an indoor putting contest.
- Set up a laundry basket/ socks three point contest (this is a thing on Instagram right now!!)
Go Camping at Home!
Set up a tent in your backyard and spend the night outdoors.
Don’t have a backyard? Set up a tent in your living room. No tent? That’s OK too, make a fort under your dining room or kitchen table. (Although that may not be super comfortable for sleeping. Have a small fire pit out back? Make s’mores! Try cloud watching or stargazing. Regardless of your situation, get creative.)
I Challenge You!
Challenges are one of the most creative activities for kids at home.
Let’s face it, most of us parents have seen most of these challenges over social media. But if you haven’t, and you have a child who watches YouTube, Instagram, or TikTok then I know they have seen or at least heard about some of these challenges.
And what way to win cool points as a parent than to recreate these challenges at home!
Challenges are like trends and they come and go, but here are a few ideas we’ve seen or done:
- Eat it or wear it challenge. We did this in the bathtub because it was raining outside. Basically you choose a bunch of random food items (mustard, syrup, jelly, pickles) and write them down on a small piece of paper and put them in a hat. Then each person in the challenge picks an item. The player then has to eat it or wear it. This is super messy but very memorable!
- TikTok is the place for all dance challenges…your children will die laughing at your attempts to get these dance moves right. Trust me!
- 2 Truths & a Lie. Each person comes up with 2 truths and a lie, the other players have to guess the lie!
- Not my hands Challenge. This takes at least for people. Two family members team up. One person puts their hands behind their back while the other teammate is the “hands”. Each team has to complete a task- first one to finish successfully wins!
- Water Bottle Flip Challenge. I’m sure you’ve seen it all over social media. And most of us parents never want to hear another bottle flip again…but if your child never caught on…search it up and flip away!
- Try Not to Laugh Challenge. My kids love this one. They do it all the time. On road trips, at home, everywhere. One person does things to try to make the other one laugh…the other players try not to laugh as long as possible.
Try one of these fun games to play at home with family. Trust me, your kids will love it!
Party Time!
Host a party for just your family! You don’t need to have a lot of people to have a party…you just need some creativity. Pick a theme and go with it. Base the food you serve around the theme, what you wear, and even what you do at your party. Here are some fun ideas:
- Disney! Pick your favorite movie and plan a mini party around it!
- Murder Mystery Dinner Party
- Have a backyard fiesta!
- Sports Parties- Superbowl doesn’t have to be the only party in town. Celebrate the Kentucky Derby, the Final Four, or The Masters golf tournament.
- Have an ice cream social- make it a competition to see who can make the most amazing ice cream sundae!
- Have a spa themed party!
Want to invite more friends- host a virtual party using Facetime or Zoom! Techonology is amazing!
Family Games to Play at Home
Our family is currently obsessed with poker. We’ve been playing poker every night but that works since we have a teen and tween in our household.
When my kids were younger, we played a lot of Go Fish, War, Uno, and other board games. We like the classics like Monopoly, Yahtzee, and Scrabble. We’ve been through a lot of phases…do what works for you and your kids!
You can’t go wrong with a family game night!
Gather the family around for a night of board games, card games, or even video games. This is a great way to spend time together and create some friendly competition.
Plan a Picnic At Home
Let’s be honest. How many times have you had an actual picnic? I’m willing to bet, not too many times.
Am I right?
So get out that picnic basket and set up a fun picnic in the backyard! Don’t have a yard? Try your balcony, patio, or even your living room! Make it special. Try making special drinks, foods, and plan some fun activities or games. Make a rule for no technology and get back to basics.
If you’re looking for super fun stuff to do with friends at home, try having a picnic.
Art Projects to Do at Home
Arts and Crafts: Get creative with your kids and let their imaginations run wild with some arts and crafts projects. You can find plenty of ideas and tutorials online for all ages and skill levels, from simple paper crafts to more complex projects like painting or sculpture.
Here are a couple of my favorite ideas:
- Coloring a large canvas together. We have one like this that we color with sharpies every time someone is sick. We might spend an hour together doing it or maybe two and progress is slow but it’s still a great way to spend quality time together as a family. We also love these fun free gratitude coloring pages.
- Try your hand at hand lettering! Now this isn’t something the entire family does…it’s more something my daughter and I have found to be fun! (Need some more inspo? Check out our fave Maghon from All She Wrote Notes.)
- Make a family scrapbook from your last vacation. Get your kids involved in preserving family memories!
- Have an art show. Dig out those colors, paints, and other art supplies and get creative. Display everyone’s art pieces and award first, second, and third place winners.
- Make slime! Sick of slime like us? Try making soap, hand sanitizer, or even handmade lip balm!
- Take an online art class or tutorial. You can find very inexpensive classes from companies like Skillshare, MasterClass, or find free tutorials on YouTube.
- Make a family vision board. I love this idea because you can really get your kids thinking about hopes, dreams, and goals.
- Decorate a DIY piggy bank (Check out this one we made for our Disney trip!)
- Make handmade Thank You cards for friends, family, or neighbors. Consider making some for your postal carrier, your grocery store clerks, or your trash people too!
I know not every family is artsy. And that’s OK. I’m not super artsy but we have managed to find a few fun and creative activities for family at home that we do enjoy.
Armchair Travel Family Activities
You didn’t think I could have an entire post without mentioning travel did you?? There are so many fun ways to experience travel from home!! Here are some of my best travel oriented ideas!
- Plan a staycation!
- Create a family bucket list! Time to write down all those places your family has been dreaming about! Need some help? Get some more inspo from my USA bucket list and grab my FREE bucket list template too!
- Grab some popcorn and watch a travel themed movie together. Some good movies for younger kids are Moana, Finding Nemo, Rio, or Coco. And I would never forgive myself for not mentioning my childhood favorite The Sound of Music. For older kids try The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants, Free Solo, Pirates of the Caribbean, or the Lord of the Rings series.
- Set up a pin or scratch map! Personally we bought two huge maps, one of the world and one of the United States, and we put a pin in each location we’ve visited as a family. To be honest, I think the scratch maps are very cool but we already had the other map situation set up!
- Do a virtual tour! From children’s museums to the Smithsonian to the Louvre to the Sistine Chapel, you can find virtual tours to all sorts of fun and far away places!
- Have an international themed day- learn all sorts of things about a new culture from the food to their iconic destinations to the clothes and customs.
- Try your hand at learning a new language! Start with the basics and practice together as a family! Rosetta Stone is a great language learning tool!
Adventures & Activities for Families at Home
Whether you’re looking to spend some quality time with your kids or just want to keep them entertained during those long afternoons, there are plenty of activities you can enjoy together in the comfort of your own home.
As you all know, I’m a big believer that adventure is a mindset! It’s about getting out of your normal everyday routine and trying something new! So now I’m challenging you! What is your favorite stay at home kids activities or adventures! Inspire Me!
Want more ideas? Check out our list of 52 Everyday Adventures if you’re able to get out of the house and travel locally.
Save this post for the next time you’re in a rut and need some fun at home activities for kids or your family!
17 Comments
These are all such fun ideas. I took note of several to make fun date nights with the hubby :). I literally laughed out loud when I read “eat it or wear it”. I could just imagine how crazy this one could get! LOL!
It was messy but memorable that’s for sure!!!??
I love some of these ideas. The eat it or wear it one sounds hilarious.
Love these ideas! I’ve been trying to work on my baking skills!
These are fantastic tips, thanks for sharing. I need all the inspo I can find right now to deal with social distancing! I love the idea of camping in the backyard, will definitely do that when the weather gets a bit warmer.
Some absolute great ideas here as it’s a pretty difficult time to keep kids entertained! I used to camp in the back yard when I was a kid and I absolutely loved it, that’s a great idea.
I love the scavenger hunt and party theme ideas! I don’t have kids, but they would work well for all ages!
These are such great ideas to keep kids busy and active indoors! I would’ve loved to have done some of these when I was a kid. ?
This information will surely come in useful for so many families right now!
Some great ideas for families stuck at home!
Thank you for these tips. What a great way to add some excitement to our routine.
I don’t have any kids, but I think some of these would work great just for adults by themselves or couples. Staying home doesn’t always have to be boring and just watching TV. Thanks for these great ideas!
So many great ideas! I love the camping at home idea-if we are still quarantined when the weather wars up a bit here I will have to try it! I think we will be building a fort in the living room though, I was looking for some more ideas for keeping my daughter busy and learning! Thanks for sharing
I love the scavenger hunt ideas! We are going on a family walk and will be bringing one along! Thanks!!
These are some great ideas for things to do at home with kids. Love the scavenger hunt printable and cupcake decorating idea!
Oh, I love the game UNO! haha
Some are ideas are really awesome, guess we shall try them out.
Fantastic ideas! We love playing new games…our new favorite is Throw Throw Burrito…we laughed soooo hard!