Activities & Days Out / 12 February, 2021 / Christina Walter
If you’re looking for family lockdown activities for half time you’ve come to the right place. Here’s our growing list of things to do with the kids this February. Who says lockdown can’t be fun?
If you’re looking for family lockdown activities for half time you’ve come to the right place. Here’s our growing list of things to do with the kids this February. Who says lockdown can’t be fun?
Global family members’ club, Maggie & Rose are running fun family lockdown classes this half term, which are available to watch online at any time. Full of things to do using resources that most people will have around the house – from junk to jam jars, classes are super easy and cost-effective for all families.
Little ones can get creative with junk modelling using anything from cardboard, milk bottles, egg boxes and punnets; build a shadow puppet theatre with cardboard, paper and pens to put on a show for the rest of the family or a select teddy bear audience; or make Moroccan jam jar lanterns using old jars, tin foil and tissue paper to light up a lockdown afternoon.
Online tutorials for all of the activities can be accessed at MaggieandRose.me, where you will find stacks of inspo for lockdown activities.
Janod’s collection of toys are ideal for bringing lockdown learning to life for 4-8-year olds. There’s so much in Janod’s awesome range to offer help and support for parents with their newest roles as teachers!
For those rainy half-term afternoons while Mum and Dad are still working from home and the kids have exhausted their online classes and events, little ones can keep themselves amused with Janod’s games, puzzles and craft kits.
Janod’s beautiful range of wooden toys for children aged 3+ are designed to help build on your child’s key developmental skills. These toys are fabulous for open-ended play, sparking the imaginations of children. They also make wonderful keepsake gifts your child will want to treasure forever.
UAL Future Creatives provides inspiring online art classes for children and teenagers.
These live online classes provide an exceptional creative education with practical learning through engaging activities. Through live classes students get feedback on their work from expertly qualified teachers.
They offer a range of classes including; short art and design classes covering a different exciting project each session, support to help you reach higher grades with your GCSE and A level portfolios, and specialist classes in visual merchandising and drawing techniques.
Students can go online for live interactive classes and receive the same high standard of training that the performing arts organisation is renowned for. The company has welcomed Emma Watson, Jamie Bell and Tom Fletcher through its doors over the years, to name a few.
Some schools, including Stagecoach Performing Arts Loughton have announced a special half-term Zoom workshop extravaganza. Each day will feature the opportunity to learn routines from West-End superstars, become familiar with Hip-Hop, meet a talent agent to understand an audition process and even learn a dance from 2016 Strictly Champion Joanne Clifton.
As far as family lockdown activities go, these fitness sessions will keep you all healthy this half term.
The majority of parents have taken on a new role as ‘teacher’ over the last year, if you are looking to take some time off during half term, let us entertain and inspire you and your children with a 30 minute themed class jam-packed with fitness moves, music and inspiration for exercise brought to you by James Golden – The Bamford Fitness Coach and his young daughter.
Please join us virtually every day from 10:45 am-11:15 am on the 15th – 19th February.
Parent(s) and child/children (suggested age 6-12)
Family Yoga Fun
A fun yoga practice for the whole family with postures that are named after animals and other creatures. Breathing exercises and relaxation are also included leaving both parent and child feeling peaceful and positive.
Dates: Monday (Feb 15), Tuesday (Feb 16), Friday (Feb 19) – Time: 12:30PM-1PM (30 minutes)
There are so many online events happening this half term to keep lockdown boredom at bay. For the littlest ones, why not fill their world with colour with this online musical experience for babies aged 3 – 18 months?
Become an astronaut and rocket into outer space this half term – yes it’s lockdown, but yes you can!
That’s right, along with Explorer Dome discover whether aliens really exist and the fascinating links between space and our deep seas. With space-themed live crafting too, the National Maritime Museum is bringing the Museum to you this half term, right from the comfort of your own sofa.
It’s important for all the family to get out and about this half term and enjoy the fresh air; lockdown doesn’t mean we have to hibernate all the time.
Why not shake off the winter blues and sign up for a week of free spring-inspired virtual interactive activities?
Let’s get creative this half term!
The Future Creatives Initiative features arty ideas for people to try at home as well as free downloadable activity sheets so you can keep the kids busy and entertained.
To do your own balloon races you will need:
Start by setting up the string. We tied two lengths to some cupboard doors at one end of the playroom and then had the string do all the way to the other end of the room. I would recommend threading your straw onto the string and then tying a big knot at the end you will hold to stop it coming off. This will make it easier when you’re attaching the balloon. It also means that if you drop the string, you don’t have to faff with putting the straw back on. We learnt that the hard way. Either play individually or as teams. If you play individually then you will need to add more strings. Give each player their own balloon (using different colours makes it easier to identify whose is whose) to blow up. Don’t tie off the end, just hold it shut and tape it to the straw, it should hang down. If you have a balloon pump then younger children can use that to blow up their balloon.
Containing games, facts, home-cupboard-friendly and easy to reproduce recipes and a design competition, the print-at-home packs have been designed to keep young minds and hands occupied for an afternoon or two, with three versions spanning from EYFS to KS2.
They are giving budding artists and designers the chance to have their own label design printed on one of our peanut butter tubs. The winner will be sent a year’s supply of peanut butter and to inspire their creativity further, a prize totalling over £45 from our friends at Scout & Co Kids containing a giant colouring poster from OMY, a rainbow of Ooly art supplies and an excellent art activity book, Think And Make Like An Artist, which encourages kids to experiment with painting, sculpture, papercraft and more.
Make sure you follow my activities board on Pinterest for more ideas. Don’t forget to save the pin for later.
To make your own Aqua Sand you will need:
Make sure you do this first part in a well-ventilated room. Scotchgard is one of those random products that you may have in the back of your cupboard from when you’ve bought a pair of suede shoes and need to weather protect them.
To make your own DIY bee hotel you will need:
*I used a plastic plant pot, but you could also use a milk carton that has been cut down.
Cut your bamboo down to size so that it fits into your container. Make sure that the inner cavity of the bamboo is clear. This is where the bees will make their nests.
Mindful Activities Parents Can Do With Children During Lockdown
Reasons Why Music Is Crucial For Your Child’s Development
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Introduce a whole new world of fun to their playtime with this incredible personalised wooden doll’s house gift set. Complete with furniture to decorate the living room, kitchen, bedroom, nursery and bathroom, and an adorable wooden family, this set is truly the ultimate doll’s house for little storytellers.
Make this charming doll’s house gift set all theirs by adding a sweet plaque to the front with their name on it.
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