7. Grow a garden
Gardening has clearly already been a popular idea for families in lockdown. Lots of supply stores and nurseries have completely run out of seeds in recent weeks — but the good news is that in lieu of seeds, you can ‘regrow’ plants from plenty of things you already have sitting in your kitchen or compost!
Did you know, for example, that you can sprout fresh greens by planting chopped-off carrot tops or the bottom of a head of lettuce? Or that growing a flourishing tomato plant is as simple as washing and planting seeds straight from an actual tomato?
Chances are your kids will love getting their hands dirty and taking responsibility for nurturing their own little plant nursery — and as an added bonus, regrowing food from scraps is a great opportunity to teach them more about the plant life cycle and get them thinking about where their food comes from.
Check out ABC’s guide to giving fruit, vegetable, and herb scraps new life.
And on the other hand, if you’re lucky enough to already have a thriving garden and an ample supply of seeds, why not get your kid involved in gifting some to your neighbours? You can keep them busy for hours by setting them the task of parcelling up and decorating individual sachets of seeds using paper and tape. Then all that’s left to do is craft a “help yourself!” sign and leave the sachets somewhere outside for passers-by to pick up!
And we’ll leave you with a bonus activity to help keep the ideas flowing…
If you’re looking for a way to encourage your kids to be able to initiate their own activities instead of always coming to you for the next idea — sit down with them for a brainstorming session, write down all the ideas you come up with together, and put them in an “I’m bored” jar so they can rifle through and pick one the next time they’re looking for something to do. This strategy has the added bonus that if an activity was their own idea in the first place, they’re more likely to be enthusiastic to try it!