How to keep kids busy while working from home

The Coronavirus outbreak was totally unpredicted and so was the work from the home situation that arose because of it. While we would have given anything to work in our beds before this whole thing, it has become a nuisance for all of us now that it has become mandatory for most of us.

The section of the working class that is struggling, the most, consists of parents who are working from home. Not only they are struggling to keep their work and personal life separated but they also have to deal with their children coming in the way of giving their best at their work. 

As such, in this article, we are giving you a solution (10, in fact) to this problem – how to keep kids busy while working from home. So, in a nutshell, here are 10 ways on how to keep a toddler busy while working from home.

  1. Washing their toys
  2. Art – Drawing, Coloring, and Shadow Tracing
  3. Something with cardboard shipping boxes
  4. Target toss from a bean bag
  5. Making necklaces
  6. Scavenger hunt
  7. Rock Painting
  8. Household Chores – Sweeping/Mopping/Dusting

You are still here! So, let’s get to it. We will be diving into each of these activities on how to keep kids busy while working from home. Let’s begin!

Toy Washing

The first activity we have for you when you are looking for how to keep kids busy while working from home is – Toy Washing.

We all know that one thing that kids absolutely love is – their toys. If you had to think of another thing that your kid loves the most, it would mostly be water. Kids love playing with water unless it is the winter season (obviously).

Toy washing put together two things that kids love the most – toys and water. Here’s why this is one of the most effective ways of how to keep kids/toddlers busy while working from home. You just fill in a bucket, tub, sink, or any other container with water and provide your kids with all the toys they have (and a towel). Yes, ask them to dry up their washed-up toys as well.

Caution: Give only plastic or rubber toys to your kids during this activity. Avoid any toy with electronic elements.       

Art – Drawing, Coloring, and Shadow Tracing

Just like toys, most kids love drawing, coloring, and similar artsy stuff. So, the next thing that works if you are looking for how to keep toddler busy while working from home is artsy stuff.

Here’s the psychology behind this. Kids love when they get brand new stuff, right? The idea is to use this to advantage. Get your kid(s) new art supplies. This activity works with old supplies too but getting new art supplies will just get them more excited about this. 

You all get what coloring and drawing are. You can either get them those drawing sheets or real-life objects that you probably won’t need and ask them to draw on it or color it. Another activity that you can add to this list is – Shadow tracing.

Ask your kids to just pick up random objects and trace them on a piece of paper. If you have more than one kid, make it a competition. Whoever manages to trace more objects gets more candies. 

This is one of the most common ways of how to keep kids busy while working from home. If this doesn’t work with our kids, don’t worry. The next one probably should.

Playing With Cardboard Shipping Boxes

If you have cardboard shipping boxes lying around in your house, they are a blessing in disguise for you if you are looking for ways of how to keep kids busy while working from home. 

If you have saved some of the older shipping boxes with you, you can just give them to your children and ask them to build houses, fortresses, and whatnot. You can even throw in some crayons and coloring pens with the shipping cardboard boxes and ask your kids to draw rooms in the homes or fortresses they are building.

Besides this, if your kids are a bit older, you can also include scissors and glue with this activity. These simple additions will only make this activity more fun.

This activity will keep your kids busy for hours and you can just stay focused on your work without any nuisance. In our research, this is one of the most popular methods among parents who are looking for how to keep kids/toddlers busy while working from home.

Target Toss From A Bean Bag

This activity can keep your kids busy for hours at length when you are looking for ways of how to keep toddler busy while working from home. 

Set up a bean bag in our living room along with dustbins, hula hoops, laundry baskets, etc. in your living room. You can arrange for objects to throw in these targets, It could be anything from paper airplanes, or anything else, This is where you can get creative. 

Again, if you have more than 1 kid, you can make this a competition. You can ask them to maintain a scorecard and whoever wins gets some sort of privilege – some extra candies, extra television minutes, or anything else that can work for your kids. 

This activity is one of the most effective ones when you are looking for how to keep kids busy while working from home. 

Related Read: 10 Hacks on how to keep your child busy during the summer

Necklace Making

Well, this is undoubtedly one of the most popular ways of how to keep kids busy while working from home. Of course, it depends on what your kids like or dislike.

If you think that your kids like creating things or are even a bit creative, necklace making is definitely something you should try. Give your kids a bucket of tiny objects & a thread, and ask them to weave a necklace for you using those objects.

As you all already know that weaving a necklace is an activity that requires patience, you can not only expect this activity to keep your ids busty but also help them be more creative and productive with their time.

You can also include other objects like cereals to make this activity more fun and engaging for your kids. 

Scavenger Hunt

You can get as creative with this activity as you can with this. This is one of the most effective ways where you are looking for how to keep kids busy while working from home. Having said that, creating a scavenger hunt for your kids will take some work. So, we advise you to create a scavenger hunt for your kids the night before you plan to use it.

Keep in mind that you are creating this scavenger hunt for your kids. As such, it should neither be too easy nor too hard. It could be as simple as creating a list of items around your house and asking your kids to tick items on that list after they find them.

Here’s a word of caution. While scavenger hunt works when you are looking for how to keep kids busy while working from home only list items that are easy to reach for your kids. This means that avoid listing down items that your kid might not be able to reach and end up getting hurt.

Painting Rocks

Well, who doesn’t love painting rocks? You can use this activity when looking for how to keep toddler busy while working from home. 

Find a bunch of rock – big and small and get some coloring supplies (painting brushes, washable paints, etc.) for your kids. Ask your kids to paint on these rocks and to get as creative as possible. This activity won’t just keep your kids busy but will also help them to realize the creative side in them.

Caution: Make sure that the rocks you choose for this activity are not too heavy to hurt your kids. 

Rock painting is one of the activities that has worked for parents who are working from home. So, it should work for you too when you are looking for how to keep kids busy while working from home.

Household Chores – Sweeping/Mopping/Dusting

Remember how, as kids, we quickly wanted to grow up? Well, kids of this generation are no different.

Your kids are longing to play adults and this activity will allow them to be. And if you are lucky enough you will have a few chores left for you to do after this. Give your kids a duster/sweeper and assign them a few easy chores.

We have observed that kids actually love doing this and even might end up learning these things for their own good when you are not around to micromanage them. As such, this activity definitely deserves a spot in the list of activities on how to keep kids busy while working from home.

Final Words

There are many other activities that can be helpful to you. For instance, letter writing (to grandparents, God, or anyone else) can be effective when you are looking for ways on how to keep kids busy while working from home.

Having said that, if you are tired of doing all these activities on your own, Pencil Voyages can help you out. They have a list of outdoor activities that will help your kids learn while having fun and making friends.