No Tech? No Problem!

Book Making- Make a mini book. 

Choices- Allow students to pick a topic they'd like to learn about and spend 30 mins each day on that topic.

Picture Books-Spend one day reading every single picture book in the house

Baking- Find a recipe and bake something. (https://www.nutrition.gov/)

Letter Writing- Have each kid write a letter and/or emails to a different friend or family member each day

Building Blocks- Use all of our building toys on one giant structure

Ready, Set, Go!- Races of various kinds in the backyard (hopping on one foot, crabwalk, walking backwards, etc.)

Playdough Creation-Try stop-motion animation with playdough

Communication Time- Facetime grandparents, family and friends a lot

Plant It- Inventory the plants & wildlife (from bugs on up) in your yard. Learn the parts of plants/flowers & how they function (bonus if they learn the Latin names). Have the kids help with yardwork in between playing games outside. They're little, but they like getting dirty and "working" in the gardens.

Story Time!-Write a short story & illustrate it.

GoNoodle! Great for guided movement, relaxation, etc.-https://www.gonoodle.com/ 

Play to win-Board games, card games

Lego Time- Use Legos to create 

Scrapbooking-Card making/scrapbooking projects (mostly for me but kids can do it too). 

Shadow Show- Have a shadow show in the reading tent (we used blankets over chairs or a table)

BirdCalls-Get binoculars and learn about the birds near your house, look them up on google and search for their birdcalls on YouTube

Action-Play with cornstarch and water and cheap action figures

Family puzzles. Ones that are 500-1000 pieces and a challenging but not frustrating picture

Clean Up- Team up and really clean and organize each kid's space, making a donation box for each. Parents are included.

Board Game-Have a board game day. Kids can also make their own games! Board games, card games, you name it! Create soccer and football games played with cards for moves and pieces made out of legos

Cooperative Story Time- Write a story cooperatively. One person picks a character and the other picks a setting and then go gangbusters together.

Art Time- Any and all art is fun at home: beading, painting, drawing, play dough or kinetic sand, sewing, etc. 

Selfies!- Draw self portraits on blank faces 

Map Making- Draw maps of places and then make directions from one place to another to see if someone else could follow it. 

Scavenger Hunts- We've done scavenger hunts, indoor treasure hunts where they follow clues through the house to a "treasure" at the end (could be candy, a movie, whatever), and a lot of charades.

Kitchen Chemistry- There are a few easy "kitchen chemistry" type science experiments that are easy to do, like making slime, baking soda and vinegar reaction, etc.

Let's Go to the Movies!-Popcorn + movie marathon

Podcast-Listen to kid podcasts (https://www.commonsensemedia.org/podcast-lists) 

Olympics- Have an Olympics with a bunch of events competitions - funny ones, helpful ones like cleaning and really fun ones like minute to win in style.

Home Camping-There’s always time tested building a tent in the house with blankets and chairs. Great for just before nap time. Make tents and reading caves : ) flashlights, tidy snacks, books, and pillows!

Planet Study- Do a study on planets, then have the kids create their own planets- how big is it, where in the universe is it located, atmosphere conditions, can it sustain life, how long is a day/year, name it, etc.

• you could even spread the planets out around the house to show "approx." distance from each other. 

• Watch this to learn about relative distance

Design Challenge-Design a new space craft, draw plans, then create out of legos or household items. Spend some time pretending you're on different planets with different gravity, you could seriously spend a whole week on just fun space activities.

• But that's not limited to space- these ideas would work for animals, geography, body systems, historical events/time periods, etc. Beyond that, do some fun physics experiments like making a bridge out of straws, egg drop protectors, paper airplanes, etc.

PuppetMaster-  an app where you can animate anything from a drawing to a stuffed animal.

Puzzle races- put several puzzles (20+ piece puzzles) in a paper bag and shake it up. Pour pieces out and give each person the puzzle box they are to put together. Go! (Cooperation tends to be a result as pieces are traded.)

Creativity Cooking-Dig through cabinets and figure out recipes for that thing you got at the grocery store and thought "this is interesting surely it can be used for something!" And then make it!

Blackout Poetry-Grab a newsletter, newspaper, or magazine article and a marker. Start by boxing out the words you like, then blackout all the words you don't need. (Materials: Newspaper, markers)

Collection sort-Choose a collection you have a home (stuffed animals, Hot Wheels, Lego, dolls, buttons, etc.) and sort it in as many ways as you can (color, size, etc.) See if you can have your family guess how the collection is sorted

Create a holiday-Using craft supplies or household items, create decorations, identify colors, choose a date, and explain the family values celebrated by the holiday. Do not forget to name your holiday and mark it on your calendar! You can even create a holiday song for singing only at this special time of year!

Germ Free Olympics- Using only items in your home, develop a set of competitions that are germ free. Analyze how a competition can take place without a transfer of germs. Devise a scoring system, names for your games, rules, and judges. How many germ-free competitions can you invent AND who will win the gold?

Mailbox-Using cardboard (from food boxes, mail deliveries, or other kind of box, build a full size mailbox for your room or play area! Write letters or draw pictures to send to your family (they can each make a mailbox, too!), and ask them to write you back! Be sure to put a flag on your mailbox so you know when you have mail waiting for you!

Make a board game-Get those Amazon boxes out of the garage (one per child) and cut them open to create a nice large working space. Have your child create a board game about ANYTHING...a favorite book, their favorite TV show, their family, a hobby. For younger kids draw the game board and add spaces, older kids can use rulers and trace plastic food storage containers. (Materials: cardboard box, markers, crayons, dice)

Money for Meals-Grab any grocery store flyer. Have your child go through the flyer and create meals. They can cut out the food item and glue it to a paper. Have them calculate the cost of each meal. Add a challenge that each meal needs to have a vegetable/fruit, a protein, a grain, and a sweet treat. (Materials: Grocery store flyers, scissors, glue, paper, and perhaps a calculator)

Nature Boxes-Create a foot by foot square and have your child collect, draw or write about something they notice in that foot by foot square. Then create a 2x2 square, 3x3, 4x4, 5x5, all the way to 10 if you can, and repeat the work of collecting a specimen, drawing something they see, or writing about something they notice. This challenges kids to be very observant! (Materials: tape measure, notebook and pencil)

Post Office Time Machine-Create a post office in your home that serves as a time machine to the past. Write to historical figures that have been involved in events that you would change. Instead of telling them why you would not make the decisions they made, create an informational letter that would convince them to act in a different manner. Justify your course of action then create and describe an alternate future based on the new events. Tell them how it would affect your life. Find a way to show these figures by sending packages through the Post Office Time Machine!

Rainy Day Recess-Start with at least two pairs of socks rolled into balls and a large container like a hamper or laundry basket. What type of indoor game can you make up? What are the rules? How can it scored? How many players on a team? What will you name it? Let your imagination run wild, and maybe you will invent the next BEST indoor recess game that every person in your class will want to play!

Shopping for a friend-Grab a catalog and go page by page "buying" something on each page. Have your kids do this for a book character. They can cut out the items they would buy for the character and explain (or write) why that character would want or need that item. (Materials: Store catalogs and flyers, scissors, glue, paper)

Solve My Puzzle-Create a physical puzzle using craft supplies or household items that requires a solution or solutions. Is it a pattern? Is it a maze? Does it involve pictures? Is it a riddle? Are there clues? Do not forget to name your puzzle and create rules or directions if necessary. Can you stump your family members?