In these extraordinary times that we are all facing as a society, we all have to do our part by adhering to recommendations from our authorities to stay-at-home and to practice social distancing.

Unfortunately, if you and your family are used to being outdoors often, being cooped up inside can be a bit difficult. Luckily, there are many activities you can do with your family to help break up the monotony of being indoors, yet still adhere to the social distancing recommendations. Below we have listed 5 creative and fun ideas that you can try with your family today!

Build a fort… and we don’t just mean your basic small fort that you occasionally build with your family. Consider taking over an entire room and using other supplies besides just blankets. Try couch cushions stacked up, a tall table, plug-in some Christmas lights, or even dig out your battery-operated camping lantern. You can even search your garage for items to help you with the fort structure including bungee cords, clamps, or ropes to help hold up blankets. Throw-in an air mattress at the end and a laptop and have a family movie night in your new fort. You could also leave the fort up all week to help keep the kids entertained while you’re working.

Play games… Use this time to reconnect with your family and dig out all those old board games. Each night one member of the family can choose a new game. This allows the whole family to have something to look forward to during the day. If you don’t have many games on hand or if you’re messing up the pieces like our family is, consider games that don’t require many pieces are boards such as, hangman, charades, or even download a family game app.

Build crafts as a family… Dig out all those old crafting supplies that haven’t been touched in a while, and have a crafting night with your family. Considered taking out all your additional boxes, and creating unique costumes, buildings, and whatever else your imagination comes up with.

Create crazy Monster Mix or Monster Desserts… Monster Mix and monster desserts are created using all the old cereal, baking decorations, and anything else that you find in your kitchen that hasn’t been used in a while. Essentially you’re cleaning out all the sugary treats in your kitchen and allowing your children to use their imagination to create their desserts or Chex Mix type snack. Prepare for a messy, yet memorable experience for you and your children.

Make a science lab in your kitchen… Using common household and kitchen ingredients, you can make several fun science experiments that will provide hours of education to your children. Click here for a list of some recipes I found on Pinterest. If you don’t have any of the materials on hand, consider purchasing from an online delivery service so you can still take advantage of this fun idea later this week.

I hope this list provides you with unique and creative ideas on how to spend some quality time with your family while breaking up the monotony of having to stay indoors. If you know of any ideas that you can do as a family that should be included in this list, please let us know on social media and we may feature your idea on a future post!