101 Fun Activities for Kids at Home That Will Keep Them Busy

Bored and stir crazy at home with the kids? Here are 101 fun activities for kids at home that are free or cheap.

Keep them busy and get them to be creative with activities for indoors and outdoors. Cut down that screen time.

When I was a kid, I built a fort, had a scavenger hunt, and made home movies. Share these with your kids to build fun memories!

Unplug and enjoy. Check out my list of free or cheap activities at home to keep them entertained.

 1. Go on a virtual tour of a museum online.
 2. Make a rubber band guitar.
 3. Build a blanket fort.
 4. Bake cookies.
 5. Make popsicles.
 6. Play board games.
 7. Make a paper kite that can fly.
 8. Make your own play kitchen.
 9. Write your own book.
10. Create your own newspaper or magazine.
11. Make cartoon flipbooks.
12. Have a picnic.
13. Make your own mini bowling alley.
14. Ride bikes.
15. Have a scavenger hunt.
16. Plant a garden.
17. Make your own movie with your phone camera or video camera and edit on computer.
18. Camp in the yard or in the living room.
19. Build the longest flying paper airplane.
20. Make a sailboat out of a laundry basket.
21. Make a comic book.
22. Put together a scrapbook.
23. Make homemade cards with rubber stamps.
24. Build an indoor obstacle course.
25. Make fluffy slime using common ingredients found at home.
26. Play Pictionary with a random word generator.

27. Have a dance party.
28. DIY laser maze.
29. Make Instant Pot Popcorn.
30. Watch a movie on DVD from the library and make popcorn.
31. Build a cardboard castle.
32. DIY toy paper helicopters.
33. Play hide-and-seek.
34. Play bakery, restaurant, or shop with these free printable menus.
35. Use disposable cups to play games or do cup stacking.
36. Play games with coins to teach about money and math.
37. Facetime a friend or family member.
38. Have a puppet show and make your own puppet stage.
39. Learn magic tricks.
40. Make ice cream with a ziploc bag.
41. Turn a cardboard box into a stylish car!
42. Write letters to friends and family and mail them.
43. Make a care package for a soldier.
44. Make your own indoor ball pit.
45. Make your own pizza.
46. Brew ice tea like Thai Iced Tea, Boba Milk Tea, or Raspberry Matcha Latte.
47. Play frisbee.
48. Make s’mores.
49. Pitch a tent in the living room and “camp” indoors.
50. Go to story time or movie events at the library.
51. Teach the kids to play chess.
52. Finger paint.
53. Catch bugs.
54. Make your own playdough.

55. Bake a cake or cupcakes and decorate.
56. Build a volcano with clay, baking soda, and vinegar.
57. Have a tea party.
58. Feed the birds.
59. Go flower picking.
60. Play card games.
61. Make a Chinese rubber band rope and play Chinese jump rope.
62. Play Jacob’s ladder with just a string.
63. Make a paper fortune teller.
64. Make a paper ninja star.
65. Make an origami dollar ring.
66. Make an origami dollar shirt.
67. Play Jianzi or Chinese Hacky Sack.
68. Make tissue paper flowers.
69. Play the Asian bean bag toss game (Otedama), similar to jacks, and sew your own bean bags filled with rice.
70. Create paper plate masks.
71. Make paper dolls and clothes using these free printable templates.
72. Play store with paper money printables.
73. Make a shadow box theater.
74. Pick flowers and make a necklace.
75. Learn simple secret codes.
76. Make paper boats and float them in water.
77. Make your own ballerina tutu.
78. Create an accordion book with colorful envelopes.

79. Ripping magazines, great for toddlers.
80. Play Mancala with an empty egg carton and beans.
81. Make a sand castle out of cornmeal dough.
82. Put together a sensory box.
83. Make balloon animals.
84. Make cardboard trains or cars.
85. Make a cardboard play house.
86. Make a cardboard pinball machine.
87. Make a cardboard dollhouse.
88. Make a cardboard aquarium.
89. Make a cardboard pirate ship.
90. Make a straw flute.
91. Make a coffee can drum.
92. Create your own sandbox.
93. Use sidewalk chalk to draw a racetrack or hopscotch layout.
94. Make a marble launch with a pool noodle.
95. Make Star Wars light sabers out of pool noodles!
96. Make Lincoln Logs out of toilet paper rolls.
97. Play frisbee golf with laundry baskets.
98. Make frisbees out of paper plates.
99. Make a marble maze out of drinking straws and a shoebox lid.
100. Have a spy training day.
101. Make giant bubbles.

Want more summer activities to keep them busy? Check out my Summer Activity Bundle for Kids Ages 4-6 and Ages 7-8.

You Might Also Like:

25+ Things You Can Get for Free or Cheap