Give me things to buy so we don't lose our mind when school is out...

[Anonymous]

I'm sure we'll be off starting next week. We'll do some work, play some, but I need a list of things to order from Amazon before the city is shut down. Crafts, toys, learning stuff, etc. Any suggestions for what keeps your kids engaged would be appreciated!

[Anonymous]

Sand and water table of you don’t have one. Or other sand play item.

My kids love handwriting workbooks for some reason. I also recommend Lollipop Logic if you have kids 4-about 6.

There have been a ton of board game threads lately. Search those for game ideas.

For littles we build a “ball pit” out of cushions and a big pack of ball pit balls. Alternatively just put cushions on the floor and play frog leaping across lily pads. A crash pad or mattress on the floor is good for jumping on.

Sometimes my kids will listen to audiobooks for a while. Most libraries work with online apps to deliver those. Easy.

For craft items, most popular in our house are washi tale, stickers, and coloring. One of my kids spends a lot of time illustrating “books” these days.

[Anonymous]

Target dollar aisle, 5 below, dollar store, all have fun cheap novel stuff. Usually I buy stuff for trips or special events we might need them for, then only take them out one by one. Always have Play dough

[Anonymous]

How old? I've posted this before but a small moonbounce can be awesome. And my middle school children just got out Connect 4 Launchers and were playing it avidly. I can remember have three under 5 during Snowmaggedon (sp?). Structure was out friend. They were so small and the snow was so deep they couldn't play in it. We'd have breakfast, have a big dance party all around the house for at least 15-20 minutes, crafts, lunch, naps, games, afternoon walk, dinner.

Toys that they loved around those age that took some time - normal crafts - window art, sticker books, those mosaic things. Best of luck!!

[Anonymous]

I am going to be realistic about my expectations, but I'm also going to try to keep a schedule that is similar to a school schedule. So, set things for certain times during the day, obviously differentiating activities for my kids, who are 2 and 6.5.

I don't know yet what that schedule will look like. I'm a teacher so I do have the privilege of being able to devote all of my time to being with them without needing to telework (my wife will be doing that).

I plan on reading time, arts/crafts time, fun math and science stuff, and really a lot of time outdoors. We have a large yard and it could stand some substantial cleanup. We have garden beds to prepare, leaves to rake, sticks to clean up. We will probably do some scooter riding and walking around the neighborhood. Older DS will have some sort of take home work from school - we'll find time for that too.

We have playroom full of toys, we have a ton of art supplies.

I'm also not going to fool myself - there will be plenty of screen time too.

[Anonymous]

How old are your kids?

Here's my gaming recommendations:

Scrambled States of America (Geography/U.S. Facts) Age 7+
Zeus on the Loose (basic math) - Age 7+
The 10 Days series (10 Days in Europe/Africa/The Americas) - world geography - Age 8+
Ticket to Ride (any version) - world geography - Age 8+
Cover Your Assets (basic math) Age 8+
Lords of Vegas - lots of basic math - Age 9+
Terra - (world facts - pretty tough though - would save for older kids) - Age 12+
Kanoodle games (logic) - 9+
Story Cubes (language skills) - 8+

Littler kids - Quirkle (pattern recognition), Blokus (same), Hiss, Sleeping Queens, Labyrinth (memory, patterns, logic)

Puzzles
Nerf Guns for whole house nerf battles

[Anonymous]

Thank you all! Kids are early elementary so these are great suggestions

[Anonymous]

Look up STEM subscription boxes. They come with lots of activities in one box. Amazon has some. We did Kiwi Crate for a while. Someone also gave us a gift subscription to Little Passports. There are tons to choose from.

[Anonymous]

PP with moonbounce. Nerf guns are great as are laser tag guns...we have four that work together. Used to build mazes in the basement to make the games more fun.

What my kids liked at at that age:
- Qwirkle too
- Sorry
- Scramble the States - another one - I like this one too
- Timeline - the animal one - you have to put animals in order by either size, how long they live or...forgot. Fun.
- Settlers of Cataan - the smaller version.
- Concoctions...being allowed to make things in the kitchen - eggs, flour, spices, food coloring...
- Science kits - best one was https://www.amazon.com/Scientific-Explorer-First-Blowing-Science/dp/B000BURAP2/ref=sr_1_1?keywords=my+best+science+kit&qid=1584029402&sr=8-1. Also...just have a good supply of vinegar on hand - good for blowing things up.
- Origami


Good luck...

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Look up STEM subscription boxes. They come with lots of activities in one box. Amazon has some. We did Kiwi Crate for a while. Someone also gave us a gift subscription to Little Passports. There are tons to choose from.

This is impractical given you'll be waiting for your first box to arrive, then have to wait for the second to arrive. Better to just buy some individual things you like.

[Anonymous]

Check out Elizabeth McKenzie- she has great ideas for activities and toy recommendations!!

[Anonymous]

iPad, kindle, PS4 or xbox (after workbooks and instrument practice)

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Look up STEM subscription boxes. They come with lots of activities in one box. Amazon has some. We did Kiwi Crate for a while. Someone also gave us a gift subscription to Little Passports. There are tons to choose from.

This is impractical given you'll be waiting for your first box to arrive, then have to wait for the second to arrive. Better to just buy some individual things you like.

I see ones I like and buy from ebay. They come within a few days. Easy and much cheaper and I get the ones I want.

[Anonymous]

I stocked up on baking supplies. That keeps them busy, practices measurement/math and gives us yummy things to eat.

We’ll dig out all kinds of craft kits that have accumulated. I have a paper making kit that looks messy and time consuming so I’ve been putting it off forever.

Lots of gardening. I have a yard to weed and we’ll do some planting-they can choose what we plant.

We’ve been watching Xavier Riddle on PBS and it’s a good jumping off point for history discussions. My older kid has Imagine Math lessons to do online. School will send home learning packets so we’ll do those. Younger kid (K) will have daily reading practice as his primary structured activity.

But I’ll also need to be working, so I can’t be doing educational stuff all day.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Look up STEM subscription boxes. They come with lots of activities in one box. Amazon has some. We did Kiwi Crate for a while. Someone also gave us a gift subscription to Little Passports. There are tons to choose from.

This is impractical given you'll be waiting for your first box to arrive, then have to wait for the second to arrive. Better to just buy some individual things you like.

1. If we’re out for a few weeks (likely or already confirmed depending on your district), you’ll surely get at least the first box during this time.
2. Like I said, many of the boxes are full of multiple activities, so you can spread them out in between subscriptions. We have chemistry and biology sets that are still full of stuff, and we’ve had them for months.