It’s been a long few weeks at home so if you are looking for new ideas to keep the kids busy, we’re here to help! These five creative activities for kids are not only fun and easy, but for the traveling family, can also be adapted so as to help inspire curiosity about the world around them. Most are indoor projects, but if you are getting as stir crazy as we are, they would also be fun things to do outside in a backyard or patio while enjoying a little fresh air and sunshine!

Decorate a Cardboard Box

Keep a couple of those big cardboard boxes you’ve been getting from all your deliveries and let the kids go wild transforming them with markers and craft supplies. A rocket ship, an airplane, a boat…see where their imaginations take them! This is an especially good activity for toddlers, who rarely need actual toys to engage them in their imaginative play.

Create a Volcano

Make the creative process educational with an easy science experiment you can try at home. A classic experiment that can also include a travel theme is creating a baking soda volcano – simply pick a particular volcano from around the world to learn about, and recreate it using Legos, playdough, paper mache, or your material of choice. It’s a fun and hands-on way to see chemistry in action AND learn about a new place, too!

Make a Scrapbook

Print out pictures from your last vacation (or last several vacations!) and finally make that scrapbook you’ve been meaning to get to all this time! Make this a project for the whole family or pass it off to your kids to get creative all on their own. They can make it as elaborate – or as simple – as they like. All they really need is paper and glue sticks, but a little glitter and pizazz never hurt anyone, either.

Decorate a Window or Sidewalk

It is quick and easy to make your own homemade craft recipes from ingredients you likely already have in your pantry. For window paint, simply combine 1 cup each of flour, water, and dish soap, then divide the mixture into smaller containers and stir in food coloring. Using paint brushes (or fingers!) and painters tape, your kids can create stained glass windows like those in the cathedrals they’ve visited in past travels, or perhaps even try their hand at painting some of the monuments they’re excited to see in the future. If they are able to take their creativity outside, sidewalk chalk paint is also a cinch to make.

Write a Story

If your child prefers to express her creativity using the written word, encourage her to write her own story. If helpful, you can give prompts to get her creative juices flowing, and then let her imagination take over. She can write a story about an intrepid young traveler and her adventures in any destination of choice (A deserted island? Stockholm? The Great Wall of China?). Or, you can write the first line or paragraph of the story and see where she takes it. This is also a great idea for virtual playdates, as work-sharing platforms like Google Docs make it easy for multiple friends to collaborate on a story together.

Hang in there moms and dads! We know these past few months have been rough, but you got this! Hopefully, you found a couple creative activities in here that your kids will enjoy that will get them through this last bit of quarantine! We also have a few other articles from our Bébé Voyage blog that you may enjoy! Check them out below!

A Multigenerational RV Road Trip — Making Lemonade Out Of Lemons When A Pandemic Strikes

3 Destination Experiences From Home That Will Scratch Your Travel Itch

Children’s Books That Inspire Exploration and Spark Imagination