Kids have a reputation for being over-scheduled, but even the ones with the busiest calendars still find themselves faced with stretches of downtime. When those empty hours strike, it can be tempting for them to run to the nearest adult and just whine, "I'm bored!" But you can head those complaints off at the pass by keeping some fun ideas in your back pocket — especially ones that only require some simple materials that can easily be kept around the house.
Here are the best fun activities for kids to try in 2023. Many of them are DIYs and crafts ideas for kids that'll let them set their creativity loose. (And if there's a holiday coming up, we have additional project ideas for special occasions like Thanksgiving, Halloween, Christmas, Easter, Mother's Day and Father's Day.) Others are indoor or backyard games they can try at home when they're in the mood for some head-to-head competition. And there are plenty of learning activities that can support whatever topics they're exploring in school. No matter what they're into, they'll find something to amuse themselves.
Looking for more creative activities for kids? Check out these Good Housekeeping guides:
The Best Summer Crafts for Kids | The Best Fall Crafts for Kids | The Best Winter Crafts for Kids | The Best At-Home Science Experiments for Kids | The Best Learning Activities for Preschoolers | The Best Learning Activities for Toddlers | Fun Activities for Toddlers | The Best Activities for 1-Year-Olds
DIY Paper
You can take photo frames and a fiberglass window screen and refashion them into a DIY deckle that can be used to make paper. Kids will love taking their old worksheets or junk mail and turning into paper that can be re-used.
Decoder Wheel
Kids will have so much fun decrypting secret messages after they make their own decoder wheel. You can use the one from the tutorial below, or invent your own codes and ciphers.
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Recycled T-Shirt Bracelets
Kids can take old t-shirts that are either too small or too damaged to wear and give them new life as colorful bracelets. This activity can also spark conversations about sustainability and the lifecycle of the things we buy.
Worry Monsters
This is a social-emotional activity inspired by the Mo Willems book Sam, the Most Scaredycat Kid in the Whole World. But even if you haven't read it, kids can get the gist: They can paint pet "monsters" onto smooth, flat stones, then keep them in their pockets to either tell their worries to or squeeze when they're feeling anxious. They can also just be treated like pet rocks.
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Fairy House
Get the kids in on the "cottagecore" trend by making a fairy house and decorations out of polymer clay. They can then be placed in gardens, under trees or anywhere else kids think need a splash of color — or any place they thing there are fairies who need a good home.
Magnetic Race Track
Glue a metal washer to the bottom of a toy car, grab a strong magnet and then kids will have a new way of sending their vehicles around the track. You'll also give them an introduction into the concept of magnetism and can talk about a magnet's force.
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DIY Sidewalk Chalk
Sure, you can buy sidewalk chalk at the stores. But making your own adds a new layer to the activity, plus kids can mix up their favorite colors or try to make fun shapes (depending on what kind of mold you use).
Fire-Breathing Dragon
Here's a craft that's certain to spark imaginative play: With a few modifications, a cardboard tube can be transformed into a fire-breathing dragon perfect for adventures with knights and princes and princesses.
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DIY Paint Brushes
Use clothespins to hold various objects from around the house and yard — string, ribbons, craft supplies, leaves and flowers — and then see how each material works as a paintbrush. Kids can experiment with how the different materials make different brush strokes, and they'll have a cool work of art when they're done.
Backyard Treasure Hunt
Give them early map-reading skills by giving them a homemade path to treasure or prize. Then, flip it and have kids make their own maps for you to follow.
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Bucket-List Wreath
This is an activity that sparks ideas for future activities. The clothespins that make up this wreath have suggestions for fun days out written on them, like "beach day" or "go to the museum" — aka some "bucket list" items — and every time your family is staring down a weekend with nothing to do, you can always head over together and pick one out. Refresh the clothespins for summer vacation, for winter break or any other time you expect a lot of downtime.
Jack and the Beantstalk Activity
This one is great because it works across so many subjects: It's a little STEM, a little art with some literacy thrown in. After reading Jack and the Beanstalk, you can make the story come to life by planting your own bean sprouts, then training them to climb up skewers to a drawing of a castle. While the greens won't shoot up over night like Jack's, kids will love keeping track of the stalk's progress.
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DIY Bath Bombs
Tweens and teens will love making their own homemade bath bombs (which is a great idea for a birthday party with a built-in favor). Once they've perfected the technique, they'll love experimenting with shapes and fragrances.
Bubble Refill Station
Those bubbles? They run out in a heartbeat. By creating (and, if the mood strikes, decorating) a DIY bubble refill station, kids will have a useful decorative item and a way to re-up their bubble solution supply without parental involvement.
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Avengers Bookmarks
Turn their love of superheroes into a love of reading with these clever craft-stick bookmarks. Just note that they work best with jumbo craft sticks. (Don't worry if you can't draw free-hand — the tutorial has patterns.)
Felt Flower Bouquet
The best thing about these felt flowers is they don't require any sewing. Kids can use them to decorate their rooms, put in a pencil cup or use as a bookmark, but they also make good Mother's Day gifts!
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Pool Noodle Pom-Pom Launcher Fight
What do you get when you combine a pool noodle slice and a latex balloon? You get something that sends pom-poms flying across the sky! The poms are so soft, you don't have to worry about damage as kids send them everywhere!
Spider Web Search
These kids were challenged with finding bug stickers hidden along the string web. Stepping in and around the web is great gross motor practice, and they were given a list of bugs to find, which also made it a matching activity.
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Finger Puppets
There's no sewing involved to make these fun finger puppets (but kids might need some help with the hot glue gun). Then they can make up their own stories and put on a puppet show.
Bath Paint
With just two ingredients, you can whip up some DIY paint that doesn't stain bathtubs and rinses down the drain. Then your toddler artist will be so busy making a masterpiece that they won't notice their hair being scrubbed.
Marisa LaScala
Senior Parenting & Relationships Editor
Marisa (she/her) has covered all things parenting, from the postpartum period through the empty nest, for Good Housekeeping since 2018; she previously wrote about parents and families at Parents and Working Mother. She lives with her husband and daughter in Brooklyn, where she can be found dominating the audio round at her local bar trivia night or tweeting about movies.
Lauren Piro
Senior Web Editor
Overseeing all things home for GoodHousekeeping.com and HouseBeautiful.com, Lauren swoons over midcentury design and employs tough-love approach to decluttering (just throw it away, ladies). She loves anything neon coral, puts bacon on her veggie burgers, and would follow Tina Fey and Amy Poehler to the end of the earth.
