5 fun activities to keep your children engaged during the long weekends

A long weekend calls for fun family activities where both parents and children can be involved. With the busy schedule of parents these days, children often end up sticking to electronic gadgets to spend time or binge-watch shows on a mobile phone or television. To make long weekends fun and fruitful for children, here are the top five superb activities that parents can organise at home and keep children engaged, happy and excited throughout. These activities will also boost their learning skills.

1. Family tree:
A great way to introduce your family members to your children is by engaging them to make a family tree. This is one of the best weekend family activities that will not only keep your children engaged, but also allow you to spend quality time with them. Take this opportunity to introduce each of your family members to them. Do not forget to add the names of your family members to the family tree. You can also add your friends to the family tree!

2. Bake a cake or cookies:
One of the most fun weekend activities for children is baking. On long weekends, teach your child to bake a cupcake or cookies as they unleash their curious side. Be their guide throughout explaining to them about the do’s and don’ts of baking while you cherish their baking skills. You can also ask your children to describe their experience of baking and the most exciting moments from the entire baking process. Savour the cake or cookies together as a family and let the family bonding grow stronger.

3. Decorate a space:
Always thought of renovating a space or a corner of your home to give it a new look altogether? Well, you can turn this task into a fun-filled weekend activity for children. Without any instructions or manuals, ask your children to decorate the space in a way they love the most. Expect great ideas from the little minds and a great renovated space too!

4. Face painting:
Fun family activities for children are always incomplete without face painting. Children who are otherwise constantly addicted to smartphones get a great way to break through their boredom and become creative in all aspects. As a parent, you too get to spend some quality time with your children while doing this activity. Ask them to draw their favourite cartoon characters, flowers or paint anything that they would like on your face. Always use colours that are safe for face paintings.

5. Send handwritten letters or handcrafted cards:
The pandemic has surely created a physical distance between all of us while keeping us connected virtually. Making some handcrafted cards or writing a letter on paper or a postcard surely would sound like a fun weekend activity to your children. Writing letters is a great way to ensure the change from the routine online learning for your children. Ask them to make a list of all the friends, family members, neighbours or anybody that they know and would want to send them a handwritten letter or a handmade card. Encourage them to be as creative as they can.

While these are the top five fun family activities listed for children, there are other ways too to keep their weekends filled with excitement and happiness. These include recycling old materials and making the best things out of them, teaching gardening to your children, reading sessions where you can read aloud their favourite stories or ask them to narrate their favourite stories, engaging in yoga and similar. You can also locate some activity centres for children near your home as they are another way to keep them engaged.

With these fun-filled activities, spend more quality time with your children over the upcoming long weekends as you ensure their learning and growing at the same time.