Real-World Ways to Keep Kids Busy (So You Can Get Stuff Done)

As every other public gathering place in New York City shut down except for my child’s school, I started to worry. But now that school is officially closed—and I write this amid my son’s high-pitched pleas to stream The Rise of Skywalker for “only” $20—I’m experiencing a different kind of stress. Whether you’re juggling both work and kids at home or you’re just in need of tips to help you (or your childcare provider) get through the day without your regular routine, we’ve rounded up a few low-maintenance solutions for keeping your kids engaged and out of trouble.

To achieve balance, cut yourself (and your kids) some slack. Set a flexible agenda, take mini breaks to hug and encourage them, and try the following strategies, most of which entail using the tools and toys you likely already have in new ways. If you have additional ideas that your kids love, share them in our comments section below.

Creative activities (that last longer than five minutes)

Arts, crafts, Legos, hobbies, and games are terrific ways to engage kids. (Magic: The Gathering, anyone?) But sometimes sustaining that interest long enough for you to respond to those 10 emails in your inbox, or to vacuum the Cheerios out of the couch cushions, can be a challenge. We have no guarantees, but these ideas have been helpful to Wirecutter parents.

Launch a Lego challenge. My 10-year-old son loves Lego kits but will inevitably demand help if he realizes at Step 42 that he skipped Step 9. That’s why I think Legos are best built the old-fashioned way—without an instruction book. To up the game, my sister suggested we launch our own Lego Masters–style competition between my son and her 7-year-old. After picking a theme (beach day! skyscrapers!) in the morning, the cousins work on their mega-creations throughout the day and then compare them via FaceTime in the evening.

Give them a goal. Like adults, children tend to find tasks more interesting and motivating when they have a quantifiable target to achieve. Staff writer Ingrid Skjong says: “My 5-year-old loves a ‘mission.’” So Ingrid has been assigning her son tasks like making Easter and Passover cards for relatives and friends (and checking the names off a list), creating as many things as he can with Play-Doh within 20 minutes (setting a timer adds to the excitement), and building something out of Tinkertoys that’s at least as tall as his shoulders.

Try less messy art materials. Crayons and markers eventually get old—and dried out, scattered, or smeary. Painting always ends up a disaster, I’ve found, unless I keep a close eye on my son. Supervising editor Courtney Schley recently ordered scratch paper, on which kids can create pictures with a stylus, scraping away the thin black coating to reveal bright colors underneath. Whiteboards are also a hit. “I had my 3-year-old ‘take notes’ for me,” says senior editor Erica Ogg. “That took up 20 whole minutes of his attention!” Even more fun: taking photos or video of kids’ creations and sharing them with friends at the end of the day.

Add water. If after 10 hot minutes your child deems their toys “boooooring,” let them get a little wet. When my son was small, a shallow bowl of water and a thick paintbrush became a Hot Wheels car wash. Household items work, too. Says head of photography and video Michael Hession: “We fill the kitchen sink with warm water and plastic Tupperware and cups and let our 3-year-old go to town.”

Do it in a fort. Whether it’s reading, coloring, or taking a nap, everything is loads more fun when it happens in a fort, notes editor Marilyn Ong, whose three kids range from 2 to 6. She’s experimenting with a fort-building kit, but you can simply provide a bunch of pillows and sheets (along with strategically placed chairs as sturdy infrastructure to prevent tears of frustration). Just tasking kids with building the fort itself will buy you additional quiet time.

Get it on video. Depending on how old your kid is, creating a short video can be an hours-long production—from painting a backdrop on poster board to setting up those action figures just so. My 10-year-old has captured “epic” battles on iMovie and Stikbot Studio, both of which let kids choose from a series of sound effects and music, too.

Pretend play that helps parents out

Kids love to play house or restaurant, and you can try to milk that for all that’s worth. Why have them pretend when they can actually help you check things off your list?

Prep dinner quicker. While you’re working on that email, have your kid don an apron and do simple but mundane tasks such as breaking off the asparagus stems, peeling carrots or brussels sprouts, or mashing potatoes. Wirecutter director of engineering Maggie Gourlay (who feeds her family better than I do) has her young teens help with applesauce and bread making.

Delegate office chores. Staff writer Melanie Pinola has enlisted her kid for paper-shredding duty. I’m seriously considering having my son organize my receipts before my appointment with the accountant.

Practice a life skill. Editor Jon Chase suggests teaching kids a new life skill every day. Depending on a child’s age, this could include sorting out their own laundry from the family load, tying their shoes, or even cleaning the windows.

Screen time that’s secretly smart

Videos are the most reliable babysitter of all time, no matter your child’s age. And you shouldn’t feel bad about using them right now. “This is a global pandemic. These are difficult times. You need to adjust your expectations,” says Maryam Abdullah, PhD, parenting program director at UC Berkeley’s Greater Good Science Center. So don’t beat yourself up about offering your kids those devices. But consider a twist.

Choose covertly educational material. Videos and apps can be both entertaining and educational. Senior staff writer Lauren Dragan recommends PBS Kids videos. “My 4-year-old now knows how to count between lightning and thunder to determine a storm’s distance, the life cycle of butterflies, and the difference between stalactites and stalagmites,” she says. My son and his fourth-grade buddies love BrainPop. For more ideas, check out our guide to educational apps and games. You’ll find gems on YouTube, too, such as the Art for Kids Hub and Geography Now. Extra credit: Get your kids to show off what they learned at the end of the day. “My 5-year-old is going to teach us yoga in the afternoon,” says editor Jon Chase.

Invite your child to a film festival. If your kid loves My Neighbor Totoro and other Hayao Miyazaki films, feed their desire (and their budding inner film critic) with an at-home film fest. You could ask older kids to write a little review (extra credit for parents: print out “official” forms for each), rate the movies, and decide on which one gets the top prize. Of course, you can try this with any series, including Star Wars, Cars, Toy Story, Despicable Me, and so on. Save money by learning how to take advantage of free trials for streaming services.

Complement your child’s reading list. From The Polar Express to Charlotte’s Web, book-based movies can enhance a child’s appreciation for the written word. Bonus points for reading the book the night before and comparing the film adaptation with the book at bedtime.

Deepen your child’s extracurricular interests. My son lives and breathes baseball, so we feel less bad when we let him watch movies and documentaries that enrich his understanding of the game (for instance, 42, about Jackie Robinson, and Ken Burns’s Baseball documentary series). If you’re looking for guidance on whether a particular movie, show, or app is age-appropriate, Common Sense Media is a fantastic resource.

Endless storytime (and conversation prompts)

Reading and talking about books with children are two of the best ways to build their vocabulary and open their minds to new worlds. Unfortunately, this is just not possible when five colleagues are Slacking you at the same time or you’re trying to change the cat litter. To the rescue: a safe, reliable pair of kids headphones and engaging audio content.

Share your podcast obsession. With a voice talking directly into your ear, a podcast feels intimate and almost forces you to listen, learn, and, in the case of narratives, imagine. Story Pirates and Brains On are two of my favorites.

Read ebooks or listen to audiobooks. Wirecutter recommends Epic ($8 per month), a kids ebook subscription app that offers a regularly updated library of some 35,000 titles. Many of the books have a “read to me” option that provides storytime with no adult involvement necessary. Audible offers a range of audiobooks for children of all ages. You can set up your child to listen alone or pair the spoken words with the book you might already have at home. You can also download a new book from Kindle and click on the option to add Audible narration. (The first 30 days of Audible and the first two months of Kindle Unlimited are currently free. And, for as long as school is closed, Audible is also making a selection of kids stories available to stream for free.)

Delegate to your voice-activated virtual assistant. Always good-natured, this playmate will go along with your child no matter what. Google Home speakers have a roster of games—albeit of variable quality—from Star Wars Trivia Challenge (my 10-year-old son’s favorite) to Strangest Day Ever (similar to Mad Libs). Younger kids might enjoy The Magic Door and Freeze Dancers, which you can access via Skills on Alexa. Jon Chase’s family is a fan of voice-assistant-enabled board games.

Schoolwork without screaming matches

Whether your school system is instituting remote lessons or you’re on your own, getting kids to focus on academics at home might be a challenge. “Home is where kids typically feel they can unwind,” says Maryam Abdullah. To ease into the transition, don’t dictate—collaborate.

Let your child figure out when to do it. The more your child feels involved with their agenda for the day, the more motivated they’ll be to do it, says Abdullah. Some kids prefer to get it out of the way in the morning; others need to ease into the day.

Do the hard stuff together. Chances are, you have items on your to-do list that you’d rather not do. Share this feeling with your child, and then designate a time that you’re each working on your own thing-I-have-trouble-sticking-to together. Restore yourselves with a snack break, a walk outside, or, depending on your kid’s age, a dance “party.” Or let your child do that one thing for 15 minutes that drives you nuts—in my son’s case, pitching a plastic ball against the wall or practicing the recorder.

Be flexible about where it gets done. Let them flop on the couch if they must. (Remember, it’s a pandemic out there. Cut yourselves some slack.) My 7-year-old nephew recently insisted on doing his worksheet in the bathroom—because, he told my sister, the books in his bedroom are distracting and so is his train set in the living room. He got his assignment done on a stool with a clipboard by the tub.

Encourage sharing. Whether it’s an essay assigned by the teacher or an art project you dreamed up out of desperation (some ideas: draw your favorite part of yesterday, draw how you feel), “work” is more fun when kids get social with it. Join forces with other parents and encourage kids to discuss and show off their projects via videoconference at the end of the day.