6 Ideas to Try Right Now
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#1·10–20 min
Sock Puppet Show
🛒Materials: Old socks, markers, buttons
- 1Put a sock on your hand.
- 2Draw a face with markers or glue on buttons.
- 3Put on a puppet show behind the couch.
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#2·5–10 min
Tape Maze on the Floor
🛒Materials: Painter's tape
- 1Use tape to create a maze on the floor.
- 2Challenge your child to walk only on the tape lines.
- 3Add 'obstacles' like pillows to jump over.
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Use a timer to make it a challenge!
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#3·10 min prep + 20 min play
Ice Excavation
🛒Materials: Water, small toys, freezer
- 1Freeze small toys inside an ice block overnight.
- 2Give your child warm water and tools to excavate.
- 3Watch them dig out the hidden treasures.
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#4·30+ min
Building Block Free Play
🛒Materials: Lego, Duplo, or any blocks
- 1Set out a bucket of blocks.
- 2No instructions — free build.
- 3Only rule: must name what they built when done.
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#5·20+ min
Book Club for One
🛒Materials: Books
- 1Let your child pick 3 books.
- 2They read (or look at pictures) independently.
- 3Later, ask them: 'Which was your favourite and why?'
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#6·30–45 min
Stop-Motion Animation
🛒Materials: Phone/tablet, small toys or playdough figures
- 1Set up figures on a flat surface with consistent lighting.
- 2Move figures a tiny bit, take a photo. Repeat 20–30 times.
- 3Use a free stop-motion app (or just flick through the photos fast).
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Even 20 photos makes a surprisingly good animation.
