Say goodbye to bored kids and worked-out parents with three easy after school activities from School Uniforms 247. These three ideas are designed to keep kids entertained during after-school hours while simultaneously help them to learn independent skills and bond with parents. Plus, we’ve kept things simple for parents too: these activities require minimal clean up as well as minimal patience and energy which you’re bound to be running low on at the end of a stressful weekday.

Cooking

Unless you’re ordering in, you’ll need to do some cooking anyway, so why not get your little one to help out! Set them up a small station on the dining table or section off a part of your worktop where they can practice chopping, slicing, peeling and mixing. This is a great activity for children to try as soon as they begin to develop their fine motor skills. However, depending on the age of your child, the activity will need to be adapted to meet their needs.

Tips for cooking with kids

Cover the floor with a mat

For easy cleanup, place a mat on the floor underneath the area they are cooking. Once they’re finished simply roll up the mat and throw the contents in the rubbish, for an even easier, albeit a little bit less environmentally friendly option uses a disposable mat.

Give them pre-measured ingredients.

Depending on the age of your child, half of the ingredients you give them could end up on the floor! The less you give them to work with the less mess they’ll make so pre-measure small amounts of ingredients to give to them at regular intervals.

Keep it safe

When cooking with younger children, it is necessary to supervise at all times. However, some activities are less hazardous than others. While learning how to use a knife is a necessary life skill, the time for learning it may not be while the parents are trying to cook dinner! Give younger kids safer cooking activities they can try without needing non-stop assistance. Mixing wet and dry ingredients, rolling dough and mashing vegetables are all great activities for kids around 3 to six years old.

Dancing Games

This activity requires no cleanup, no preparation and little effort from you. However, it’s extremely fun for the kids and a great way to let them burn off some steam before calming down at bedtime.

Silly Face Dance

This game is a little bit like musical statues, but instead of standing still when the music stops, your kids will make a silly face. If you’re playing with more than one child, award a ‘silliest face’ point to whichever child makes you laugh first. If it’s just you and one little one playing, try your best to make each other laugh with your silly faces, whoever laughs first loses!

Freestyle Dancing

No rules here! All you need to do is blast out some tunes and have a freestyle dance party with your kids. They will love dancing and having fun with you even if it is just for fifteen minutes. If you’re too worn out to have a boogie yourself, shine the spotlight on them and ask them to perform their best moves for you! Not only is this a great way to build their confidence, but they will love getting a little bit of undivided attention from mum or dad.

Sock Puppet Show

This is an activity that is entertaining in more ways than one! You can span out making the sock puppets and over a few evenings if you like, but if you prefer to keep things simple, all you’ll need are a few pairs of old, clean socks and some stick-on googly eyes. You can also make a sock puppet theatre using a cardboard box and some paint, otherwise you can use the back of the sofa or dining table. Really, anywhere you can crouch behind and stick your sock puppets in the air will suffice as a theatre.

You don’t need to be creative to put on a great sock puppet show. If thinking up stories isn’t your strong suit, just read from your kid’s favourite book and act out the speaking parts! Once your kids see you put on a great show, they’re bound to want to have a go themselves, so all you’ll need to do is sit back and watch.