Our Family Activity Bank: The Running List We Actually Use
By 8am someone is bored.
I don't know how. School just got out / it's a Saturday / we literally just woke up. Doesn't matter. It happens at our house constantly and for a long time my answer was just whatever came to mind first, which was usually screens.
So I made a list. Not a Pinterest board. A real working list of things we actually do, organized by how much effort they take, that lives somewhere visible so I'm not the one coming up with ideas on the spot every single time.
We add to it when we find something that works. We pull from it when we need it. The kids know it exists and they check it themselves now, which is honestly the whole point.
Here's what's on it.
Free or Almost Free
These are the ones we go back to again and again because they work and they cost almost nothing.
- Backyard water play. Slip n slide, sprinklers, kiddie pool. Doesn't matter. They will be out there for two hours.
- Bubbles. Even the big kids still love bubbles.
- Chalk the whole driveway. Let them go wild. Wash it off with the hose.
- Watch fireworks. We make it an event. Snacks, blankets, the whole thing.
- Nature walk. We call it a scavenger hunt and suddenly they're actually looking for things.
- Build a fort. Inside or outside. This one entertains everyone.
- Star gazing. Wait until it's actually dark, find a spot away from lights, and just look up.
- Outdoor movie night. A sheet, a projector or even just a laptop outside. Blankets and popcorn.
- Cook something together. Real life skill, real life fun. Beckham portions ingredients. Crew builds his own nachos. Thea experiments with whatever's in the fridge.
- Night games. Kick the can, ghost in the graveyard, flashlight tag. Works any season as long as it's dark.
- Picnic. Even in the backyard. Even if it's just sandwiches. The change of scenery is the whole point.
We also keep a running stash of games for when someone needs something structured but low effort. Browse our Kids Games list on Amazon.
These are the activities we track on our Bucket List Calendar Clings — each one is an icon the kids can see and check off as we go.
At Home: Crafts and Creative Projects
These are the ones I come back to on repeat because they actually work. Most of the supplies come from Dollar Tree or Amazon. If you want to stock up, here's exactly what we keep on hand: our Crafting Supplies list and Future Craft Ideas for what's coming up next.
- Perler beads. Set up a tray with a few pegboards and bowls of sorted colors. Put on a movie or an audiobook. They will be there for hours. Beckham especially loves these. The ironing step at the end feels like magic every time. Watch how we do it here.
- Pony bead projects. Keychains, bracelets, zipper pulls. Grab a big tub of mixed beads and let them go. Thea makes things for everyone she knows. Low mess, high output.
- Yarn art. This one surprised me. We started doing it at girls camp and then brought it home. You glue yarn onto a printed template and fill in each section with color. Dollar store supplies, genuinely beautiful results. Watch how we do it here.
- Static electricity dancing people. Cut tissue paper into little people shapes, charge a balloon, and watch them dance. It's science and it's chaos and kids lose their minds over it. See it in action here.
- Stop motion videos. Beckham loves this one. You just need a phone and something to film. Legos, clay figures, stuffed animals. Set it up, move it a tiny bit, take a photo, repeat. There are free apps that stitch it together. The final product feels like a huge accomplishment. Watch how we do it here.
- Watercolor dot trees. Q-tips, watercolor paints, and a simple tree outline. Dip and dot until the tree is full. Good for all ages including really little ones. Crew can do this one independently.
- Fantasy maps. This one came from my kids. They rolled dice to decide where to put villages, mountains, and rivers, then drew out the whole world. Add Lord of the Rings level detail if that's your thing. It turned into an entire afternoon. See it in action here.
- Art for Kids Hub. Look this up on YouTube if you haven't. They walk through how to draw specific things step by step. Every age, every skill level. We've done this on rainy days more times than I can count. Find their favorite character to draw here.
- Play dough from scratch. Making it is half the activity. Then they play with it for days. Dozens of recipes online, most use things you already have.
- Paint with water books. Dollar Tree usually has these or here's an Amazon option. You add water and the colors appear. Works especially well for kids who don't love the mess of regular painting.
- Reusable tracing activities. Print or buy a set (I like to print out free coloring pages of their favorite characters), put them in a page protector, trace with a dry erase marker. My kids have done the same tracing pages fifty times and still ask for them.
- Puzzles. Not glamorous but they actually do them. We have a puzzle going on the table most of the time and people just drift over and add a piece. We love listening to a book while puzzling.
- Sensory bin. Fill a bin with rice, kinetic sand, or dried beans and add small toys or tools to dig with. Takes five minutes to set up and buys you a long stretch of quiet.
- Marble run. Build it, race it, knock it down, build it again. Crew obsesses over this.
- Lego challenge. Give them a theme and a time limit. Mario. Space. A roller coaster. The constraint makes it more interesting than just free building.
- Craft props for a movie. Make the costumes and props, film the movie, edit it together. This can easily eat a whole day if you let it.
- Hot Wheels track. Build the longest, most ridiculous track you can fit in the room. Add loops, ramps, jumps. Race them. Time them. Argue about who won. This one goes longer than you'd think.
- Drawing. Give them a prompt. Draw your dream house. Draw what our family looks like as superheroes. Draw the worst meal you can imagine. The prompts take it from blank page to something they actually want to do.
Most of these map to two of our daily cling sets. The imaginative, building, and pretend play ones fall under our Creative Play Clings. The quieter focus activities like drawing, puzzles, perler beads, and sensory bins land under Mind Growth Clings. Both are how we put the choice in the kids' hands without me having to come up with something on the spot.
Get Out of the House
These take a little more planning but they're the ones they talk about for weeks after.
- Snow cones or slurpees. A classic any time of year.
- Farmers market. Let each kid pick one thing to try.
- Food trucks. Same energy, more variety.
- Splash park. Free in most cities and worth every minute.
- Pool day. Simple and it tires everyone out.
- Aquarium or zoo. We love the visit baby animals version in spring when everything's new.
- Museum. Pick one they'd actually like, not just the educational one you think they should want to go to.
- Theme park. We do Lagoon. We make it a whole day and it goes on the list every year.
- Camping. Even one night changes everything.
- Sporting event. Minor league games are usually affordable and so fun in person.
- Reservoir, geocaching, farmers market. These are the ones that feel like real adventures without requiring a lot of planning.
These are the adventures we track on our Bucket List Calendar Clings. Each icon lives on the board so the kids can see what's coming and look forward to it.
How We Keep the List Visible
I used to write it on a whiteboard and it would get erased or ignored within a week.
Now we put it on our calendar board using the Bucket List Calendar Clings. Each icon is an activity. The kids can see exactly what's waiting for them, move things around, and check things off as they go. Something about seeing it on the board makes them actually want to do the things.
It works because it's visible. Not in a drawer. Not in my phone. Right there where they can look at it.
Not sure which board to put them on? Find Your Board
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