It can be so hard to keep your kids entertained, especially when you do not have a lot of time or energy. But do not worry, we have got you covered! We have put together a list of easy activities that require no prep and will keep your little ones busy and happy. These no prep activities are perfect for a guilt free mom life and puts time and money back into your wallet! Sign the pledge today by clicking here!

No Prep Activities

• Reuse a cardboard box to make a car. Color, paint, cover in paper, whatever you have on hand to do together with your kid. Then, do a movie premiere for a drive-in movie experience the whole family will enjoy.

• 2. Q-tip painting. This snowman we painted all with a q-tip. By painting with a q-tip, your child is improving their fine motor skills plays a significant role in their overall development. The picture is an example of a snowman since we did it during winter, but you can apply it to any season.

• Pool noodle bowling! First, cut up some pool noodles. Next, grab a ball and set up your pool noodle bowling pins then, bowl away! Since the pool noodles are quiet, this makes for a fun activity without a lot of noise. As you knock down pool noodles, you can do many things! For example, count how many fell over, count how many are still standing. In addition, you can help your child keep score, and if you have older kids, they can do this and turn it into fractions!
• Start a game of hide and seek inside or outside the house.

• Set up a sensory bin of cereal. A taste-safe sensory bin like cereal or oatmeal is easy to set up. Next, give your child a variety of kitchen spoons to scoop, move, and play! Sensory bins are a great way to learn through their five senses and practice fine motor skills.

• Grab a deck of cards and practice number recognition! Display a few cards but start with low numbers. Next, give your child cereal, mini erasers, or another small object to place on the card. For example, if your child has the two of hearts. They would place a small object on each of the large hearts. Not only is your child working on number recognition and counting but also one-to-one correspondence!

• Build towers! You can mix this up by building with legos, cups, building blocks, cardboard boxes (see, those things are helpful to have around the house), and anything else around your home you can stack! We like to cut up pool noodles and stack them for a quiet tower-building activity.
• Create a sensory bin again. This time use oatmeal, dried beans, ice, water, mini erasers, pom-poms, anything you have on hand to make a taste-safe bin. Next, have your child transfer the ingredients into a different bowl, muffin tins, ice cube trays, or another container. Another idea, give your child something besides a spoon to transfer the materials over, such as tongs!
• Next, create a sticker story using some stickers. Peeling off stickers is another great fine motor activity and making silly stories sure is fun! Draw the setting on a piece of paper and add some stickers and make up a story as you go.

• Play catch with a balloon! Catching and chasing a balloon is not just fun. It is also a great gross motor development activity for large muscle groups.
• Make pasta or editable cereal jewelry! First, grab some string. Then, thread pasta noodles or cereal through it! In addition to making editable fun, this is a great fine motor activity!
• Play a game of I Spy around your house. First, give your child a color clue to work on identifying colors. Next, please provide them with a clue about the location of the object. In addition, provide clues as needed but see if they can use their detective skills to find this object. Make it more hands-on by supplying them with a magnifying glass to up the detective game and get them excited to play!
• If your child likes to color, grab some coloring books and color away. Suppose you do not have coloring books; grab a cardboard box and let them create a masterpiece.
• Take a walk with your child. Or do crawl races too!
• Go to a local park and work on those gross motor skills.
• Spend some time at the local library reading together. It is an excellent opportunity to get out of the house too!
• One of our favorites is having a dance party. We pull out some action song playlists, practice following directions, and help develop gross motor skills.
• Play Uno with your kids! 

• Play-dough is always a great choice! Your child can get creative using play-dough to make or build something. In addition to their creativity, play-dough also works on fine motor skills, and it is way more than just playing. You can purchase play-dough for very inexpensive too!
• If you do not have play-dough on hand, create memories with your child by making your own! We love to make your own play-dough!
• Creating with your kids is a rewarding experience for both you and them. But sometimes, moms forget the great things they do each day, which leads to mom guilt. Stop feeling guilty about not doing more and not investing enough money in activities to fill your day! It is worth celebrating your relationship with your kids celebrating because life with children is always an adventure, fun, and exhausting all at the same time. You are enough as a mom and deserve credit for everything that you do every day–and we’re here to help remind you of all those good moments by signing the Mom Guilt Pledge today. 

Sign the guilt-free mom pledge today!

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