Don’t have much time? Want to spend time with your kids but your too tired to come up with a fun activity? Allowing for some “child’s play” is a great way to spend time with your child and do something you KNOW they will love.

Have each child create a list of things they would love to do with you. You can also do this for babysitters and other caregivers too! Have your kids list activities that take 5 minutes, 15 minutes, or 30 minutes.

Here are some ideas:

5 Minutes:

• Sing a favorite song together
• Read a few jokes from a joke book
• Work through a brain teaser
• Play a game of hop-scotch
• Play a few of rounds of eye-spy

15 Minutes:

• Read a story book or a chapter of a book together
• Make a quick, nutritious snack together
• Play a game of cards
• Work on an art project
• Play with a ball – Catch, shoot hoops, practice scoring.

30 Minutes:

• Go for a walk together
• Read up on a topic your child is interested in
• Play in the yard
• Have a tea party
• Explore the neighborhood

Allow your child to come up with whatever activities THEY want to do will ensure they will enjoy themselves. It also gives you some insight into they types of things they like to do and allows you to share the experience.

This also works for older children and teens too, but you might want to make activities a little longer then 30 minutes.

Making a list broken down into time is also a great project management skill. Say your child’s goal is to learn how to play basketball. Work together to create a list of things that you can do in shorter amounts of time that can work together to achieve the skill. It might include things like 5 minutes of warm ups. 15 minutes of free throw practice and 30 minutes of learning about great basketball players. Then whenever you have free time you can choose an activity to do that will help them towards their goal.

Having a back up list of activities you can do with your kids is a great way to add some “child’s play” to your day!