#healthy snacks

Sweatpants & Snacks | Power Up: 8 No Bake Energy Bar & Bite Recipes

Fuel your body and satisfy your snack cravings with these high protein, nutritious bars and bites. You don’t even have to fire up the oven! No Bake Superfood Granola Bars by Domestic Gothess These bars mix healthy, filling ingredients with tasty bits of chocolate. Pin It | Get the recipe 5 Ingredient Peanut Butter Energy Bites by Chef Savvy Delicious bites packed with flax seed, peanut butter,…

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Things to entertain kids at home:

Ok so I’ve curated this list based on both my own experiences and that of other people, these may or may not be applicable depending on what they like and how old they are but it’s just some ideas to help whether you’re baby sitting or want to do something fun! I am not a parent myself however from things my own parents, my siblings and my experience with little ones these are my suggestions, but whatever works for you I think you’re doing awesome!!

• Make fairy houses; It doesn’t have to be mega fancy but you can get creative with this, fake moss and flowers, clay bake toad stools, make door signs, beds etc, then you can place these in the garden for when the ‘fairies’ visit
• Have an ‘archaeology’ dig, if you have a sand box use this as your base but if not fill a small paddling pool with some sand and then hide objects among the sand to dig up and examine, this can range from a tiara to ‘dinosaur bones,’ Give them a spade and a pastry brush and watch the wonders of tiny Indiana Jones
• Ok so this was game me, my cousin and my sisters used to play at my grandmas when we were little but it’s great because it teaches kids about different words but also different categories of knowledge. So we’d take an A4 sheet of paper and write the alphabet along the portrait side of it, we’d then make a table with categories at the top ranging from animals to names and we’d have to go through each letter of the alphabet and think of something in these categories that started with the same letter, the person who could think of the most things or the most letters in a word would win a point and the person with the most points was the winner
• Create a mini ocean; Fill a large plastic box with clean fresh water and some skin safe blue food colouring and place somewhere that you don’t mind getting wet, in the water place plastic sea creatures, fake sea plants, some rocks at the bottom and even some sand. Add on the side of the box some extras like boats and a some small people so that they can create their own adventures.
• Colour in a giant colouring picture; Set it in the centre of the floor or on your dining table, make sure to put a protector underneath to prevent any ink bleed and layout some non toxic felt tip pens and colouring pencils
• Bake and decorate sugar cookies; These are great to fuel the imagination, lay out a decorating station with sprinkles, icing and edible paper decorations and let the fun begin
• Hide an object and let them scavenge to find it, if you hide it well this will make for a lot of fun and if you hide multiple items this can be an exciting treasure hunt
• A magic show; Find a kids magic trick video on YouTube for them to perform, then let them make their own show with costumes, sound effects and curtain reveals
• Tik tok dances; Learn and dance to a family tik tok dance, if you’re babysitting you can film it and keep it as something fun for their parents to have
• Finger painting, get a few large sheets of paper, some non toxic paints and some old or easily washable clothes, go outside and go wild
• Make houses and rooms for toys from shoe boxes; I did this all the time as a kid and all it takes is some toy accessories, some glue to stack and stick the boxes together to make a doll house and some scraps of fabric, magazine cut outs and pens to decorate
• Origami; Get a book of folding paper and hit YouTube, I made a rose with mine
• Fashion shows; Let the kids wear whatever they like, fancy dress, their own clothes, a bin bag toga, whatever! Create a runway space and put on some music and let them do the rest!
• Paint and build animal habitats; whether it’s a bird house, a hedgehog hide away or a bees nook this will not only teach kids how to care for their environment and local wildlife but also provide hours of fun, even better when you can see some critter visitors
• Decorate plant pots then Plant herbs, flowers and vegetables in the garden; buy plain large or medium plant pots, some brushes and waterproof paints and let the kids paint a pot each for the bedding plants and then help them to plant them. A creative and sustainable way to entertain kids while helping the environment.
• Create a den, gather duvets, sheets, cushions, blankets, pillows and Fairylights and make a cosy den to play, read and watch movies
• Make themed baths; this can range from space to mermaid cove, invest in a mood lamp, fun baths toys and skin sensitive bath bombs, depending on the theme you can personalise this eg for jungle themed, suspend plastic Ivy and vines around the walls and the bath, place plastic jungle animals in the bath and around the tub, plunge a green swampy bath bomb into the bath, use a green mood lighting and playing some jungle ambience music to set the scene
• Decorate masks, you can buy these from any craft shop, buy some paints, feathers, glitter, beads etc and enjoy!
• Make Halloween/Christmas decorations; This can range from making bat bunting to painting baubles to making Christmas paper chains, get some ideas from Pinterest and go from there. Paper chains are a great thing to do for any event as on each scrap of paper you can draw pictures and be creative
• Have a karaoke night with ‘microphones’ these can literally be wooden spoons or hair brushes, add in some sunglasses and a fancy scarf and you’ve got a mini X factor in your house
• A teddy bears picnic, this can be inside or outside depending on the weather, you and each of the kids can bring one cuddly toy to the picnic as their guest to share lunch/dinner/whatever meal with, this is even better if you voice talk the stuffed animals to make it more fun
• Make finger puppets and have a puppet show, whether you make a stage or not is up to you but I’m a big believer in that a piece of A4 paper, some glue and a few felt pens can bring so much fun
• Obstacle course; set it up throughout the house or garden with string ‘lazer’ beams, cushion stepping stones along the ‘lava canyon,’ the mop handle limbo pole and the dreaded skipping rope on the floor tightrope
• Makeover; Grab some cheap makeup and nail vanishes and let them make you into a super model
• Hair dressers; Again let them play with and style your hair, provide clips and hair ties and voila, even if you have short hair it still works!
• Slip and slide; Roll out a carpet protector in the garden or in your hallway, cover it in fairy liquid, get the kids in their bathing suits and enjoy the at home water park
• Water fight; Get some cheap water pistols, go out into the garden or the front of the building and go for your life!
• Paddling pool; Self explanatory fun!
• Garden/house camping; Set up a tent in the garden or the living room, put some sleeping bags and blankets etc in there with some fairy lights, roast marshmallows and pretend you’re out in the wild wilderness of the world
• Ball games; Football, basketball, netball, whatever it is it’s a great way to have fun in a larger group
• Play do; No need to explain this one
• Indoor mini garden; Get a box and fill it with soil, give the kids some rocks, twigs, fake plants and flowers and let them go wild
• Get some old (appropriate) magazines, some newspapers, glue, stickers, felt pens, a sheet of A2 paper and some paper letters, and let the kids express who their art in collage
• Movie marathons; Disney plus is a recommended purchase! Alongside some popcorn of course
• Simple YouTube crafts; watch the videos and make some cool stuff
• Paint water colour pictures; Less mess and less stress if you buy palettes
• Watch and follow drawing tutorials, it’s great to see what you come up with in the end and when you’re finished colour them in!
• The finding game; Keep a score sheet on paper and ask the kids to find things like the biggest stick in the garden, the smelliest sock and the largest stone, whoever gets the most points wins

Im sure there are loads more things I haven’t mentioned but basically just come up with whatever you think will be fun and safe for the kids to enjoy, sometimes the best things are in our own homes and they don’t need to be at any fancy places or using any fancy tech, just simple stuff used in the right way can be effective