These past few months of home quarantine have tested our wits and patience in terms of staying at home. Most families have members who are working from home, and a lot have kids bored out of their minds.

Now that the Enhanced Community Quarantine is transitioning to General Community Quarantine, it’s still a matter of knowing how to make the most out of your time at home.

Remember, you don’t have to force yourself to be productive. But when it comes to having kids around, it pays to be active about the things that they need to do so they won’t feel bored.

Since traveling is out of the picture at the moment (and it better stay that way until COVID-19 is contained), we’ve come up with a couple of things that you can do to beat quarantine boredom as a family.

Board Games

In the age of technology, any parent can be tempted to just plop their kids in front of their tablets to play games or soak themselves on YouTube Kids. But if you want them to develop analytical skills, nothing beats the traditional board game.

You can start with simple board games such as Snakes ‘N Ladders and then work your way up (pun intended) to more complex ones like Monopoly, Scrabble, and other role-playing tabletop games.

Reading Together!

Admit it, you probably haven’t picked up a book in so long (unless you’re a bookworm). Now is the perfect opportunity to do that with your kids! Children are suckers for any good story, and they’d love it even more if it’s coming from you, reading from a gripping storybook.

If you were like us who grew up with parents reading stories before bed, it can give your kids that positive experience they will treasure for years.

Arts & Crafts

This is where DIY crafts channels on YouTube can help you out. It’s good to make art and have your kids join in the fun of creating something from scratch. If you’re clueless about the kind of quick crafts you can do with the whole family, there are multitudes of arts & crafts tutorials on YouTube that create different items from ornaments to toys!

Diving Into Your Kids’ Hobbies

Your kids probably have a lot going on in terms of pastimes and hobbies. A good way to keep tabs on what they love and experience what makes it fun for them is by asking to join in the fun. Yep, you have to dabble into their hobbies.

This is not for you to snoop, however. It’s a chance for you to understand your child’s fascinations and help them discover new things along the way.

Another bonus point—it can make your Christmas/Birthday gift list a little easier.

Movie Nights Never Fail

Movies have a way to connect people regardless of their age. True cinematic experience anchors on that connection. Set aside a night where the family can snuggle in to watch a classic or something fun that can leave you laughing through the night.

You can even be a little more creative with the movie viewing experience by building a blanket fort made of pillows and blankets of various sizes. Kids love creating small dwelling places and “living” in them, so this can make your movie nights a little extra fun and cozy.

Learn Something New Together

Learning a new skill with your kids enhances their confidence to learn. If mom or dad is doing it with me, then I can too! You can take different lessons of varying degrees, or you can watch a tutorial together so you can both work on a project. It not only gives you a new skill to practice but also strengthens your bond as a family.

Store Memories in a Time Capsule

Time Capsules are fascinating things to discover years later. You can place a couple of things that you both love (probably something that you’re willing to give up for this purpose) to discover how much you’ve all changed after a couple of years. You can be creative about the timeframe, say, a year. This can help your kid practice introspection and nostalgia, both qualities that are good for positive development.