Games and things

Play family Countdown

You just need card/ paper with letters on and a timer (phone)

Dressing up days

• Dress up as clowns for a day
• Have a themed day – cowboys or girls, 20s, 70s, etc

Play ‘Where is Kazakhstan?’ 

(Watch Richard Osman’s House of Games on BBC 2)
Take a map and find groups of places on it.
While you are at it:

• Learn every capital city in Europe
• Learn the countries and key places in Africa
• Learn the countries and key places in Asia 
• Learn the countries and key places in the Americas
• Find out where Papua New Guinea is
• List all of the US States
• List 10 reasons why the 45th President of the US is not fit for office (easy)

Games your great Grandma played

Pig in the middle

You need three players and a ball. Two players try and keep the ball off the third one. Change places as soon as the third player gets the ball or they get bored.
The pig is the one in the middle.

Beetle

You need a dice, pencil or pen and paper each for any number of players.
Take turns to throw the dice and a six starts the game. Continue throwing the dice in turn. When the dice lands on a number the player who has thrown it can draw a beetle part
6 – starts
6 – draw a body
5 – head
4 – arms and legs
3 – feet and hands
2 – eyes
1 – nose and mouth
The winner is the one who completes the beetle first

In the Garden

• Go on a garden safari – how many different plants and insects can you find? See the RSPB site for resources
• Try bark rubbing
• Plant some seeds
• Make a den or tent
• Have a night/weekend under canvass
• Play Keepy Uppy
• Learn how to juggle
• Learn how to face paint

Skipping – learn how to skip to a rhyme 

Ordinary skipping is easy peasey, lemon squeezy so take it up a level by trying some old skipping rope rhymes. For this one, you need a longish rope and a minimum of three people; two to turn the rope while one runs in (or tie one end of the rope to a washing pole or drainpipe and you will get away with two).
Try “Salt, Mustard, Vinegar, Pepper”  as the rope is turned – everyone chants and each jumper gets three verses before you swap.

Here’s an even more difficult one
“Teddy bear, teddy bear, touch the ground (touch the ground with a hand)
Teddy bear, teddy bear turn right round (turn around)
Teddy bear, teddy bear go upstairs (mime going upstairs)
Teddy bear, teddy bear Say your prayers (hands held in praying position)
Teddy bear, teddy bear turn off the light (switch the light off)
Teddy bear, teddy bear Say goodnight (pretend to sleep with hands on head)”
More rhymes here

Make something from a cardboard box

All parents know that the shipping box is better than the expensive present it contains. When it has stopped being a bus or a car, camper or a boat turn the cardboard box into a:

• Dolls house
• Fort
• Garage
• Hospital
• Tracey Island?

(Frankly it doesn’t matter how poor your skills are – it is the making it and decorating it together that matters). Need more ideas?  More clever clogs are here

For Adults

• Have a video dinner party with friends
• Have a video cocktail hour – share how to make cocktails
• Share expertise on a Webinar
• Learn how to do one new DIY job
• Take an online course to enhance your job prospects or re-train
• Make a scrapbook or join Pinterest with your kids