Selection of inventive activities for children to do at home

Playing is a very important part of childhood and contributes greatly to a child's development. In these times, we know that finding ideas for out of the ordinary activities can be more difficult than expected, so we have tried to bring you some inventive solutions that you can do at home. In this article you will find ideas for games to do at home depending on the age of your child.

For babies from birth to 3 years 

Babies love to imitate and discover, so we advise you not to neglect simple activities such as dressing up for example. Putting yourself in someone else's character and imitating them will help your child develop their sense of observation and analysis in advance.

More generally, children of this age like variety. Indeed, the activities you offer them will help develop their motor skills. Below is a list of games and activities that are ideal for a child from birth to 3 years old:

• Montessori games (recognition of shapes, colours, materials, sounds etc.). Find on this link a selection of the best Montessori games: https: //www.je-suis-papa.com/top-jeux-montessori/
• Puzzles
• Building sets such as Lego (use large pieces rather than small ones to avoid choking)
• Hide and seek at your place
• Puppets (and yes, you too will need to develop your acting skills to entertain your children! )

Tip: think of attaching an early learning toy to your pushchair so that your child can continue to stimulate his curiosity even when out and about. For this purpose, when your baby is in a bassinet or a car seat, the adjustable bar of the Limo is ideal in a higher position to put the toy ( https://www.vidiamo.com/products/la-poussette-limo ).

For young children from 3 to 6 years old

At this age, games are even more important for children because they will stimulate them even more.

First of all, we advise you to organise creative activities such as modelling with salt dough, modelling clay, painting workshops, colouring etc. Of course, you have to be prepared for your child to get it everywhere (we advise you to cover your child well, to cover yourself and to protect the space around the child) but these activities will contribute to the development of his imagination.

Also, logic and memory games can be very important and are often enjoyed by children. Below you will find some ideas for such games:

• The memory
• The card games
• The difference games
• Classification games

For children 6 years and older 

In order to develop the intellectual, language and social skills of your child aged six and over, we have selected the activities that we found most appealing:

• Escape kits ( https://escape-kit.com/?gclid=Cj0KCQjw0caCBhCIARIsAGAfuMz3m5faV47B3AK3SPjjfFy7sPcOAljLw_tmc1n7vEFmrOQb1vbVh7UaAk5KEALw_wcB ) : this original and innovative activity will allow you to solve riddles as a family or by inviting your children's friends at home without having to travel. In these times of pandemic, it is better to protect yourself and your children. So bring the Escape Game to you!
• Organize home and family workouts: yoga, stretching, dance and more.
• Since the confinement, the cooking workshops have exploded but indeed it can be a good hobby, a learning moment and a treat for children but not only!
• Board games such as calculus, vocabulary, general knowledge can be ideal to keep your children busy at home.

In conclusion, play is not only very important for a child's development, from newborn to teenager, to develop their abilities but also to have fun and enjoy themselves. We hope that all these ideas will help you to keep your children or grandchildren occupied while staying at home!