Tips for keeping kids happy after school

Help them write down some animal names like cat, dog, unicorn and mouse on pieces of paper. Then ball them up and pick them out one at a time. Can you work out which animal they’re acting out for you?

Get your child to think up an amazing dinner their toys might like - and then get them to write everything down in a shopping list. There are lots of things for them to think about here. Which veg will they serve? How many potatoes do they need to buy? What's for dessert? Isn’t teddy allergic to dairy – what’s he going to eat?

Try a shapes mission! Draw some shapes on a piece of paper and ask if your child can spot them round the house. Start with a circle, then a square, then a triangle. How many can they find?

If everyone’s getting hyper, this tip is a good way to burn off some of that excess energy. Put some music on, dance around, and get your kids to count out different actions with you – like 10 hops or 16 jumps – in time to the music. A bonus workout for you as well!

Get some Post-it notes and label items from around the house like their favourite toys with prices up to 50p. Items can be multiples of 5, 10 or 1p depending on how confident your child is at maths. Pay them with real money or “Post-it money” and get your little “shop keeper” to give you accurate change. Swap and repeat!

Channel some of that energy by getting them to give you a hand in the kitchen. Get them to pick a recipe and give it a go together. Something simple like pancakes or scrambled eggs is perfect. 

Calm them down by asking if they can read to you in funny voices. What would a dog sound like if it was reading a book? Or a cow? How about a ssssssnake? Which books would the different animals choose to read? Or they could read out their spelling words – a good way to get their spelling homework out of the way too!

Want to calm their wild side after school? Send them on a jungle adventure! Asking them to write a list of what they'd need for a trip is a fun way to keep them busy. They could even draw the items and the bag they’d pack them into. This is also a good way to unstick them from their devices.

If you get something delivered and it comes in a big cardboard box, give this to the kids to play with and let their imaginations run wild! Is it a den? A rocket? A castle? See how many ideas they can come up with.

Use your phone timer to help your child figure out how long it takes to do everyday things - like tidying up toys, getting ready in the morning, or helping you sort out the recycling.

You’ll probably find they’ll start trying to “beat” their record – good news for getting the chores done!

Writing a list of everything they’d need for a trip to space is a fun way to keep them happy. Who would they take with them? Teddy? Their best friend? Grandpa? And what would they eat?

Getting them to make a poster of their favourite film or book is a fun way to keep them busy. They could put their poster up on the wall and you could watch the movie together after tea, pretending you’re at the cinema. You could even make popcorn!

When your child receives a gift or a treat, you could encourage them to send a “thank you” drawing. To get them started, you could talk about the person they're doing the drawing for, and what that person might like a drawing of. Do they like dogs? Is the dog a happy or a sad dog? What's the dog's name? Who is the dog’s best friend? 

If your child's tooth falls out, you could help them write a message or draw a picture for the Tooth Fairy, then put it under their pillow with the tooth. You could even write a message or draw a picture back to them (from the Tooth Fairy). Just imagine their wee face when they find it and read it back to you!

Pick a leaflet that comes through the door – it could be a takeaway menu or an advert for window cleaning. Point out the words with your child and sound them out together. To help keep them interested, you could ask them to draw their own leaflet for a business or make a collage by cutting the leaflet up and creating something new from it.

Raid your recycling for clean bits of cardboard or plastic and challenge the kids to build something from it with string or sticky tape. How about a racing car for teddy? Or a haunted house? The more off the wall the better!

Get them to write a letter to someone who lives far away – or even near to you, everyone loves a letter! It doesn’t need to be long – they could even stick to just three sentences, like this:

“Hello Auntie Laura. How are you? I'm doing fine. I made a spaceship out of milk bottles yesterday. Love from Harry.” 

You could them help them to send it by social media, email or even by post – old school!

Measuring their height and comparing it to different animals is a fun way to keep them busy. Are they taller than a penguin? How about a polar bear? You can find some fun facts on animal sizes here.