Don’t have a lot of time? Want to spend time with your kids but are too tired to think of a fun activity? Allowing for “child’s play” is a great way to spend time with your child and do something they KNOW they will love.

Have each child make a list of things they would love to do with you. You can also do this for babysitters and other caregivers! Have your children make a list of activities that take 5 minutes, 15 minutes, or 30 minutes.

Here are some ideas:

5 minutes:

• Sing a favorite song together
• Read some jokes from a joke book
• Work through a riddle
• Play a game of hop-scotch
• Play a few rounds of eye-spy

15 minutes:

• Read a storybook or chapter of a book together.
• Make a quick and nutritious snack together
• Play a card game
• Work on an art project
• Play with a ball: catch, throw hoops, practice scoring.

30 minutes:

• Go for a walk together
• Read about a topic that interests your child
• Playing on the playground
• Have a tea party
• Explore the neighborhood

Let your child come up with activities THEY want to do to make sure they have fun. It also gives you an idea of ​​the types of things they like to do and allows you to share the experience.

This also works for older children and teens, but you may want to be active for a little longer than 30 minutes.

Making a list broken down by time is also a great project management skill. Let’s say your child’s goal is to learn to play basketball. Work together to create a list of things you can do in shorter periods of time that you can work together to achieve the skill. It can include things like a 5 minute warm-up. 15 minutes of free throw practice and 30 minutes of learning about great basketball players. Then whenever you have free time, you can choose an activity to do that will help them achieve their goal.

Having a back-up list of activities you can do with your children is a great way to add “child’s play” to your day.