Stuck At Home? Try this: 10 Creative Exploration Activities For The Whole Family.

Are you stuck at home with loads of time on your hands and maybe children in the house and no idea what to do with them?

Well here are some ideas for you to get creative, play, connect and have a good time together. 

These are meaningful activities that foster connection, communication and understanding and can really help you spend quality time with your loved ones, in a fun and explorative way. 

You never know what you'll discover so please let us know in the comments, how this goes for you. 

1. Follow The leader

You will need pens, pencils and one sheet of paper per game.
This will work with 2 or more participants.

Nominate one person as the leader and the rest as followers. 

Everybody sets their pen or pencil down together on the same spot on the page. The leader then sets off, setting the course and the pace, while the followers moving their pencils along with them, try to keep up.

Swap roles until everyone has had a chance to be both a follower and a leader.

Afterwards: discuss what it was like to be a follower and a leader. What was easy? What was hard? What did they think about or feel in those roles? Why?

 

2. Commission a painting

Take turns commissioning a painting or a drawing from each other. The person making the commission, makes requests as to what they want in their artwork, while the artist is painting in real time. 

So you might ask for a castle and so the artist draws a castle and while she's painting, you keep adding details to your commission. Maybe you want a donkey outside and a car. 'I want a sun in the sky and clouds' and so on.

Experiment here with pace and request load. Put a little pressure on but be fair. 

Swap roles. 

After, explore what is was like to make and receive requests. What came up? Why? What can you learn from the experience? 

 

3. Conversations with no words. 

Two or more players attempt to have a conversation using only drawings, no words.

After, discuss the importance of communication and feeling heard and understood. You can explore also, the implication of when communication is hard. And what happens when we're not communicating. 

 

4. Treasure Hunt

There are a few variants on this. You can instruct your little ones (and they you) to go and find an object from around the house (or out in nature) that makes them happy.

Another treasure hunt would be to instruct each other to find an object they love to smell or that they love to touch or which gives them comfort.

You can explore the meaning of the item and it will help you better understand what matters to each other. 

 

5. Dance Your Emotions 

If happy was a dance, what would it look like. 
If sad was a dance, what would it look like. 
And so on. 

Remember to take turns here and for all the family to participate and explore how emotions might be expressed physically. 

You could also do this with colours. If happy was a colour, and so on.

 

6. Paint The Music 

Play a piece of music and make art in response to the music. If this piece of music was art, what would it look like? If this music was a scribble, what would it look like. If it was colours, and so on. 

Play the song and make the art for the duration and pick a variety of songs to reflect and experiment with mood. 

7. Draw Your Perfect Day. 

Instead of making a written list, draw a list or a montage of your perfect day. Pictures don't have to be perfect or well drawn (I say that for your benefit parents). It matters less the degree to which your drawing is accurate and more that you are engaging this way. 

Take time after to sit as each person goes through their list with a show and tell of each of the pictures that represent elements of a perfect day. You might be surprised what comes up. 

 

8. Name Your Hero's

Get out the ipad or use books to find photos of people you consider your hero's. Share with each other why. What are the qualities you admire in these people and how are they a reflection of you?

This is an opening into understanding what qualities and values are important to each other. Remember here to clarify and define the qualities too. Don't just assume everyone has the same understanding of 'kindness'. Explore the meaning of kindness. What does it look like? How does it feel? How can you know kindness? How can you give it? 

This is a beautiful opening to understanding and what is important to each other, what matters to each other and how you can develop those qualities in your life and family. 

9. Our Family Mantra. 

Pick a random object from the house. Explore the object. Perform an analysis of it. What is the anatomy of this object?
How might it be described using only 3 words?
If you were this object, how might you describe yourself in 3 words? 
What is it's usefulness?
What does this object help us do?

Imagine this object was a leader. A hero. A wise elder. What might it know that we could learn from? Imagine the object giving you advice. What might it say that you could use as a family mantra? Figure it out together and distill the wisdom down to a single sentence. You could even distill it down again to a single word. 

When you have your mantra. Draw or paint it and hang it somewhere in your home to honour this work you did together and as a thing to treasure. 

10. Some Tips For Respectful Exploration 

  • Listen to each other.
  • Don't interrupt.
  • Adopt an attitude of curiousity. 
  • Don't tease or mock.
  • Don't try to change each other.
  • Be willing to learn something new.
  • Be kind.
  • Be fair. 
  • Express gratitude when each person shares. 


Close your session by by checking in with each, share a learning and express gratitude for that learning. Tell each person what and how they helped you learn and understand better. Tell them why that is important. Give everyone a chance ask any questions or say any last words and then formally close the activity.

Have fun. Enjoy each other. Please feel free to add any ideas yourself and let us know how you get on with these ideas, in the comments. 

For more creative ideas, visit my IGTV channel here. 

Always, 

Amanda xx 

 

 

 

 

 

 
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