Fennell Seeds

Growing skills in parenting and organizing.

The Best DIY Montessori Busy Board That Even Older Kids Love

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Busy boards can be amazing for kids but this one takes it to the next level. Even older kids love this Montessori busy board and it keeps them occupied for a long time. 

This idea first started when my oldest nephew was obsessed with keys. He would want everyone’s keys that came to their house. My father ended up going to a hardware store and having a bunch of keys made and a key ring to be able to give him his own set of keys just alike the adults. 

Then when my nephew got a little older he wanted to use his keys and my father came up with the idea of this busy board with lots of locks and a special place to store things.

Photo of an Exciting DIY Montessori Busy Board for older kids to spend hours locking and unlocking.

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Activities for Homebound Kids with Little to No Prep Needed

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When you are stuck at home with little ones, whether it is for snow day or sickness it is hard to keep the kids occupied. And usually it isn’t the time to head to the store.

I gathered lots of ideas for playing that use items you may have around the house.

Indoor kids activities for when you are stuck at home.

No-Prep Activities for Kids at Home

  1. Cereal/Pasta Threading – You can use either pasta or yarn to thread cereal that is already in your cabinet.

2. Make a Masking Tape City – Your kids can use cars, trucks, people and animals and have a whole town. Run masking tape or painters tape on your floors and carpet to make roads and parking lots for a whole town. We used this all the time for our twin boys.

3.Blowing Bubbles Inside – Blow your kids mind with the ability to blow bubbles inside. A mix of shampoo and water which are 2 ingredients we always have make this something you can do right now.

4. Easy Homemade Catapult – Use soft wadded up paper or some small toys and your kids will love watching things fly.

Indoor kids activities for when you are stuck at home. #kidsactivities

5. Toilet Paper Roll Rocket – Save up your paper rolls and let your kids have fun making rockets.

6. Spider Web Obstacle Course – Kids can pretend they are trapped or find ways to get around without touching the yarn. Do this under a table using the 4 table legs as the anchors of the yard.

7. Leak Proof Bag Experiment – Make your kids say “Wow” with this fun experiment. It’s amazing when the water doesn’t leak.

8. Straw Rocket – Anything that can shoot in the air in my house is fun. I like that this is will take them a little time to put together.

My kids love when I break out new activities. Some last for 5 minutes and some for an hour. Anything to help break up a day at home is good in my book.

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Indoor kids activities for when you are stuck at home. #kidsactivities

Easy DIY Kids Chore Buckets

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This post may contain affiliate links. See my full disclosure here.

I woke up the first day of summer this year to one of my sons playing on his iPad. I said “Hey, I thought we were going to start off summer right with our chores?” and he said, “Already done, check out my bucket.”. Whoa!! They still work!

These are great for my kids to visually see what chores they need to complete for the day. They love to complete the chore and hear the satisfying plop when they drop the clothes pin into the bucket. These chore buckets have really worked in our house.

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DIY Cardboard Box Horse Stable

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DIY Cardboard Box Stable to fit American Girl Horse

I am always so impressed with my husband’s creativity. Britton has been asking for a stable for her AG-style horse which is pretty large. We both received new bikes as Christmas presents so after he assembled our bikes he thought the box would make a great DIY cardboard box horse stable.

Daddy Cardboard Box Stable

Isn’t he a good Dad? I am thankful we have at least one creative parent in this family.

Here is what he did. He cut the box on the top so he could tape it together to make a pitched roof. Don’t worry about the kind of tape you use as it will be covered up later with paper shingles. He used a box cutter. Then he cut the side and cut it in half to make a barn door that swings open on the top or bottom.

DIY Cardboard Box Stable

He decided to paint it white because that is what we had on hand (we weren’t going to spend any money on this thing) and he told her that afterwards she could put stickers all over it. What little girl doesn’t love to decorate with stickers? 🙂

Painted DIY Cardboard Box Stable

The next day, once it dried, I let her take over and add shingles. I just cut construction paper into thirds and let her use a glue stick to put them on the roof. This was the fun part for her to put her touch on the stable. Matt drew the barn door and window.

Roofing DIY Cardboard Box Stable

It has been a huge hit. She has played with it for hours already. I am thrilled for her. One day she may get the real toy stable but for right now this is so fun for her. I like showing our daughter that you can make your own toys out of cardboard boxes. Not everything has to be brand new and perfect.

What have your kids made out of boxes?