Becoming a parent was the best thing that has ever happened to me, but it is also the toughest job in the world.
You, as a parent, are responsible for the physical, emotional, social, and mental development of your children 🧒, and this can be extremely isolating for a lot of parents, especially stay-at-home parents.
That is why, just as important as it is for us to make plans for our children’s enrichment, it is also important for us to think of our own mental health and social needs.
With this blog, I wanted to include activities that you can do with your children 🧒 along with activity ideas for young children to show their appreciation to mom.
Interesting Kids Activities for Mommy and Me
Whether you are a mom looking for fun activities to do with your children 🧒or a child looking for a way to show your appreciation to your mom, these activities include several activities you can participate in for a memorable day.
Hopefully, the activities listed below will help you plan a fun day with your mom.
Host a Movie Marathon
If you are a child, a teenager, or an adult looking to spend some quality time with your mother, consider hosting a movie marathon of your mother’s favorite films and ordering takeout.
As a mom, this is one of my favorite activities to do with my children as we snuggle on our bed at the end of the day.
Sometimes, we watch kid’s movies; other times, I show them family-friendly movies 📽️ from my childhood.
Have a Dance Party
Treat your mom to an impromptu dance 💃 party. Make a playlist of your and your mom’s favorite songs, and then dance along with your mom.
Play a Board Game
My mother is a board game aficionado. She loves it when the family gathers and plays a board game over a cup of tea.
If your mom loves playing board games as well, then I highly recommend playing her favorite game with her as a way to appreciate all of the times she stopped doing everything to entertain you.
Go to a Music Concert
Go to a music concert with your children. Recently, many children’s music 🪇 performances have been in and around my area. I have had the opportunity to take my kids to a couple of them so far, and they were super fun.
My children were enthralled with the performance and had a good time. I would recommend packing some snacks and water for your children.
Mommy and Me Yoga
It is essential for new mothers to be social and make time for their mental health after bringing their infant home.
Mommy and Me Yoga 🧘 classes are a great way to introduce exercise into your routine while socializing with new parents.
Some yoga studios even offer toddler classes, which are proper for your little ones to keep them engaged.
Perform a Play for Mom
If you love writing and putting up performances with your siblings, then write one for your mom as a token of appreciation.
My kids recently performed a sweet short play for Mother’s Day that I will forever cherish.
Have a Spa Day
When my sister and I were young, for one Mother’s Day, we gave our mom an at-home spa 🥒 day.
We played the role of the esthetician and gave our mother a facial, hair spa, manicure, and pedicure. To this day, our mother reminds us of this day as she had a lot of fun.
Go On a Hike
Hiking is a great way to bond with anybody. If your mom loves to hike, then you must take her on a hike 🚶 once in a while to bask in the glory of nature and have a great conversation.
Going on frequent hikes and nature walks with your loved ones is incredibly beneficial for your physical and mental health.
Learn a Musical Instrument
If you are proficient at a musical instrument, then pass down this knowledge to your children by giving them at-home lessons.
I am an amateur drummer 🥁and used to own a drum set as a teenager. When my oldest son reached the toddler stage, I decided to get him a drum set because he loved to bang on different objects.
Since then, we have upgraded to a larger drum set, and even my daughter has taken an interest in the instrument.
Make a Scrapbook of your Favorite Memories with Mom
For my recent birthday, my children decided to make an adorable scrapbook of their favorite memories with me. They also wrote sweet notes next to the pictures 🖼️.
Honestly, this gift made me tear up. It was lovely and thoughtful of my kids, who kept it a surprise from me.
Have a Tea Party
Host a tea ☕ party for your children and you. My kids and I role-played as fancy folk going out for high tea, and we were served tiny treats by our pretend waiter.
The kids absolutely thrived in the part and even went for seconds of their imaginary tea.
Cook With Your Mom
As a mom, I love it when my kids show interest in a chore I perform, like cooking 🍳. Cooking is a life skill that should be taught to children from a young age.
My mom would make my siblings, and I helped her peel vegetables and always prepare meat. And now I do the same with my kids.
My eldest son has taken a keen interest in cooking; it is a great way for us to talk about the day and distress.
Perform a Science Experiment with Mom
There are many studies that show that young girls lose interest in science 🧪by the time they are 15.
That is why I work incredibly hard to come up with cool experiments that I can involve my daughter in. I am happy to say that my daughter is inquisitive as well and loves to take part in them with me.
Teach Your Children Sign Language
Children usually start to talk when they are around a year old, and they are usually able to make sentences by the time they are three years old.
These signs tend to be different from the sign language used by the hearing impaired and are meant to convey simple actions and needs, which can help our kids express themselves before they start talking.
I was already a parent of a three-year-old when I learned about toddler sign language, but I was ready to use it with my youngest kid. Believe me, it did make things a lot easier because
I was able to understand what my kid wanted, and this reduced the number of tantrums significantly. You can start teaching sign language to your infant by the time they are six months old.
Visit a Petting Zoo
My kids have been begging me for a dog for years, but things are incredibly chaotic for us, as it is with a full-time job and two young children.
But whenever I get a chance, I take my kids to a petting zoo or make them volunteer at an animal 🐏 shelter so that they can interact with animals and learn to take care of them, like feeding them, bathing them, and playing with them.
Paint With Your Mom
If you and your mom love to paint 🎨, then challenge her to paint off one afternoon. Pick a common subject to paint and then ask an impartial judge to critique your creations.
Take a Pottery Class With Your Mom
I have become an amateur potter after taking my mom to a pottery lesson on Mother’s Day. My mom is very artistic, and she has worked with clay before.
We spent hours at the wheel, laughing and messing around with the clay. This is a great activity to do with your mom whenever you get a chance.
Sing Karaoke
Turn your home into a karaoke 🎤 bar and sing along with your mom. Make a playlist of your mom’s favorite tunes and even dress up as her favorite pop star on her birthday.
Read Your Mom’s Favorite Books
Bond with your mom by reading her favorite books 📚. My mother is a voracious reader and loves anything thriller, horror, and science fiction. As a teenager, I picked up one of her books to read, and she was incredibly thrilled by that.
Since then, I have tried to keep up with her book list and read at least one or two of the books she read that year.
Make Homemade Pasta with your Children
Involving your children in the cooking and prepping process from a young age ensures that your child learns to handle a knife, a hot oven, and an open flame with care. This pasta recipe is perfectly easy for children.
What you need-
Plain flour, large eggs, olive oil, water, pasta sauce, mozzarella, and cheddar cheese.
Steps-
- Measure 300 grams of plain flour in a bowl.
- Ask your child to make a well in the middle of the flour and then crack three eggs 🥚in it.
- Hand them a fork and instruct them to whisk the eggs and then mix the flour with the egg.
- Then, with clean hands, show them how to knead a dough. Knead until the egg 🥚 is well incorporated into the dough and it can hold its shape. Wrap the dough in cling film and store in the fridge for at least half an hour.
- Now, on a clean surface, roll out the dough as thinly as possible with a rolling pin and then cut it into thin strips. I recommend starting with a small piece of the dough.
- In a pot of simmering water, cook the pasta for at least 5 to 6 minutes and then strain.
- In a saucepan, toss the pasta in your pasta sauce and serve with cheese on top.
Design a Garden with Your Children
Teach your children how to plant saplings 🪴 and sow seeds in your garden. Even if you don’t enjoy gardening, teaching your children how to take care of plants is a great way to inculcate a sense of responsibility in them and also show them the fruits of their labor.
It is also a great way to gauge whether they are ready to care for a pet.
Tie-Dye With Your Mom
Tie-dyeing is a fun summer activity to do with your mom. Repurpose an old, boring, plain shirt, white footwear 👟, white pants, and even underwear into a piece of abstract art that you can wear.
With the right materials and instructions, the tie-dyeing effect is straightforward to achieve.
Visit Your Mom’s Favorite Amusement Park
I have been obsessed with amusement parks since I was a child. I love going on the rides, eating the greasy foods, and just the general atmosphere of the park.
A couple of years ago, my kids treated me to an Amusement Park 🎢for my birthday, and we had so much fun. Now that my kids are older, we get to enjoy the park even more.
Go See Stand-Up Comedy
I love to put on stand-up comedy sets as I clean the house, and ever since I had kids, I have had the opportunity to listen to the material of family-friendly comedians 🎤.
My oldest started to show interest in comedy recently, with my youngest following quickly. So, I decided to take them to see a kid-friendly stand-up performance.
It was a pleasant experience, but it taught me that I need to take my kids to movies or the theatre more often to teach them better theatre etiquette.
Volunteer at a Local Animal Shelter
Every kid goes through a pet begging phase. When my kids entered that stage, I started to take them to our local animal shelter to volunteer.
It soon became my children’s favorite thing to do. Even now, when we have a dog 🐶at home, we love going to the shelter to take care of the animals and prepare them for their forever homes.
Make Your Mom’s Favorite Dessert
My sister and I are amateur bakers, and last winter, for our mom’s birthday, we made her her favorite cake, which is a toffee caramel cake 🥮.
Our mom was extremely pleased with the cake, and the entire family could finish it over the night. You can also have a dessert taste test with your mom at her favorite cake shop.
Explore Music With Your Children
I have been to several mommy and me music 🎶 lessons with my children, and I have to admit they are entertaining. These lessons gave me a chance to interact with new parents whilst our children were taking turns playing the tambourine.
Listening to music and playing musical instruments 🎹has many benefits for children as it gives them an avenue to express themselves, develop social skills, and even improve their focus.
Prepare A Relaxing Bath for Your Mom
Prepare a relaxing bath for your mom with luxurious bath bombs 🫧, fragrances, and scented candles 🕯️.
Sometimes, after a hard day of parenting, a good relaxing bath can put you in a good mood. Treat your mother to a relaxing bath once in a while and volunteer to do the dishes or take the trash out.
Host a Fashion Show
Raid your sibling’s wardrobe and host a fashion show with your mom as the judge. My sister and I used to host this fashion quite often, to the point where we even started designing our clothes 👗and coming up with new creations.
Visit an Orchard
Picking apples 🍎and peaches is one of my favorite things to do with my children as fall approaches. Visiting an orchard is a great way to spend a beautiful day outdoors with your children.
Make Up a New Recipe
My children think of themselves as culinary geniuses because they realize putting chopped onions 🧅 on a taco tastes great.
Now, they love to suggest changes to every meal we make together. So, recently, while my partner was out of town, I asked my children to instruct me on what to make and how to make it.
We ended up making a pasta salad with a bowl of nachos. If I am being honest, the combination was too bizarre for me, but I enjoyed the journey nonetheless.
Solve a Jigsaw Puzzle
After a hectic day at work, I love spending quality time with my kids when there is no bedtime to stick to. Usually, we go outside on a hike or visit a family member, but sometimes, we like to stay inside and solve a puzzle.
So, pick a large jigsaw puzzle 🧩 set and make yourself and your children a warm cup of hot chocolate.
Go for a Swim
Many pools offer ‘Mommy & Me’ swimming lessons for children as young as a year old.
If your house has a pool, then you must ensure that your kids get their swimming 🏊lessons as soon as possible because drowning is the leading cause of death among children five and younger.
On its own, swimming is an amazing exercise that strengthens your child’s muscles, improves their coordination, and introduces your child to some basic survival skills.
Conclusion
Sometimes, our days become so hectic after a day of work and taking care of our kids that we forget our ability to relax and enjoy the small things in life.
It is essential for parents, especially stay-at-home moms, to take some time apart from their kids and indulge in activities that strengthen their emotional and physical well-being.
The aforementioned activities are a fun way to incorporate your young children into your hobbies. Let us know in the comments down below which activities were your favorite.
I’m a former teacher (and mother of Two Childs) with a background in child development. Here to help you with play-based learning activities for kids. ( Check my Next startup Cledemy.Com)