10 Fun Ways to Make your Kids Feel Special

One would think that quarantine would bring family closer. Well, guess again. I don’t know about you, but i’ve found that working from home keeps me busy 24/7. After work, I need to do house work, and when I am done with that, I am too tired to play with my kids. At the end of the day, I am mentally and physically drained, and my children do not feel special.

Call it poor time management skills, but I am sure that I am not the only one going through this. I have made it a priority to spend time with my family. Realizing that I was not spending my time as I’d like, I decided it was time to make some changes.

Here are a few extreme measures I’ve taken:

• quit my job to become a SAHM (stay-at-home mom)
• work on my blog late at night
• begin a cooking channel

Was all this necessary? I am not sure. But I am sure I have no regrets in doing so.

New SAHM (stay-at-home mom)

Since I became a SAHM, I’ve faced challenges that I was not fully prepared for. Keeping up with the house while having a toddler running around, is no joke! My respect to full-time SAHMs is now up to 1000%.

The first 2 weeks were hard, I must admit. But now that I am getting into a routine, it’s getting a little better. I am able to work while he is asleep, and have learned to clean with him running around.

Is it just me, or is yelling a normal part of being a SAHM?! Get down! Don’t touch that! Get away from there! haha

Disclaimer: This post may contain affiliate links. This means I may receive a commission if you purchase a product through the link I’ve provided. Please note that opinions on all products I link remain my own.

There are some things I’ve been able to do with my kids, that I want to share with you. Here is the list of 10 fun ways to make your kids feel special.

10 Ways to Make your Kids Feel Special

indoor picnic

A good way to make your kids feel special is by having an indoor picnic. Ideally, you would have a ‘normal’ picnic at a park, but with winter, you need to find new ideas. So, an indoor picnic it is.

Prepare their favorite sandwich, drink, and snack. If you are not able to built a fort or tent, place a blanket on the ground and decorate it with plants or flowers you have at home.

phone-free play date

I am guilty of overusing my phone! There. I said it. Whether or not I have a good reason for that, it is still a weakness that I am working on. For that reason I have decided to give them a phone-free, screen-free date. Pure one-on-one time with my kids.

What to do on a screen-free date night with kids?

• play board games (we love boggle, spot it, memory, and hangman.
• Color
• Ask them what activity they would like to do with you
• make a simple craft
• build things with blocks or magnet-tiles
• make an indoor hop-scotch
• have fun with play-doh

Hot chocolate, bread, and your favorite little person. What can be better than that?

We love hot chocolate in my house. Normally, we use the Abuelita tablets, but I’ve recently purchased the Walmart brand of k-cup hot cocoa cups for my daughter. They taste pretty good…for a quick hot cocoa moment. When you talk to kids, they usually find how to begin the conversation.

Things to talk about with your kids:

First: Intentionally listen to whatever they have to say! Trust me… they know when they don’t have your full attention.

Ask them what happened in school, what their friend from school was wearing, about the health of that one friend who was sick, etc. The idea is to ask super specific questions.

Talk about their favorite toy, TV show, or movie

Okay. That’s the end of the list lol. My daughter is 7, so those are some things that she really enjoys talking about. Find out what your kid has been up to lately, and talk about that. They love when you show interest in them, and it makes your kids feel special.

play I-Spy

An I Spy book is great for spending fun, quality time with your kids. We have an old I Spy book called 1001 Things to Spot. I have linked a similar one here for you.

A simple I Spy book can help you practice the importance of working toward a common goal.

make candles

About 2 years ago, I went to Michael’s and bought soy candle wax and made candles with my daughter. We enjoyed it so much! We melted crayons and added cinnamon to give it a fall scent. There are many recipes like this one that you can use to make your own candles.

plant flowers

Spring is around the corner. What a better time than this one to plant some flowers and watch them grow! There are many things you can learn together just by watching a plant grow. Read this post to learn 15 valuable lessons you can learn from a plant.

bake cookies

My daughter (not me ;)) loves chocolate chip cookies! There was a point during this past winter where we baked cookies like three times in a row. She loves helping me in the kitchen, so baking is perfect to let her do that. A family that bakes together, stays together!

I used this recipe and made gave it my own touch. But these came out so good!

buy matching pjs or DIY matching t-shirts

My daughter and I have matching PJs. I didn’t think she would like matching with me, but I couldn’t have been more wrong. She loves it! My next project is making our own matching t-shirts. For now, the plan is to but some fabric dye and some matching iron-on decals/letters. I’ll make a post if they come out decent looking.

Some inspiration ideas from Pinterest:

craft together

One simple tip I use when choosing which craft to make, is checking what the nearest holiday is. Told you… simple tip. But it really works. I use Pinterest to find most of my crafting ideas. If it’s near Valentine’s Day, for instance, I’ll search for craft ideas about that.

My sister bought my daughter a window window art kit. My daughter and I spent some time painting the decals and hanging them in the windows. It was fun and not a lot of energy was required.

at home movie-night

Plan a nice bubble bath for your kids or have them shower a little earlier than usual. Pick a movie. Make some popcorn. Cuddle while watching the movie.

Favorite Picks

Some of our favorite movies to watch as a family are:

• Ferdinand
• Dora and the Lost City of Gold
• Finding Ohana (warning: it’s 2 hours long)
• Big Hero 6
• Star

read a book of their choice

Okay, so your kids probably choose their own book already. But I am not talking about the books you read to them every night. I mean, at a ‘random’ time during the day, have them pick a book and read it to them.

When reading a book to your children, make it fun. Use different voices for different characters, change your tone to go with whatever is going on in the story. Make the story come alive!

I challenge you to try a few of these things with your kids. After you try them, let me know in the comments section how they went. I’d love to hear from you as well as other fun things you do with your kids.

Being a mom is not an easy task. But doing little things here and there with your kids will really leave a positive impact on how they view you.

Find new ways to make your kids feel special. Create memories now, so that in the future they can share them with their kids.

Sincerely,