Inside: You won’t believe how many amazingly fun and educational kids’ activities you can set up using common household items! With this list, your kids will be entertained for hours and learn a lot about creativity and thinking outside the box.
As a busy mom of four homeschooled kids, I’m always on the lookout for items to keep them happy and engaged without spending a fortune. New toys are, of course, exciting and fun, but we all know how quickly they become old toys. Fortunately, there are lots of things right in our homes with endless entertaining and educational potential.
In fact, when I recently sat down and decided to make a list to share with you, it added up to 100 common household items that can be used for fun kid activities!
One hundred is a pretty large number, and it can be overwhelming to figure out where and how to start. I placed the items in rooms where you are most likely to find them and have provided some links for activities you could try with these items.
Here is an idea: challenge yourself to use one item every day until you get through the whole list. These activities are not just fantastic boredom busters; they are also your ticket to bonding, learning, and growing together!
100 Household Items
Kitchen
- Dishwashing liquid (How to Make Giant Bubbles)
- Drinking straws (Homemade Barometer)
- Birthday Candles (Birthday Candles See-Saw Experiment)
- Baking Soda (7 Baking Soda Activities for Kids)
- Paper Cups (DIY Cup Amplifier)
- Vinegar ((Dragon Spells)
- Paper Plates (Paper Plate Maracas)
- Spoons (Catapult)
- Food coloring (Color Changing Milk Experiment)
- Colander (Pasta Play Activity)
- Empty containers (Russian Roulette with an oatmeal container)
- Salad Tongs (50 Fun Ways to Play With Tongues)
- Water bottles (Sensory Bottles)
- Mixing Bowls (Fire and Ice Experiment)
- Pots (Making Music with Pots and Pans)
- Lids (Lid Banjos)
- Whisk (Play with Water and a Whisk)
- Potato masher (Potato Masher Print)
- Aluminum foil (Foil River)
- Toothpicks (Glow-in-the-dark Stars)
- Chopsticks (Paper beads)
- Cupcake liners (BathTub Science Fun)
- Plastic bags (Surprising Science of Polymers)
- Kitchen staples (Sensory Painting)
- Molds (Kids’ Soap Lab)
- Mason jars (Fairy jars)
- Empty glass jars (T-rex Experiment)
- Cookie cutters (3-D Heart)
- Cookie tray (Scroll down to Hands-on Learning in this Math Activities post)
- Muffin tin (Scroll down to Sorting and Pouring in the Flat Marbles post)
- Wax paper (Origami Halloween Light)
Office Supplies
- Markers (Chromatography experiments)
- Highlighter (Glow-in-the-dark bubbles)
- Newspaper (Snowman Family)
- Paperclips (Defying gravity with LEGO science)
- Rubber bands (Pennies and Apple Experiment)
- Paper (DIY Rockets)
- Index cards (STEM towers)
- Duck tape (Notebook covers)
- Gift wrapping paper (craft ideas)
- School pencils (Balancing Magic)
- Ruler (3-D Math Valentines)
- Tape measure (How tall are you and other tape measure activities)
- Stapler (DIY Book for Kids)
- Binder clips (Decorate Binder Clips)
- Post-It notes (“I love you for…” game)
- Push pins (Push Pin Maze)
- Clear glue (Halloween slime)
- Ink pads (Family Tree Craft)
Food Items
- Flour (Bread in a Bag)
- Mashed potato powder (Winter Sensory Play)
- Eggs (DIY Faberge Eggs)
- Rice (10 Rice Sensory Bins)
- Beans (8 Activities with Beans)
- Salt (Natural Playdough Recipe – coming up)
- Peanut Butter (Non-Newtonian Fluid)
- Sugar (Rock candy – coming up)
- Pasta (Pasta Art Activities)
- Marshmallows (Building Challenge for Kids)
- Cocoa Powder (Harry Potter Chocolate Frogs)
- Whipping Cream (Homemade Butter)
- Milk (Invisible Ink Using Milk, How to Make “Plastic” out of Milk)
- Cornstarch (Silky-Smooth Playdough)
- Candy (STEM Structures)
- Soda (Erupting Soda Bottle)
- Pumpkin (40 Fun and Easy Pumpkin Activities)
- Spinach (Green Pancakes)
Bathroom Staples
- Contact Lens Solution (Basic Slime)
- Q-tips (Process Art with Q-tips)
- Shaving cream (10 Shaving Cream Art Ideas)
- Shampoo (Rainbow Shampoo)
- Baby lotion (Baby Lotion Playdough)
- Cotton balls (25 Cotton Balls Hands-On Ideas)
- Laundry basket (25 Boredom Busting Laundry Basket Games)
- Mirror (Pupil Dilation Experiment)
- Toilet paper rolls (Membranophone)
- Dental floss (Peanut Butter – Rubber Gloves Game)
- Comb (Comb Paintings)
- Bath scale (Bathroom Scale Lessons)
- Iodine (Incredible Iodine Science)
- Alka-seltzer (Alka-Seltzer Rockets)
- Dixie cups (Dixie Cups Garland)
- Tealight candles (Candle Science)
Craft cabinet
- Beads or Flat Marbles (Toilet Roll Challenge)
- Popsicle sticks (DIY Newton Cradle)
- Balloons (Homemade Barometer)
- String (Can You Pick up ice with a Piece of String)
- Ribbons (15 Ribbon Flowers)
- Dice (12 Dice Games)
- Paper bag (35 Cool Paper Bag Crafts)
- String (Sticky Ice Science)
- Glitter (Glittery Painting)
- Tissue paper (20 Tissue Paper Crafts for Kids)
- Pliers (Homemade Compass)
- Googly eyes (Monster Eyes Activity)
- Pom-poms (Simple Pom-pom Drop)
- Pipe cleaners (Magic Pipe Cleaners)
- Watercolors (Watercolors & Oils Science Activity)
- Tempera paints (String Art)
- Paintbrushes (31 Kids Painting ideas)
- Shoebox (Shoebox Treasure Chest)
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