11 Simple Kids Activities for Mixed Ages

Happy Thanksgiving, my friends!

I hope you are having a lovely day filled with whatever you like to do on Thanksgiving.

We are baking pies and other yummy foods in preparation for our Thanksgiving meal, watching snow fall outside, and looking forward to seeing family who are driving in today. Maia and Daphne are super excited to see their cousins!

Since many of us have a range of ages in our houses over the holiday, as we are, I thought I’d put together some simple kids activities that work for a mix of ages.

And since I can’t leave well enough alone, I’m giving you a nice short list of ideas and then I expand on many of the ideas. Stick with the short list if you just want a something quick; head on to the longer list if you want a few more ideas for simple kids activities…

11 Simple Kids Activities for Mixed Ages

(the quick list)

1. Playdough play and modeling

2. Toothpick construction

3. Open-ended drawing activities

4. Drawing games

5. Sensory exploration and play

6. Build a fort!

7. Smaller scale building

8. Get started on holiday crafts

9. Play some favorite games

10. Watch a family movie

11. Light table play

11 Simple Kids Activities for Mixed Ages (the longer list)

A couple of playdough turkeys!

A photo posted by Jean Van’t Hul (@jeanvanthul) on Nov 11, 2014 at 6:40am PST

1. Playdough play and modeling

• Playdough turkeys (on Mama. Papa. Bubba.) (With my daughters’ versions in the photo above)
• Small world play with playdough

2. Toothpick construction (lots of different ideas here! including edible ones…)

3. Open-ended drawing activities

• Leaf doodles or leaf peepers
• Family draw and doodle (cover the table with paper and gather around)
• Observational drawing
• Stickers as drawing prompts
• Double doodle (on Maya*Made)
• More drawing ideas for kids (on Tiny Rotten Peanuts)

4. Drawing games

• Simon Says! drawing
• Quiet-time art game
• Back and forth drawing game
• A leaf drawing game

5. Sensory exploration and play

• Cloud dough (on Happy Hooligans)
• Water beads
• Playdough
• Oobleck or goop
• More sensory play ideas

6. Build a fort!

• Furniture + sheets + pillows
• Fort Magic fort-building kit (if you have one!)
• Straw builders
• Outdoors with sticks and stick-lets

7. Smaller scale construction

• Magnet tiles
• Make a house of cards
• Blocks (of course!)
• Make a marble run
• Cardboard

8. Get started on holiday ornaments or decorations

• Make salt dough ornaments
• Fashion some glitter stars

9. Play some favorite games

10. Family movie night 

• Here are 52 family movie recommendations

11. Light table play 

• Remember you can make a super simple light table with a transparent plastic storage box and a string of white lights!

How about you? What are your favorite simple kids activities for mixed ages?