One of the benefits for us work from home dads is that we get to spend quality time with our kids. However, that very same benefit can also sometimes be a big challenge!

The following are 10 creative and fun ways to keep kids entertained:

1. Arts and crafts. Give your kids a whole bunch of different materials like paper, crayons, popsicle sticks, dried pasta and glitter. Lay all the materials out on a table and let your kids decorate and glue whatever their little hearts desire! And stay-at-home dads are more than welcome to participate as well!
2. Sports. Playing sports with your kids is a great way for stay-at-home dads to keep them entertained and active. Even if you’re not athletically inclined, something as simple as playing catch with your kids can be a lot of fun. Also, if your kids want to, they can participate in team sports as well. As a stay-at-home dad, you have the flexibility to go and cheer them on at games and help build up your kids’ self-confidence.
3. Creating books. You and your kids can create homemade books. First you can create the stories together. If you’re kids aren’t able to write yet, you can write their stories down for them. Afterwards, you and the kids can decorate the pages of your books. What’s great is that as a stay-at-home dad, you have the time to work for as long as you like on the book.
4. Write a script and shoot a movie. Stay-at-home-dad movies! You and your kids can come up with the script, the characters, and the costumes. With a simple video camera, you can shoot the movie and edit on your laptop in no time.
5. Cooking and baking projects. Depending on your kids’ ages, you can all work together in the kitchen. Just be sure to follow the recipe. Most stay-at-home dads can follow recipes like clockwork!
6. Work in your garden. Depending on the season, when you are a stay-at-home dad, you can work in your home garden with your kids. If you don’t have a backyard garden, you can plant window-box and container gardens.
7. Learn to play an instrument. You could form the At-Home Dad and His Kiddies rock band! If you already know how play an instrument, you can teach your kids yourself or sign them up for professional lessons. There could be some great family jam sessions!
8. Put on a puppet show. Make puppets out of socks and put on a show.
9. Make masks. Use paper plates to decorate as masks. And you should join the fun and make a stay-at-home-dad mask.
10. Create word soup. Write out a list of at least 20 words. Then have your kids make a word soup. Then they can write a sentence for each word as a clue.

These are just a few of the activities that you can do as a stay-at-home dad!

An important point that I’ve had to remember over the years is that as a work from home dad, I need to have more than 10 ways to keep my kids entertained!

Here are another 10 ideas to keep your kids happy and involved:

1. Put on a play. Write a play with your kids and put on a show. You can involve other kids in the neighborhood as well. You could call it the Stay-At-Home-Daddy Adventures and schedule performances for a few days so that everyone on the block has a chance to see the show.
2. Make puzzles. You can buy a blank jigsaw puzzle at your local crafts or toy store. Have your kids draw a picture on them, maybe a picture of their stay-at-home dad. Then they can trade with each other and put them back together again.
3. Have a picnic. Pack a picnic basket and have a picnic with your kids in your backyard or the local park. A big help for stay-at-home dads is spending time in the outdoors with their kids.
4. Go bowling. Bowling is a fun way to spend time and easy to do for a stay-at-home dad. Take your kids and some of their friends. In this case, the more the merrier!
5. Wii Fit. Wii Fit is a great way to get your kids off the couch. Compete against each other in all different types of sports. Because you do the movements when you use a Wii Fit, you and your kids can actually get quite a workout by just playing! Being a stay-at-home dad doesn’t mean that you have to be a couch potato!
6. Get a pet. Depending on the age of your kids, you can buy a pet, and put your kids in charge. That way, your kids learn responsibility, and you can have some stay-at-home-dad fun with pets.
7. Go to the library. I remember that when I was a kid and got a library card, I felt like such a grown-up! Libraries also offer things like storytelling hours and performers that are geared towards kids. These activities are often offered free of charge. And free is wonderful for stay-at-home dads!
8. Get your kids online. There are a lot of fantastic and educational games that your kids can play online. It’s important to make sure that you have parental controls set up so your kids can’t surf websites that may not be appropriate for them. As a stay-at-home dad, you can easily control what they see on the Internet and let them have fun and learn at the same time.
9. Tie-dye t-shirts. With this activity, you can make tie-dye t-shirts that your kids can wear. Check online where you’ll find easy instructions for setting up your tie-dye materials. Your kids may love this activity so much that they’ll think that their stay-at-home dad is groovy!
10. Magic tricks. Teach your kids some simple magic tricks. You can either buy a magic-trick set or find magic tricks online. Your kids will have a lot of fun learning how to do the tricks. And you as the stay-at-home dad can be the cheerful assistant!

As a work from home dad, you’ve got a lot of great opportunities to keep your kids entertained. The activities are yours for the choosing!

Reference: http://BusinessTM.com/about/erik-cornella/