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It feels like the easing of lockdown is now finally in sight and with spring in the air, things are feeling that much more positive. However, that being said, we still have some time to go till we can get back to some form of normality and get out to see friends and family. With this in mind here are seven lockdown activities to do with your kids to keep boredom (for both parent and child) at bay.

Frozen double faced puzzle:

Everyone loves a good puzzle, and the 250-piece Frozen inspired puzzle is perfect to keep the kids entertained if it’s a little drizzly outside. We liked this one from toysandbears.com as it’s a double-faced puzzle and has the Frozen characters on. Children get to complete the puzzle, then colour in the back when they’ve finished.

This double faced puzzle retails at £6.99 and was a big hit with my little one.

The Super Sorting Pie:

This cool fruity pie teaches early numeracy skills as children sort the fruit counters by their attributes. Children can place the sorting cards into the pie base to provide visual cues to help the child know where to put their pieces. It comes with some awesome jumbo tweezers too which can help reinforce motor skills.

The game, from Learning Resources, includes 60 4cm counters (seven fruits in five different colours), 22cm durable plastic pie, removable divider, three double-sided sorting cards, two jumbo tweezers and an activity guide.

This game retails at £24 as it a great game for learning and matching.

The Sneaky, Snacky, Squirrel^™ Colour Matching Game:

We really enjoyed playing this game as a family from Learning Resources. It says it’s aged three to seven, but even us parents enjoyed this one.

In the game you need to help the cute little squirrels forage for food by filling your log with tasty acorns before another sneaky squirrel steals one from you. The Sneaky Snacky Squirrel Game^® helps to develop tactical thinking, hand-eye coordination, fine motor skills, and pre-handwriting skills while using the Squirrel Squeezer.

This game retails at £22.50 and is a cuteness overload.

The Geomag Challenge Goal:

I really like how Geomag’s range of educational toys encourage learning out of school, specifically when it comes to STEM.

Geomag has created a range of educational toys which encourage free-thinking, inquisitive play and enhance a child’s development. Their magnetic toys are a wonderful way to play while exploring science and tend to keep kids busy for ages.

This was a good one for Amelia to play with her Daddy as he loves things like this. Their cubes and sets magically stick together through the use of magnets. Amelia also loved seeing gravity and listening to her dad talk about magnetic and mechanical forces.

The Geomag Challenge Goal retails at £25 and, whilst perhaps is a little too old for our little one, would be perfectly suited to kids aged five upwards in my opinion.

Marvin’s Magic Pens:

Ok so maybe not quite a game; but definitely magic so this deserves a place in the blog. These were good fun and keep us busy for ages. In the kit you get 25 magic pens – all of which can be used on normal paper so can just go straight in the crafting box to be used again and again.

The magical pens allow kids to write secret messages or draw magic pictures. The pens can erase and reverse images and also make really lovely patters. You can even make your art vanish, which was definitely very exciting in our house.

And the best thing for mum, no mess and no fuss. It even rubbed off the table with a wet cloth. Phew.

Marvin’s Magic 25 Amazing Magic Pens retail at £14.99 and are the perfect addition to any arts and craft set.

The Alphabet Acorns activity set:

We really enjoyed playing with this cute little letter game and found it was something that did far more than just it’s intended use. For instance, you can stack the letters, hide little items in the acorns, play colour matching, play make believe with the little animals; ultimately, it offers endless possibilities to keep little ones busy.

I was really impressed how much this game helped with alphabet awareness and letter recognition too. In terms of how it works, well, kiddies need to complete the plastic acorns by matching the uppercase letters on the acorn body with the corresponding lowercase letters on the matching coloured lids. They can then open the acorns to discover a surprise – a colourful counter that corresponds to the acorn’s letter.

This multi-use and fun game from Learning Resources retails at £31.00 and is great for both solo or group activities.

The Geomag Supercolor:

This is a fab little magnetic building game for kids of all ages, and all made from 100% recycled plastic. Thanks to the simple Geomag elements and the magic of magnetism, we were able to build loads of cool 3D constructions such as farms, houses, zoos and much more. This game is great for creativity and imagination. The elongated magnetic rods, steel balls and the various panel shapes make up the building system, which stimulates play and learning.

The Geomag 337 Supercolor Panels 35 piece set retails at £26 from Coolshop.co.uk

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We were lucky enough to be #gifted all of the above toys and games to review, but I can confirm the reviews are all 100% honest and fair.