If you’ve been stuck at home with littles and everyone’s going a little stir-crazy, I researched some fun Disney-themed crafts and activity ideas to get the wiggles out and the brain working. I’ve included some activities that are overtly Disney themed along with some fun activities that can be easily themed and customized.
If you decide to dive into some of the science or technology based activities, re-theming creates an easy way to incorporate the arts into whatever activity you’re planning on doing, which also conveniently boosts any STEAM learning to the next level.
Coloring Pages and Ride-Throughs
First up! We just added some free coloring pages to our website. We also have ride-through playlists of the entire Disneyland and Disney California Adventure parks, and soothing park music spotify playlists.
Flashlight Fireworks
This seems like such a sweet idea to create park magic in your own home. I recommend putting on a fireworks playlist and popping some popcorn to set the scene.
https://www.getawaytoday.com/travel-blog/make-magical-disneyland-fireworks-in-your-own-home
Disney Charades
This is a fun way to get the whole family involved. If you have a shy little one, invite them to play as a team until they’re comfortable going up on their own. Once they see everyone else getting silly, they’ll want to jump in.
https://www.darcyandbrian.com/disney-themed-charades-game-for-kids/
Make Your Own Felt Story Board
This is a great way to get tactile learners introduced to creating larger pictures using basic shapes. Use your felt board to create a new story or re-create a beloved classic using stop-motion. Here’s a good list of free stop-motion software.
https://www.thesprucecrafts.com/how-to-make-a-felt-board-1388485
Try Out These Frozen Themed Science Projects
The best learning happens when a mess is made, sorry parents! Here are some great Frozen themed cooking, art, and science activities.
https://fun-a-day.com/frozen-activities-kids-will-love/
Disney Themed No-Tech Coding Game
Games like the one described below can easily be themed to fit the current interests of your littles, plus it gets their bodies moving and teaches them the basics of coding without any technology. I like this guide because it has different difficulty levels.
https://leftbraincraftbrain.com/if-then-backyard-coding-game-for-kids/?cn-reloaded=1
Learn Coding Through Easy Game Creation
If you’re ready to take coding from the backyard to the computer, look no further than Scatch. From the Lifelong Kindergarten Project from the MIT Media Lab, Scratch is a kid-oriented coding based website. You learn to create your own themed mini-games through a process that’s a whole lot like clicking together LEGO bricks.
https://scratch.mit.edu
Invisible Ink Experiment
Creating secret messages with invisible ink is such a fun and magical science activity. It can be themed Harry Potter (not Disney I KNOW BUT STILL COOL), or you can put a cool Sorcerer and the Stone or villain/ Magic Mirror twist to the activity.
https://fun-a-day.com/homemade-invisible-ink-experiment/
Learn Engineering Through Rube Goldberg Machines
If your kid is getting into engineering and tinkering, I highly recommend my friend Paul’s book, “Build Your Own Chain Reaction Machines.” It teaches kids how to create Rube Goldberg machines using what’s already laying around the house. Creating a chain reaction machine using everyday things like cardboard and scissors and tape opens up the ability to a ton of different theming options. You can start small and do mini-projects, or you could go big and even build an entire mini-Disneyland (or setting from a favorite movie) and use a chain reaction to create a story. It’s entirely customizable.
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07HN8V5DR/ref=dp-kindle-redirect?_encoding=UTF8&btkr=1
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These are just a few ideas. If you know of more, comment with a link so we can create a living and growing collaborative resource guide. What activities are you going to try out?