Ways To Be A Fun Mom When You Have No Energy
Are there times where you want to be the fun mom, but you just don’t have the energy to do it?
Don’t you wish you had half the energy that your kids do? Having all boys, 5 and under makes it so hard to keep up. Every 5 seconds they want something or need something, or just want to run around screaming and playing. Then if that isn’t exhausting enough, they want you to play with them.
Every parent has been there, and thought to yourself how will I get out of this one? Don’t feel guilty, there’s times where you don’t feel like playing, all you want to do is sit down and try to tune out the noise.
Then there’s times where you feel bad that you don’t want to play with them, and they give you the saddest puppy eyes that guilt you into playing with them.
We have some fun ways that will get you to be a fun mom even when you’re too tired, things that won’t take much effort but your kids will have a blast with you!
Don’t worry, we’ve got you. ?
Remember to pin this for when you are low on energy but your kids want to play
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How being a fun mom affects your child
Your kids love you, and always want to be around you…for now. But you don’t really have motivation or the want to play all the time, which is fine, you don’t have to play all the time. But, when you do want to be the fun mom and play with your child it does wonders for their self -esteem, confidence and brain.
When you play with your child they feel special and happy, which really boosts their self -esteem. This will affect them for the rest of their lives. Feeling special and loved goes a long way and just to know simply playing with your child could do that.
Even though at the time you feel like you can’t or don’t want to play with your child, once you start, and hear them laugh and look happy, you don’t want to stop playing. There’s nothing like the sound of a child’s laughter. Forget about what you need to get done, or the stressful day you had, just remember they aren’t young forever, so enjoy them wanting to play with your and you need to have some fun too.
Fun ways to be the fun mom for your kids
Play With Legos
Who doesn’t love legos? Yes, it can be a little annoying having them all around the house, or worse, when you step on them, but they are a great learning activity. If your child is younger, they will love building blocks! When my first was one and also now my one year old twins, they love to sit for it seems like hours playing with blocks. If your child is older, playing with legos and using your imagination together is so entertaining
Color
There are so many benefits to coloring. It’s so relaxing but so fun. When your child is younger it is a great motor skill exercise- learning to grip the crayon or marker, and controling their hand to color, and evetunally staying within the lines. And obviously it does wonders for their creativity. You can color in a book, just on paper, hang paper on the wall or on a window and have them color that way. Get creative and fun. Still a perfect relaxing activity to do together.
Paint
Painting is another extremely fun and calm activity my kids love to do as do I. There are so many different ways to make painting fun. Paint by number, finger paint, fill balloons and throw them at a canvas, use water guns, make editable paint, just to name a few.
Play on the floor with them with their toys
Kids really don’t expect too much when it comes to playing with them. If you just simply get on the floor and play with their cars, action figures, dolls whatever it is that they like, they will love it. They just want to be around their moms and dads and have fun with them. It makes them feel special and happy that you are not saying you can’t play with them because the dishes and laundry needs to be done. If they see you are making time for them they will notice that, trust me.
Watch a movie or tv show
Not going to lie, but this is one of my favorite relaxing thing to do with my kids. You can turn on their favorite TV show or movie and watch it together- unplugged. After a long day of work or staying home with your kids and hearing your name one million times within 10 minutes, you can kind of shut your brain off and have mindless entertainment. It’s important for your kids to let their minds relax too so they can feel refreshed.
Put on a play with stuffed animals and dolls
This activity is super fun, kids love to pretend whether it’s play doctor, be a mommy or daddy, or be the teacher. Using funny voices and dressing them up can make it exciting for you and them. Let them run the show and follow their lead. Having them be in charge during play time helps with confidence and gives them the ability to feel heard.
Play pretend
When I was little I remember always playing house. My older sister was always the mom and I was the daughter, or we woule pretent to run a shop. My boys now love to act like super heros and I will be the “evil mommy”. I know pretending sounds like it takes a lot of engery, but it doesn’t have to be. I lay on the ground or sit on the groud and pretend to be frozen then when they come close I jump and grab them- they love it! That way I don’t have to run around when I am running on empty.
Give each other a makeover
You can do this with boys or girls. Either have them give you a makeover or you can give them a makeover. Having them give you a makeover is always fun to see how crazy they will make you look. They will laugh you will laugh, it will be a good time.
Paint each others nails
This can go along with the makeover, nail painting is always fun. I don’t have daughters but I was a younger girl once, and I loved painting my nails ( or at least the thought of it, my parents didn’t let me…). However, my son was curious about my painted nails, he just thought I was regular paint so he wanted me to do his nails too. So I did and it was fun, he was excited to have paint on him and he thought it was cool.
Read together
Start reading to your child from the start. This is one the most relaxing and best time to get some cuddles in. Reading together and out loud stimulates their brains in ways you might not even know. The more you read together it makes it a positive and happy experience, and they will development a love for reading. If you want, you can even make a fun craft or activity relating to the book. It’s not only fun but it helps develope thier comprehsion.
Play a board game together
This is a classic family time, and doesn’t take much energy, so if you have no energy this is perfect. Playing board games that you have played as a child with your own child makes it just that much more fun. Our current favorite is Mouse Trap, my boys LOVE it!
Play a video game together
I had no idea just at how young of an age kids start playing video games. My son was about 3 when he was interested in video games. His first game was Sonic, the music to that game brings back childhood memories. I know there’s beef about video games, but in all honesty, there’s a lot of positive things about them. They are more advanced than when we were kids. Videos games help with eye/hand coordination and huge with problem solving. There are some that are purely mindless entertainment, but there are games out there that actually make you think and figure things out. The Spider Man game is one that I think is hard trying to beat, but my 6 year old can figure out the puzzles and tasks in the game, and it’s challenging. Also,the Lego games are great for that too! Playing with them is so much fun even if there’s a little compition going on.
Do a scavenger hunt
This is a fun activity to do together. It doesn’t take too much energy but it keeps the kids active and excited. Have them find specific items around the house, or if you are wanting to go outside, pick fun things to discover in nature. You can turn it into a educational hunt like finding certain colors, or items that start with a letter and have them sound out the first letter. So many ways to make it exciting but not super energetic.
Play a matching game
My kids love this one. They make it a contest, and it’s a super simple game to play as a whole family. You can buy a matching card game or make your own. You can have it be a theme, matching colors, matching items, matching animals the list goes on. A simple game like this is amazing for their memory, you’ll be surprised just how good your child’s memory is compared to yours LOL.
Bake somethings
I was always hesitant to have my kids bake with me because of the mess, or them getting hurt. But don’t worry about the mess, and this is a good teaching exercise about how to be safe in the kitchen. It’s a low key activity where they can learn basic chemistry and math, learn counting and build fine motor skills by stirring. Such a yummy way to teach your kids! Then you get to eat at the end of the activity! Um, yeah!
Make a meal together
Another way to do a fun and yummy activity together. It actually makes dinner a little more fun and easier to make. It keeps you child entertained while you’re trying to get dinner ready and you have a little helper. They will learn a new interest and maybe can turn into something for them. I love watching the kid’s cooking shows on the Food Network, they make it look so fun and it can be for your kids too!
Listen to music
You can turn this into a relaxing time just lay down and listen to music or you can turn this into a little more upbeat activity. I know you’re tired so the activity can just be as simple as sitting on the floor playing with toys and have the music on in the background. Play soothing music or fun up beat, whatever mood you are feeling at the moment.
Dance
I know you’re looking for a low impact thing to do, but still be the fun mom your kids want to see. You don’t have to go crazy and all out with the dancing you can even slow dance with your child, teach them some new dance moves. Or maybe just by doing some small dance moves, it will get you moving and you will want to go all out and be silly together. Create a new choreography to a song fast or slow.
Do a craft
Our family loves doing crafts together, whether it’s as simple as painting a picture or doing a big project for the house. But to keep it simple yet fun there are so many craft things you guys can do. You can even try to lean a new craft like painting on a canvas or crocheting. What another thing to do with crafts that’s educational too is reading a book and making a craft based on the book. My kids and I read “More Spaghetti I Say” and they had a blast with this activity we did!
Have a pillow fight
Not the most low energy activity but you can just on the floor and still have a pillow fight, you’d be an easier target, but your kids will love to have fun with their mom what ever way they can.
Make fun videos on your phone
Snapchat is a huge thing with kids. I personally don’t use Snapchat, but I download apps where you can still change your face like snapchat and my kids can do this for hours. It’s an easy way to have fun together and have a non-stop laughing bonding session. I save them and they always love to go back and watch them again. You can even combine them into one slideshow for keepsake, how fun would that be?
Take selfies turn them into funny photos
This is a lot like the videos on your phone. There are a lot of different apps you can get for free to edit your pictures to make them fun. My oldest loves to look at the pictures and draw on them. Or just use a filter that has fun photobooth type of filters to make the pictures extra fun.
Draw pictures
Let your creativity come out in both of you. Grab some paper and a pencils and just draw whatever comes out, don’t put a lot of thought into what just let your hand do the work. You can turn this into so much more than just drawing time. A really cool way to do this is you each draw a picture and turn it into a story book. Or you can draw a picture ( it doesn’t have to be perfect) and see if they can copy your drawing. Another way to get practice and keep it fun is find a picture, maybe a favorite character and try drawing that character. My sister and I would do that all the time and it kept us busy for hours and we became decent drawers.
Play hide an seek
This is an all time favorite! I remember us kids doing this all the time in our house, or outside with the neighbor kids. Your kids will absolutely love doing this because they think it’s so funny that you can’t find them… LOL. Make it super duper fun and intense play hide-and-seek in the dark (with the older kids)! It doesn’t take too much energy and they will remember that you were a fun mom for a lifetime!
Play with walkie talkies
Walkie talkies are a classic that you can never go wrong with. Heck, you can even just sit on the couch and have your kids play with you from a different room. You can pretend to be spies and you’re on a secret mission. Or a safari and tell each other what you see. Let your imagination go wild, not your body. ?
Have a picnic in your livingroom
There is nothing better than relaxing with food, am I right? Lay a blanket on the floor, go to the kitchen and gather some snacks, a sandwich whatever and make yourself a little picinic. You can turn a movie on or just have a quiet little time talking to your child and create the ultimate bonding time together.
Make a tent and hang out
I haven’t meant one kid that doesn’t love a tent. You can build one under the kitchen table, in a closet, with bunk beds, a couch, and some chairs, so many different ways. Get some books, tablets, pillows, and blankets to cover up with and that’s it! This is one of my favorite things to do on rainy or snowy days with the kids, and they always ask to do it again.
