10 Quick Kids Activities with Little Prep and Little Mess

A list of 10 quick, at home, kids activities that have little prep, little mess, and little stress!

How many times have you gone searching the internet for quick kids activities, or a simple, fun, activities for your kids and all you can find is activities that will take hours to prep. I know this has happened to me so many times! The worst part, you spend hours setting up this elaborate activity just for your kids to be bored in the first 15 minutes.

How frustrating!?!

I am all about simplicity. I want my kids to have fun, but sometimes I don’t have the time or energy to deal with big activities and big messes.

Sometimes we have plans, places to go and things to do, and I don’t have the capacity to try and clean them up first.

If this sounds familiar, then this list is for you! I’ve put together a list of quick activities that require no to very little prep, and have no to very little mess!

quick kids activities with little mess and little prep

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1. Foam Window Art

This one is super simple, and can have as much prep as you want. Take some foam shapes and use a spray bottle filled with water to make art on your windows or glass doors. The water will make the foam stick to the glass, allowing your kids to make beautiful art on your windows or glass doors.

You can get foam shapes already pre-cut, but you can take more “prep” time and cut your own if you want to. I recommend just getting shapes and using those. If you don’t have a spray bottle you can have your kids dip the shapes in a bowl of water too, it’s just a little more messy that way.

2. Play Card Games or Board Games

What could be easier than a simple card game or board game? This is a great, and simple way to have a quick activity that doesn’t make a huge mess. Granted, some board games are messier than others, but for the most part they are all a simple clean up. With cards, it’s so straight forward! Looking for a really quick and simple idea? Play a round of go-fish, Uno, or mancala.

I have provided a list of different card games with links to instructions in my post 20 Inexpensive Ideas for Quality Family Time Activities. Make sure to check it out. You can also go to Bicycle Cards website to get lists of games, and instructions!

If you are thinking about board games, I have compiled a list of top rated board games for kids of all ages, in order by age. You can find the list in my post The Best Games for Family Game Night: By Age.

3. Go Magnet Fishing

This is a super fun activity that can also be enjoyed by kids of many ages. Use a fishing pole with line (kids poles work just fine) and tie magnets to the string instead of a hook. The magnets work as the weight, as well as the “hook” in this fun activity! Use magnets with holes in them, or get creative and glue them onto the string with hot glue. If gluing, have one or more magnets on each side of the line so it stays in place better.

Find metal items to place in the yard, and let your kid go fishing for the items! This is even more fun if you have a deck or balcony that your kids can fish off of. They will have a blast trying to “catch” and reel in the metal items in your yard. You can even make it a competition and include points. You can assign higher points for harder to catch items.

Examples of items:

Scissors
Dog Dishes
Tongs
Metal spoons/utensils
Metal bowls
Paper Clips
Screws
Nuts
Bolts
Wrenches

Essentially, you can use anything that doesn’t weigh too much, that a magnet will stick to.

4. Anything That Flies

Kids love to watch stuff fly, or to fly things on their own! I don’t know what is so fascinating about the concept, but the funny thing is, most adults love it too. You can let your kids fly a kite in the yard, kites are always a fun option and often forgotten about. A really fun activity for the adults and kids are rocket launchers and slingshot launchers. These are always a hit, and have provided my family endless hours of fun.

Make a game out of who can catch the rocket, or who can launch it farthest!

Also, don’t underestimate the entertainment and fun of a wood airplane glider. These are super easy to quickly put together and kids love them!

5. Buckets of Water Play

Grab some buckets and fill them up with water. Get a few bath toys, water toys, or beach toys for your kids to play with in the water buckets. If you are feeling daring and adventurous, give them some water blasters to spray around. Sure… they might get wet, but that’s as easy as a quick clothes change. You can use any buckets that you have laying around or you can get some beach buckets if you don’t have them already. We have done this with multiple bucket types: 5 gallon buckets, beach buckets, leftover Easter buckets. The possibilities are endless.

Fill the buckets up with water and provide some toys that float, sink, and that you can transfer the water with. If you don’t have water toys, give them some cups and serving spoons! This one doesn’t have to be hard, it’s super simple. Somehow, this simple activity will keep my kids entertained for hours. The best part, the water just dries up and the only mess you have is the toys you get out!

Alternatively, you can also just let them play with a hose, but I have found that the buckets are much less messy.

6. Bring On the Traditional Kids Games

Play some very simple, no prep, no mess kids games to keep them entertained. This activity doesn’t allow you to really walk away, or let them play independently, but it’s still a great option when you have the time!

You must remember those traditional kids games that you used to play in school, in groups, or at home? Who could forget Simon Says, Red Light Green Light, and Follow the Leader. These games keep kids entertained, and they have so much fun doing it!

In case you don’t remember the games, here is a quick overview.

Simon Says

One person is Simon (usually the parent, but it’s fun to let the kids be Simon too). Simon gives directions to the players by saying “Simon Says … *insert action here*”. The players must do everything that begins with “Simon Says”. If Simon gives directions without saying “Simon Says” and the players do the action, then they are out. If you only have 1 or 2 kids, you would just start a new “game” of Simon Says.

Red Light Green Light

You must choose a starting and ending point for this game. The leader of the game says red light or green light so that players can race to the finish, or stop. The first player to get to the finish line wins, but they MUST follow the directions of stopping on red lights, and going on green lights. You can also mix it up and throw in a yellow light, the players must move in slow motion!

Follow the Leader

Select a leader (typically the parent, but it’s fun to let the kids lead too). The leader will start walking, running, jumping, climbing or doing some type of action. The players must follow all the actions of the leader or they are out of the game! This is fun because you can explore, climb over rocks, jump over logs, or freeze completely and see who follows.

7. Have a Nature Scavenger Hunt

This one is really fun and simple. I have created two different Nature Scavenger Hunt pintable’s for you in my post, Nature Scavenger Hunt.

Nature Scavenger Hunt

This post goes over ideas on how to have a nature scavenger hunt, and provides downloadable PDF’s you can print with a pre-made scavenger hunt. If your kids are older, you can make this a photo scavenger hunt, and have them get the best photos they can of the items on the lists. If you have a polaroid or Instax camera, they can get their prints right away and make a fun art page out of it later!

8. Play a Sport

Have your kids play a sport, or you can play with them! If you already have sports equipment, this is an awesome and easy activity to have your kids do in a pinch. Just pull out a soccer ball, football, baseball/t-ball, or whatever it is your kids enjoy and let them go to town. You can play with them to get your exercise in, and to keep them entertained even longer.

We find it very simple to have small cones that my kids can set up as “goals“. It’s cheap, easy, and they can set it up themselves! At one point, when I needed independent play time, I even put a kids slide under their basketball hoop so the ball rolls back to them. It makes the entertainment last longer!

Frisbee’s are also another wonderful idea! They also have kids bag toss games, ring toss, and so many other options for yard game type activities too.

9. Window Paint for Window Art

This might sound like it’s messy, but it’s actually one of the cleanest paint activities that I have found so far! To make it even better, kids have so much fun doing this! Get some window paint or window chalk markers and let your kids go to town on the windows. If you don’t have to go anywhere right away, you can let them paint on the car windows too!

Windows or glass is super easy to clean, especially with these amazingly easy window cleaners: Enviro Cloth and Window Cloth (I don’t use anything else). Your kids can have an open canvas to create their beautiful masterpieces, and you don’t have to worry about your nice items getting ruined!

10. Target Practice

Let your kids work on their aim and hand eye coordination with a fun game of target practice. This is a super fun activity for nerf guns or squirt guns. You can set up items for your kids to hit (cups, cans, bottles) and knock over with a nerf gun. You can also put up a cheap paper target onto a tree for either nerf guns or squirt guns. All you have to do is draw a quick bullseye and circles on a paper or cardboard, take a tac nail, and hang it on a tree! Or, you can quickly paint a target on the tree itself.

They make tons of different targets for nerf guns, but you don’t have to purchase these for your kids to have fun. I’ve even made it as simple as taking empty bottles or cups, putting them on a kitchen chair, and having my kids shoot at these. This can be super fun indoors or outdoors.

If you use nerf guns, there will need to be clean up of the bullets. On the other hand, if you use squirt guns, the water just dries and it’s super clean and easy.

If you try any of these activities, please feel free to share your experience in the comments. This is a community of families that can provide input to each other, so feel free to share your ideas too!

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