I originally made this animation in the evenings to help my two little ones. I could show them it and they could choose an activity – trying to teach them it can be fun to stay home all day and distract them from the things they are missing.

After a few friends suggested it was helpful I popped it on Youtube in case anyone else could find a use for it too.

Needless to say, these activities have all been done over a few months not a few weeks…! I skipped such verses as ‘I screamed and refused my nap, I did a wee on Mummy’s lap’ and therefore maybe it gives a rather rose-tinted version of lockdown with toddlers.

Regardless, I hope that some mums and dads out there find a use for it and maybe get a few activity ideas from it! Happy adventures everyone!

When We All Stayed Home

There was a time that we all stayed in
And built robots from boxes and tin
We made rainbows with paint and glue
We solved mysteries by following clues
We baked cupcakes with sprinkles on top
We played with bubbles and made them POP!
We explored the garden finding leaves and flowers
We made play dough and played for hours
We built a stick house for a garden snail
We unpacked all the things delivered by mail
We threaded beads and buttons on strings
We went on a scavenger hunt for things
We made tracks and footprints with animal feet
We watched lots of telly and ate nice treats
We read and looked at all our books
We made new friends and had close looks
We planted seeds to watch them grow
We folded aeroplanes to throw
We baked bread and biscuits and muffins galore!
We stuck tape games onto the floor
We melted eggs made from ice
We created colourful playing rice
We made lots and lots of video calls
We constructed ramps and rolled down balls
We looked through clothes and had a big sort
We used pillows and blankets and made a fort
We drew a road onto our mats
We glued together our very own hats…
Painted rocks,
Puppet socks,
Box Trains,
Computer games,
Chalk outdoors,
Potato paws!
Cornflour tray,
Water play,
Fun to stay
Home aaaall day

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Sarah Purkis lived in Cambridgeshire until she attended the University of Hertfordshire to study 3D Animation. Sarah then worked as a playground designer, creating 3D images and presentations for schools and councils across the country. After becoming a mum, Sarah decided to put her career on the backburner for a few years. Being a stay-at-home mum to a 3 and 1 year old during the 2020 pandemic inspired Sarah to use her evenings creating an animation to help her children through the strange times. Sarah is now working on more animations to upload onto her YouTube channel ‘Sproglets’.

To contact Sarah please leave a comment in the discussion on her channel. Don’t forget to subscribe!