Do you need to keep kids of different ages occupied? Are you looking for an activity that will work for the toddler, the preschooler and the school kids?
These ideas and activities for multi age groups will help you keep everyone busy and happy!
Have you got a group of kids of all different ages that you need to entertain?
Maybe you are stuck at home with all your kids on a rainy day, or maybe you need to plan a group activity for kids of all ages.
Whatever the situation, if you have a bunch of kids of all different ages and you need to find something that they can all do together it can be tricky, but I’ve got some great ideas help.
Tips for Keeping Groups of Kids with Different Ages Occupied.
The trick to managing play with multiple ages is to find something that is easy enough for the youngest to join in, but interesting enough to capture the older kids too.
Choosing open ended activities is key to a successful activity for multi ages. An open-ended activity means it cam be done in a variety of different ways by children of different ages, and there is no ‘right’ or ‘wrong’ way to do it. Each child can work on the project or enjoy the activity at their own level.
Learning to play together, share and get along is not always easy. It can be especially tricky if there are kids of different ages, and you can’t always expect an older child to understand and make space for the little ones. So you may need to be prepared to hang around to support younger kids, or challenge older ones so everyone stays happily engaged.
For more tips on how to manage play with different age groups check out this post I wrote for Childhood101.
Ideas and Activities for Multi Aged Groups of Kids
These are some of our favourite ideas and activities for multi age groups of kids. Some of these ideas are quick and easy, and some require more set up and supervision. You’ll need to assess each activity and make sure it is appropriate for the ages and stages of kids you have in your group, and your ability to supervise.
Art Activities for Multi Age Groups
Process art is perfect for kids of all ages. Try one of these fun art ideas.
An open ended activity like journaling means everyone can join in at their own pace and with their own style.
Bigger kids can make these fun beads while smaller ones will love to thread them.
Get everyone working together with on this fun drawing activity.
Little hands can add paint and googly eyes to make a pet rock, and big kids can design and create elaborate pet rocks and houses for them.
Everyone in our house, from age 3 to 41 loved making these simple but beautiful suncatchers,
When everyone gets to do their own part of a bigger project like in this one, it’s easy for everyone to join in at their own level.
Everyone loves stickers, no matter how old they are!
Here is another fun stocker activity with learning opportunities for a variety of ages and stages.
Collage is a great open-ended activity that works for different ages, there are some free printables to get started with this project.
This super simple art activity is super fun for kids of all ages, and adults too!
Science for Multi Age Groups
Simple, playful, science activities like these work well with different age groups.
Kids of all ages love making potions and experimenting with bicarb and vinegar with this simple science set up.
Try this activity where you
Sensory Play for Multi Age Groups
Sensory play isn’t only for little kids. Big kids will also love the calming sensory input or the fun creativity of these simple sensory play ideas.
Play dough might seem a little ‘baby-ish’ but everyone will love making faces and designing clothes for these playdough people.
The kids will have as much fun making this as they will playing with it.
If you are up a bit of mess try making slime. Bigger kids can manage this on their own, while little ones will need some help.
This is another messy activity but it’s lots of fun for all ages!
Making potions with flowers and leaves and other ingredients is so much fun, and it’s a great outdoor activity so there is no mess to clean up!
Imaginative Play for Multi Age Groups
Big kids will love collecting all the pieces to set up this simple small world play.
This is another fun small world to set up and play with.
Print some of these play mats and combine them with Lego, or figurines, or whatever you like.
Once you have made the puppet theatre big kids will love these Star Wars Shadow Puppets and little kids will love all these printable puppets.
Print these play plate mats for little ones, or let big kids design their own imaginative play world on a paper plate.
More Activities for Multi Age Groups.
These building challenge cards work for any construction set and are lots of fun for everyone!
These are easy enough for little hands to use but bigger kids will enjoy building complex creations.
This is a simplified version of the ’20 questions’ type game that even little kids can play with a bit of help.
Blocks are a fabulous open-ended activity that kids of all ages love. These block play ideas are perfect for adding some extra fun to a set of blocks at home or in the classroom.
Create your own personal postcards with this free printable and send some messages to friends and family.
What’s your favourite activity that works for multi aged groups of kids?
Do you have a range of ages at your house?
What activities work best for your multi age groups of kids?
Love this Kate. Thanks for including one of mine.
Such a useful post for families Kate and some great ideas – we’ve tried many of these! Thanks for including our symmetrical sticker pictures too xx
Great ideas :D
Thank you so much for the awesome list! I can’t wait to try some with my kiddos and niece and nephew!
My little boy will love these, thank you! I would never have thought to create some of these