What to Do When Daycare is Closed: Keeping Your Twins Busy

If you’re a twin parent who sends your twinnies to daycare–whether part-time or full-time–you may be stressing about how to occupy them all day in the event of a closure. But not to worry! We’re here to help you strategize for those planned and unplanned daycare closings!

Depending on where you live, you may face childcare closures due to snow, extreme temperatures, hurricanes, or other unexpected circumstances. And don’t forget about all the school calendar holidays that many daycare centers and preschools take off for like: President’s Day, MLK Jr., Day, Indigenous People’s Day, etc. 

But with TWO little rascals staying home, you may feel a bit overwhelmed at the thought of keeping them busy all day long! 

If your twins are anything like mine, they go through their toys and activities within the first hour of them waking up. And then boredom (and sometimes destruction set it in). In my house, this all happens by 7:30am, which leaves me with a full 12 hours to keep them “entertained.”

So if you’re wondering what to do when daycare is closed, keep reading! We’ve got lots of inspo for you to keep your twinnies (ages 1 and older) engaged, entertained and on a schedule when they’re home!

Got twinnies under 1 year old? Check out these articles for ideas:

• How to Choose Toys to Support Your Child’s Development
• Activities to Do With 9 to 12-Month Old Twins
• A Day in the Life of 8-Month Old Twins

Here are some fun non-screen time activities you can try:

Aluminum art

Things you’ll need:

• Aluminum foil
• Washable marker
• Spray bottle filled with water
• Paper or coloring sheet

This is a great activity for younger twins ages 2 or older because it includes materials they are likely familiar with already. Now, you’re simply combining them into a fun, out-of-the-ordinary art project! 

Directions:

1. On a sheet of aluminum, color your favorite colors on it.
2. Spray water onto the aluminum. Just a little will do.
3. Take the paper (I used their coloring book pages to make it more fun), and place it face down on the side you want the color to transfer onto.

Sandless sensory box

Unless it’s summertime or you’re a gardener, who has sand laying around?  No me! But most of us likely have some sort of cereal or cracker-type snack on hand that will look like sand when crushed up!  (Rice can be used too if you don’t have these snacks laying around—it’s not the exact “sand” effect, but still a great sensory option.)

And for those little twinnies, it’s fun because if they accidentally eat it, it’s safe. It’s even safe for your household pets, too. 

Things you’ll need:

• Cheerios or other cereal or cracker-type snack, crushed
• Small toys or other sensory objects
• Large bucket or cardboard box (if using a cardboard box, be sure to use tape to secure the bottom shut for less of a mess)

Directions:

1. Crush up the Cheerios/crackers until they look like sand. I used a food processor, and you can too if you have one handy. Otherwise, you can smash it in a large gallon bag with a rolling pin or mallet.
2. Pour the crushed cereal into a large Tupperware, plastic bin, bucket, or cardboard box.
3. Sprinkle in fun little toys and scoopers. My kids love dinosaurs and reptiles, so we built a little terrarium.

Ice painting

Things you’ll need:

• Ice (lots of it)!
• Water color paint
• Paint brush
• A jar of cup of water
• One large bucket or bin
• Towel

This one is an idea courtesy of Modern Preschool that I have yet to try, but I’m due for an ice refresh, so it’ll give me a perfect place to dump the old ice from the freezer.  

Directions: 

1. Dump the ice into a large bucket and place it on top of an old bath or beach towel.
2. Place the water cup in the middle of your ice pile, so your kids can’t accidentally tip it over. (But even if it does tip over, it’s at least in a contained environment). 
3. Give each kid their water color palette and let them paint away. Once they paint all the cubes on the top, you can scoop the unpainted ice from the bottom of the bin to let the fun continue.

Snowless snowperson

There are a couple of variations of this activity that I’ve tried–it was inspired by our daycare’s challenge to build a snowperson without snow.  

Version 1: Cotton rounds

If you’re like me, I use cotton rounds as part of my facial routine so I had the main part of the snowman already on hand. 

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Things you’ll need for version 1:

• 3x cotton rounds
• Googly eyes or paper cutout eyes
• Orange paper triangle for the nose
• Pipe cleaner or brown paper cutout for arms.
• Piece of string (optional) for scarf
• Glue (liquid works better than stick for this project) 
• Paper clip or clothes pin

I used a clothes pin for ours to make it a fun ornament, but sticking the cotton rounds to paper will make a cute refrigerator art.

Directions for version 1:

1. On paper or clothesline pin, place some glue on the backing and attach cotton rounds.  Stack them like they were a snowman.
2. Using the glue, apply to the top of the round to make a face.  Eyes and nose.  
3. Add some glue next to the middle of the body, on either side to place arms or you can draw them in if you’re using a paper backing.  
4. Decorate the snowman as you like!!  Get creative! 

Version 2: Cotton balls

This was another version we did!  

Things you’ll need for version 2:

• A handful of cotton balls (about 10 will do)
• Paper plate
• Glue stick
• Scissors
• Paper hat
• A marker for facial features or cutout paper for eyes, nose, etc.
• Decorative items (optional): glitter (use at your own peril)

Twiniversity tip: Before you introduce fun art projects to the twins, be sure to already have all the parts and accessories ready! Trust us, you can never cut out arms and hats fast enough to keep up with their excitement!

Directions for version 2:

1. Cut the center out of the paper plate and try to note make a mess of it.  I made the mistake of poking a hole in the middle to cut the paper out and turns out, we needed that top for it’s head.  Ha!  The mistake kind of looks good with the way my kids put together the snowman so it all worked out.   
2. Glue the smaller circle on the top outer edge of the plate.  
3. If you aren’t using cutouts or google eyes for the facial features, you can have your kids draw the face in.
4. On the body, use the glue stick.  If your child knows how to use a glue stick, great! Otherwise, you can help there and have them pop on the cotton balls around the body.
5. If you’re using confetti or glitter, you could sprinkle this on the body too. 

Magnetic tile match

My mother-in-law told me about this fun activity, and since then, I’ve found a lot of ideas for playing with magnet tiles.  The one she shared with me involved using the refrigerator as a sort of template.

Things you’ll need:

• Refrigerator
• Paper (one large sheet or 4 regular size sheets)
• Tape
• Pen, pencil, or marker
• Magnet tiles

Directions:

1. Tape your paper(s) onto the refrigerator to make a sort of large poster area.
2. Place the magnet tiles on the paper in whatever design you wish. You can build it out like a castle, house, or people in outfits. 
3. Then trace around each individual magnet tile. 
4. Have your twins match the magnet tiles to fit the shapes on the paper!

I’ve also found versions of this that can be done on the table, a cookie sheet, or even a magnetic metal door.  

Need more ideas for what to do when daycare is closed? Keep reading for even more inspiration!

Places to go when daycare is closed

Weather-pending, taking a little trip out of the house may be another option to keep your twins busy. Who doesn’t love a good field trip day?!

Your local library

Check the hours of operation and take your twinnies at a time that works for you. Most community libraries have a children’s area with loads of activities like wooden toys, blocks, and puzzles.  

Most of the libraries we’ve been to even have a small play area with an arts and crafts table  and other sensory fun activities. If your twinnies are a little older and already tech savvy, like mine, some libraries have tablets and computers available with learning games.  

A local children’s museum 

Check to see if there’s a children’s museum near you! You can use this site to enter your location and see museums within a specified distance from where you live. 

I’ve found that some public museums that aren’t necessarily children’s museums still have some exhibits that are kid-friendly! 

Run errands

I know, I know, taking two kids with you to run errands can sometimes be difficult. But if you strategically select which errands to run, it could be a great way to still get out of the house! Even if you don’t have errands to run, a short ride around in the car for 15-20 minutes listening to some fun kid-friendly tunes can give you a nice break in the day. 

Other ideas for activities to do with your twins when daycare is closed

• Have them help you with household chores like cleaning up toys, folding laundry, meal prepping, etc. 
• Have a tea party with stuffed animals
• Make an obstacle course with pillows and random household items
• Play hide and seek
• Bake or cook something together
• Make a fort or “jump zone” with blankets and furniture
• Have a dance party 
• Dress up in funny outfits
• Fill a large bowl with water and let them put their little figurines in it like a “pool”
• Play follow-the-leader
• Do a book-reading marathon
• Do a nature walk around your neighborhood. Take a bucket for them to collect things like leaves! 
• Create a mini scavenger hunt (like an Easter egg hunt, but with any random objects you want to hide!)
• Kiddie yoga: I practiced yoga years ago and still love it when I find time to do it.  Turns out my kids do too!! I created a flow for them, and I think it helps with their balance. This is one of their mini flows: malasana (if you can) or squat, star pose, mountain pose, tree pose.

Final thoughts on what to do when daycare is closed as a twin parent

The days may seem long, but the years are short. My dentist said this to me once, and I’ve found it to be so true. 

At the moment, there aren’t enough activities I could possibly do to keep my twins’ attention. But inserting some of these activities helps break up the day instead of just playing with toys or watching shows all day long. 

Of course, there’s nothing wrong with putting on a kid-friendly show to help keep your own sanity and take a much-needed break (no judgment here at all). But I hope you find at least one of these suggestions helpful for your next day home with the kiddos!

Looking for more suggestions for keeping your little twinnies entertained at home? Check out these helpful articles:

• 11 Awesome Toys that Twins Can Share
• Top Ten STEM Toys for Your Preschoolers
• Outdoor Toys for Toddlers: Thinking Outside the Sandbox
• Simple Yet Fun Activities for Twin Bonding
• Realistic Twin Toddler Activities
• 5 Indoor Physical Activities You Can Do With Kids
• A Day in the Life With 2-Year-Old Twins
• A Day in the Life With 5-Year-Old Twins

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