Even when you’re low on funds or the weather is awful, there are plenty of fun mother daughter activities to do at home.
In fact, some of the best mother daughter bonding activities can ONLY be done at home.
With five kids, it takes a deliberate effort to carve out time to spend with each of my children. I make the effort because I think it’s important for each of my children to feel valued.
Plus, I like getting to see a different side of them and learn more about their personalities. Spending quality time with my kids also gives me an opportunity to reinforce values and introduce them to new things.
My time with my daughters is spent very differently than my time with my sons. They have different interests, different personalities, and different relationships with me.
An easy way to enjoy quality time is to work through this list of questions to ask your daughter. But if you’re looking for something more active, check out these other activities you can do with your daughter(s) at home.
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What do Daughters Want From Their Mothers?
A lot of research has been done to find out what kinds of things a daughter needs from her mother while she’s growing up. They discovered that if a girl has a positive relationship with her mom, then she’s more likely to develop a higher self-esteem and healthier body image.
You can accomplish this by providing your daughter with a sense of warmth, support and closeness. The activities below are definitely a step in the right direction of meeting those needs for your daughter.
Technology-Based Mother Daughter Activities
The Wiki Game
In the Wiki Game, you and your opponent agree on two words. The goal is to be the first person to get to the second word from the first word in Wikipedia by only clicking links within Wikipedia.
When my kids told me about this game, it seemed impossible. However, you quickly figure out tricks that make the game go quickly. A “slow” game might take up to 10 minutes.
Video Games
Even girls who think video games are just for boys have fun playing some of them. Some of our favorites are ones that get us moving. Just Dance is a ton of fun and so are Wii Sports.
Selfie Session
Pull out your smartphone or tablet and take selfies together. If you’re like most moms, you are always the person behind the camera, which means there aren’t a lot of photos of you floating around.
Your daughter will love this opportunity to capture some rare photos of you. Plus, you’ll have mementos of your day together.
Girly Girl Mother Daughter Activities
Makeovers
From a very young age, many girls are fascinated by makeup. It’s a different form of playing dress-up and many of us never outgrow our fascination with it.
My younger daughter loves when we do makeovers on one another. Usually the goal is to make the other person look as ridiculous as possible.
With my teen daughter, I actually learn makeup techniques that evolved sometime after I stopped trying to learn them back in the 90’s.
Manicure/Pedicure
Whether you do each other’s nails or chat as you each do your own, mani/pedis are fun to do together. They are an easy and inexpensive way to pamper yourselves.
Home Spa
Skip the expensive day spa and pamper yourself at home. Coat your locks in a hot oil or conditioning treatment. Slather your face in a revitalizing facial mask. Coat your hands in a nourishing hand treatment.
Fashion Show
One of my most dreaded chores is cleaning out my closet. It just seems like so much work when I think about pulling out everything, sorting it, purging, and figuring out what items I need to purchase to fill in gaps.
It becomes a fun project when I have some help from my daughter and we turn it into a fashion show. I end up with new ideas to use old items, she ends up with a few hand-me-downs, and I end up purging more than I would on my own because my daughter acts as my fashion voice of reason.
It’s just as fun to have her star in a fashion show from her closet. Her closet ends up more organized, she often finds items she forgot she had, and I’m usually persuaded to buy her an accessory or clothing item that really will round out a great outfit.
Salon Day
You can have fun styling each other’s hair in new ways. If you always wear your hair down, have your daughter try braiding it or figuring out another fun way to put your hair up (in a bun, bubble braid, etc.); then do the same thing for your daughter.
This salon pretend play kit can give you some inspiration. If you just recently went to the salon and already have a fancy hairdo, then maybe you can style one of your daughter’s doll’s hair together.
Fun Mother Daughter Games
Board Games
My family plays a lot of board games. These are some of our favorite 2-player games to play together.
Card Games
The great thing about card games is that a simple deck of cards provides so many entertainment options. Dating Divas has an amazing list of 2-player card games arranged by difficulty level.
Crafty Mother Daughter Activities
Pinterest Project Showdown
A friend of mine has an annual holiday tradition where she chooses a random craft project from Pinterest and has each member of the family recreate it. Sometimes she buys materials in advance, but usually the participants have to forage through the house and make do with the materials they can find.
The more basic the craft (think crafts for kids) and the fewer materials you have available, the more fun this game is. Your daughter may surprise you with her ingenuity.
Teach Your Daughter a Craft or Learn One Together
If you already have a skill like sewing, cake decorating, or painting, spend a few hours teaching the skill to your daughter. You might discover an untapped talent in her and she might develop a new appreciation for you and your talents.
If you aren’t crafty by nature, it can be fun to learn a new skill alongside your daughter. Pull up instructional videos on YouTube to learn how to crochet, take great photos, or create papier-mรขchรฉ sculptures.
You can also make these cute mini envelopes together, or even something as simple as coloring together can be both relaxing and fun.
Create a Collage or Scrapbook
I love going through family photos with my daughter. It’s such a fun way to relive old memories. Give your trip down memory lane purpose and choose photos to include in a scrapbook, collage, or a slideshow video.
Make Matching Jewelry
You can work together to come up with your own designs to make for whatever piece of jewelry you both like to wear. If you don’t like wearing the same type of jewelry, get creative and make your design work for both earrings and a necklace, for example.
There’s lots of different basic jewelry making kits that can help you get started.
Mother Daughter Kitchen Activities
Make a Meal Together
Cooking is a life skill all of our children will need as adults. It’s easy to teach this skill to our children by working in the kitchen with them.
Brainstorm possible dishes with your daughter as you inventory the refrigerator and pantry. I have plenty of cookbooks and recipes (you can even search for a recipe to include the ingredients you found) for inspiration too.
You’ll have plenty of opportunities in the process of making a meal to explain how to choose flavors and ingredients that work well together, how to choose a cooking method, and how to clean as you cook for safety reasons and to save on clean-up time afterwards.
Make Baked Goods for a Friend or Neighbor
My kids love baking but I hate having a kitchen full of tempting desserts and baked goods. So, when we bake together, I use the opportunity to encourage kindness and generosity in my children by suggesting we bake for others.
Other At-Home Mother Daughter Activities
Put Together a Care Package
Along the same lines as baking for a friend or neighbor, a fun mother daughter project is to put together a care package. If you keep a stockpile of household supplies like I do, this is easy to do without leaving the house.
Household items that are wonderful care package items for the homeless are:
- Baby wipes
- Lip balm
- Lotion
- Sunscreen
- Bandages
- Toothbrushes
- Toothpaste
- Tissues
- Deodorant
Lip Sync Battle, Rap Battle or Dance Off
Actually, if it’s just you and your daughter, these won’t be actual “battles.” However, they are fun opportunities to help your daughter see a playful side of you.
Dance battles are fun because they let you show off your awesome running man and robot moves.
Theoretically, your age should give you an advantage in rap battles since you’ve read more books and have a larger vocabulary.
But if you can’t bring yourself to rap or dance, you can always settle for a lip sync battle which only involves silently singing along with a song you love.
Blackout Poetry
For blackout poetry you just need a magazine, newspaper or catalog and something to write with (ideally a black marker). Then, you mark out words with the goal of leaving words that create a poem.
Obstacles to Spending Time Together
Several of my readers asked in the comments about how to solve these two problems so they can spend time with each other.
Your Mom Doesn’t Like to do the Same Things as You
Introduce your mom to some of your favorite games and activities and help her learn how to play them. Just about any activity is fun for a mom if her child likes it because honestly, we cherish our time with you.
Or, you could also take turnsโdo something you like one day and then do something she likes the next time.
You Have Younger Siblings so it’s Difficult to do Anything With Them Around
Maybe while you and your mom do some crafting together, your sibling could be playing with his/her toys nearby; or maybe you and your mom can craft while he/she takes a nap.
Or, you and your mom can work together to make something fun for your siblings to do.
- Obstacle courses have always been a hit with my kids at all ages. You and your mom could spend some time setting one up for little brother/sister.
- Creating tracks for toy cars. Together, you and your mom can set up the track and all three of you can both drive the cars around on it (or race them).
- You can all three sit on the floor together with balls or anything that can be rolled (you and your mom can get creative figuring out what to try rolling), and have fun rolling them back and forth to each other.
- Hide and seek with a stuffed animal. One of you can hide it and one of you can help the younger child find it.
- Your mom and you can have fun trying to see who can blow the biggest bubble before it pops or your sibling pops it.
- Suggest to your mom something you can teach your younger siblings together. Maybe you can all take turns reading a book, painting, coloring, etc.
ok so me and my mom go thrue times i help other people but hope they help me my moms more of a girly girl nd im a TOMBOY like omllll why why why why but were very diffrent PLEASE HELP
Hi Bailey! First of all, thank you so much for all your helpful suggestions to other commenters on this post! It was so sweet of you to take the time to share your ideas. Second, I get your struggle! I was a tomboy as a kid and my mom is a super girly girl. As a mom, I will say that I’m willing to try just about anything my kids are excited about doing, even if it’s not something I’d normally do on my own. So, maybe introduce your mom to some of your favorite games and activities and help her learn how to play them. I played video games with my boys, watch reality TV with my oldest daughter (her favorite genre), and learned to play Aerobie because all of my kids love it. Just about any activity is fun for a mom if her child likes it because honestly, we cherish our time with you.
My momโs birthday is next week and i have picked the perfect present and the perfect simple family surprise party is set. But I canโt find anything I can do with my mom, I have considered playing video games, but my mom isnโt the video game type. I would love to do an outdoor activity because both me and my mom love sports, but we have no backyard and we are stuck in quarantine (the local parks are closed), I love baking with my mom in our house in Jordan because we have a big kitchen, but where I live currently, the kitchen fits only one person, what should I do?? Please help.
Since you both love outdoors activities, can you talk a walk or go on a run together outside, while wearing your masks?
I love crafting with my mom and we spend time together often, but there is now a five-month-old strapped to my mom 24/7. I’m 10 years old, any ideas?
Maybe while you and your mom do some crafting together, your sibling could be playing with his/her toys nearby; or maybe you and your mom can craft while he/she takes a nap.
My name is Lily and I am turning 13 in a few months. It is hard for us to do anything when I have 2 younger brothers and my homework just piles up. It is hard for us to have a good relationship with being in quarantine too. Me and my mom also have VERY different likes. My mom is more relaxed and likes to do simple things like cook, watch tv and talk about stuff. But I like to do things more artistic things like sing, dance, bake and do makeup or pick each otherโs outfits. We occasionally agree on a tv show but Iโm usually the only one that enjoys it. And with all of this I feel like I never do anything with my mom anymore. Do you have any suggestions on something we may agree on?
You mentioned your mom likes cooking and you like to bake – maybe you could plan a meal that you could make together. Your mom could cook something and you could bake something.
maybe like ask to take turns and u can maybe paint nails have a spa do eachothers hair then relax and watch something she wants to watch
Me and my mom are in quarantine, she doesnโt work much, and I am on summer break. I am nine, love movies, shows, and fashion. My mom loves to cook, bake, and garden. We do a lot of baking together already, Iโm not a big fan of gardening, and we have a hard time figuring out what to do together. Any suggestions?
Is there any overlap in the type of movies/shows you like and what your mom likes? Maybe you can find a show that both of you like that you can watch together and then discuss. To change up your baking/cooking together time, try turning it into a competition like Chopped or Cupcake Wars. Since you like fashion, maybe you could style your mom. Go through her closet together and help her put together looks for different occasions (I would love for someone to do this for me!). Depending on how creative/crafty either of you are, find something old and frumpy and try to transform it together into something you’d actually wear. And since the time of year is great for getting outdoors, see if you can find a sport or outdoor activity both of you enjoy. I love playing tennis with my older sons and swimming with my daughters. Other possibilities — hiking, biking, yoga, canoeing. If you want to stay close to home, make scavenger hunts for one another. Hide the clues around the house and have a fun surprise at the end (e.g. some cookies, a handwritten note, a picture of the two of you).
I am turning nine in October, so maybe I can help out a bit…..
I think you should have a scavenger hunt, or something…..
Maybe you can make something cute for her like a parfait, or a small little treat you know she’ll like. You can go on walks together, and maybe you can watch a movie or just talk. If someone else’s birthday is coming up, you can try to plan out a few surprise activities with her. You can maybe craft something made of Legos or something, or maybe you can play Chess or Checkers. And if you want to be nice, you can play a game that she’s really good at and she’ll feel really happy and important once she wins.
Anyway, I hope you have fun with your mother!
I think that u guys have picnic for two
ok ur mom sounds cool and u sound lovely but maybe sit down watch a movie and talk about how u will take turns so even if u dont like it the other one does so do gardinening then do something u like oe do nails or make a youtube about gardening text me back if u need more bye
Under quarantine and me and my daughter really need something out of the box to do! Please help!!!!!
My daughters have me learning dances they’ve picked up from TikTok. And we’ve been playing skribbl (virtually) with my son who lives in Chicago. If you like riddles and want to work on communication skills, Keep Talking and Nobody Explodes is a blast (no pun intended). You can also have your own “Chopped” competition — try to come up with the best dish using 3 random ingredients. Make up scavenger hunts for one another. Make up new lyrics to a song you both like. Any of these ideas work?
your right!!!my daughter only study
so m just here to help but i think eaither bake play games do makeup or yall suggest so first set down then u need to let ur daugter to pick something then after you do that then u puck something happy to help! if u need somin else text back byyyyy!
Looking for ideas for 10 year old with a very demanding 1yr old little brother
Any thoughts on what both kids may enjoy together.
Ok, I’ll admit, this was tough one! Obstacle courses have always been a hit with my kids at all ages. Your older child could spend some time setting one up for little brother. Also, creating tracks for toy cars — the older child can set up the track and they can both drive the cars around on it (or race them). Racing toy cars, balls or anything that can be rolled. Hide and seek with a stuffed animal.
hey karen im bailey and i see u have a 10 year old with a one year old so if the 10 year old is a girl then when 1 year old sleeps talk and maybe make somthing or bake but if boths awake watch movies and eat popcorn or go shopping bubbles the park art anything fun byyee!
My mom and I want a interesting thing to do. We have done most of the things up above and we’re kind of bored today, we would like you to think of anything cool, fun and out of the box. But we can’t go to the beach because we live in Ct. I’m eight years old and I just want to make sure that you don’t give me anything that you can only do as a teen. Thank you!
My mom and I never have time together but now that we do, it’s hard to find things we both like. I can’t do any ice cream things because of my sports and when we bake its over soon. I wish we had something to do that’s of the screens but lasts for a long time.
play a game movies popcorn or just talk and act like ur in the movie
im always so bored and my mom always works in the basement, my sisters at preschool and dads at works any suggestions for home alone?
Do like writing or drawing? Fill a journal or sketchbook with some of your creativity. You can print off free coloring sheets from all over the internet (from easy to adult difficulty) which is always a relaxing activity. My youngest daughter created a newspaper. She puts in family news and makes up puzzles and comics plus funny classified ads. Is that something you might enjoy? Also, there are lots of solitaire games you can play with cards or you can try building houses out of cards. Make up contests for yourself — see how long you can hold a headstand, see how many jumping jacks you can do in a minute, etc. When I was little I used to make up dance routines to songs or alternate lyrics. Do any of these sound interesting to you? If not, let me know some of the things you already do that you enjoy and I’ll try to come up with more ideas.
clean or make food color make patterens clean phone decerate ur room i f ur 16 then go shopping watch a movie or talk to friends
I get bored sometimes at home .what could I do with my mom.
Was there anything from the list above that sounded the least bit interesting? If not, what types of things do you enjoy? If you can point me in a general direction of the types of activities you like, I can help brainstorm some more ideas.
Yeah same, I feel the same way. Sometimes we will go shopping, watch a tv show or bake together but those don’t last very long so sometimes I want to do something else with her.
What is your age
My mom does not have work today so i stayed home with her and do not know what to do
My kids are on spring break this week. Today we made banana bread and played badminton. Either of those work for you and your mom? Was there anything else in the post that appealed to you? If not, what types of things do you normally enjoy? I’ll try to brainstorm some more ideas.
It’s good that you have started to do stuff with your children, I would suggest, as you have done something outdoorsy, to do something like a movie night, watch a marathon of Disney Films! Something that every mom and daughter would enjoy!
Great suggestion! My younger daughter loves having Phineas & Ferb marathons (her current favorite show). It’s fun to see what tickles her funny bone.
My mom is obsessed with cleaning and I am trying to get her to take a break by having some fun together without screens
My mother only has focus on my little brother. All I do is her makeup and she is back to work. We search up so much stuff to do at home with her but she is always busy. When it is free time, we are always so bored.
Maybe all 3 of you can do something together – you, your mom, and your little brother? Little ones do need a lot more attention and care, so maybe you can all play with your little brother, read him stories, teach him things. My older kids used to help me out with their younger sibling, and they actually enjoyed it.
My brothers are at sports, and me and my mom are left alone. We don’t know what to do, because we have already done most of the things listed up above. I am eight years old, and I hope you can give us something to do!
I found two of these options very interesting! It was the dance off and cooking/baking together. You could possibly do any one of them depending on your mother’s likes but if don’t like either, refer to the options given above.