Kids and teens have been home for five months now, with the re-entry back into school very up in the air. Parents are likely working from home and juggling trying to keep their children entertained. We rounded up some suggestions to keep them busy as Texas bees, whether at home after a day of online learning or a weekend, still on lockdown.

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The Adventure Challenge

The Adventure Challenge is a mystery scratch-off book with 50 creative adventures, just waiting for your family to enjoy together. Each adventure is designed to explore outside your habits and make meaningful memories. You don’t know what you’re doing until you scratch it off! Find a title that sounds fun, scratch it off, then complete your adventure. Don’t forget to take a picture and journal your experience! When finished, you’ll have a souvenir full of adventures together. Try the friends, couples or family edition. What a beautiful way to remember the 2020 pandemic! From $39.99

Yoto Player

For those parents who are working remotely from home and don’t have the time to read their kids a daytime story, this product is for you. Yoto Player is a screen-free audio platform for kids that makes listening to stories and songs interactive, educational and fun. Controlled with physical cards, Yoto plays only the audio content you want them to listen to. Kids can listen to the best stories, music, activities and podcasts. You can even create your own stories from a blank card. No camera, microphone or ads! This smart speaker includes a built-in battery for portable play, and a clever magnetic dock to re-charge. (There’s even a parents app to manage settings behind the scenes!) $99.99

The Sequence Board Game

Create a break from technology for family game night. The Sequence Game from Texas-based Goliath is easy enough for kids and challenging enough for adults. Each player or team tries to score the required number of five-card sequences before their opponents. This exciting game develops STEM skills like strategy and is great for individual or team play. $17.97

Moolah U Business Camp

It’s a virtual camp experience that inspires entrepreneurship. Austin-based Moolah U is a kid-proven program that over 3,000 kids have attended, and now it’s available live online to do at home. At Moolah U Business Camp, kids get real experience with creating a business plan, completing complex projects using structured thinking, gain confidence in speaking about their ideas, and even earn income. In just one week, your child will turn their clever idea into a real money making business! Use the code Juice2020 when you apply to get $50 off camp tuition. Tuition: $245

Brainly

With the school year upon us, many parents are reflecting on how their kids are handling the transition to online learning. Brainly is a knowledge-sharing community where 200 million students and experts put their brains together to crack the toughest homework questions. This community of experts consists of students, school teachers, PhDs, and other geniuses around the world ready to answer. Whether you’re stuck on a math or history question, or just curious about a subject, there’s no question that is too tricky for Brainly. This can serve as a great resource for kids and teens when they return back to school. Brainly Basic: free; Brainly Plus from $18

Mrs. Turbo’s Cookies

What better way to keep your kids or teens busy then with tasty delicious treats! Mrs. Turbo’s Cookies is a woman-owned retro themed ‘50s style bakery that makes cookies, treats, brownies, whoopie pies, cakes and desserts– basically anything that will satisfy your sweet tooth craving. These delicious treats are made from scratch daily and offer many different gluten free options. Their motto: “We make it so good you can’t tell!” You can order a kit, so the kids can create their own designs; or order ready-made cookies to enjoy at home. From $4.50

“You’re Pulling My Leg!”

The game book “You’re Pulling My Leg!” is a great way to get to know new friends or even learn something new about your bestie–via Zoom. Create an online party with your friends as you try to fool each other with hilarious stories about your lives (or play the game at home with your family). Choose a question and the flip of a coin tells you if your answer should be true or made up. When you hear a story, vote points if you think your friend is telling the truth or pulling your leg. This storytelling game book features cards with over 600 questions. To play this game with younger children, try “You’re Pulling My Leg! Junior.” $12.99

INSTAX Mini LiPlay Hybrid Instant Camera

Kids or teens will love the new INSTAX Mini LiPlay that instantly prints your beloved photos. This may be the smallest hybrid instant camera, but there sure is a whole lot to love about the opportunity for creativity. Not only is it an instant camera, it’s also a smart little printer that allows you to print straight from your phone, instantly, and comes with an LCD screen, sound recording setting, and the ability to control the camera directly from your phone via the free app. Dazzle up your photos with eye-catching frames and filters before you print. $159.95

iLive Truly Wireless Earbuds with Speaker

From at-home workouts in the living room to listening to music, iLive Truly Wireless Earbuds with Speaker allows your kid to easily transition from solo listening to pumping music out loud. These unique earbuds have a sweat-proof design, are Bluetooth compatible, and feature on-ear touch controls. Pop the earbuds into the charging case that also functions as a speaker… and voilà, dance party! $69.99

Hues and Cues

Hues and Cues is a colorful, vibrant game where players are challenged to make connections to colors with words. While using only one and two-word cues, players try to get others to guess a specific hue from the 480 colors on the game board; the closer the guesses, the more points you earn. And since everyone sees colors differently, connecting colors and clues can be challenging, yet super fun! This game is perfect for the next family game night. $24.99

Telestrations: Upside Drawn

Telestrations: Upside Drawn puts a spin on “The Telephone Game” by allowing one person to sketch and the other to control the board. Only through up and down directives can the team put the pen and board together to guess the clue first. The guide controls the board and knows the secret word while the guesser controls the pen and does the sketching. First team to reach 20 points wins! $19.99

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Cover photo Allen Taylor on Unsplash

One of the pleasures of publishing a lifestyle magazine like Texas Lifestyle Magazine is that we receive invitations to attend events, travel and review products. We accept and write about a small fraction of these offers, always with a view to what would be interesting or helpful to our readers. You may notice that our reviews are generally positive, which is because we don’t enjoy writing negative ones, and therefore choose only to write about the things we can recommend without reservation.