Summarize the following:
Games that kids won't need much help with (like Candy Land) are best if you are trying to occupy your kids so you can get things done around the house. Try not to use difficult games like Monopoly, unless there is an older child who can help the younger ones. Card games are good, too. You can find specialty card games for kids, or you can teach your kids to play simple card games like War and Go Fish with a standard deck of cards. If you don't have any games on hand, teach them to play a game that doesn't require any materials, such as I Spy, Simon Says, or Red Light, Green Light. You can find puzzles for all different ages and difficulty levels. You can also have children create their own puzzles with cardboard or construction paper, and if you have multiple children, you can ask them to complete each other's puzzles. This could be playing football, skipping, playing on a trampoline, or playing games with each other such as chase or hide and seek. If you have smaller children, fill a large bucket or something quite big with water and add plastic boats, rubber ducks and other toys. You can also use this same bucket to put sand in and let them build miniature sand castles. Give them some sports equipment and tell them to make up a new sport. You can get creative with the materials by using buckets for targets or trash can lids for bases, for example. You can either hide items around the house, or just create a list of items they will be likely to encounter in the area where you're playing. You can use furniture or any other household items as obstacles, and set up your course either indoors or outdoors. Make up new rules for each round or rearrange obstacles to keep things interesting. For younger children, encourage critical thinking by making up your own games with materials you already have around the house. You can write numbers or letters on scraps of paper and ask them to put them in the proper order, or give them pictures cut out from magazines and ask them to group them in a specific way. The possibilities are endless.
Give them some board games. Challenge them with a jigsaw puzzle. Let them play outside. Try a scavenger hunt. Set up an obstacle course. Make your own matching games.