Are you in need of some ideas for things to do as a stay-at-home mom at home when you’re just flat-out bored? I get it. Like you, I chose to stay home with my kids, but eventually realized that I could still get bored of staying home, even with the little ones around keeping me busy.

It wasn’t necessarily the “staying home” part, but the “staying home with kids” part! When kids come into the picture, there are many limitations put upon you regarding what you have time to do and what you actually can do with a small one nearby. So I started looking around for things I could do at home for fun.

Surprisingly, there are quite a lot of things stay-at-home moms can do when they are bored at home. Today I’ll share 54 of the most entertaining things stay-at-home moms can do.

But first, I want to address one very serious cause of boredom that you may encounter.

Is it Normal to Be a Bored Stay-at-Home Mom?

You may be asking yourself, why am I bored at home? I live here, all my favorite stuff is here, and yet, suddenly this place is so boring. Is this normal?

Well, it depends. As a new stay-at-home mom, boredom itself may not be your problem. Your feelings of boredom could actually be an imbalanced hormonal issue. Yes, hormones.

According to one study, it could take from 6 months to over a year to recover from having a baby. So it doesn’t matter if you are on baby #1 or baby #4, you could still be dealing with a huge flux in your hormones, in addition to all of the changes to your home. Staying up late and waking up multiple times a night, rearranging your daytime schedule to accommodate naps, plus the increased physical demands upon you.

All of these changes in your body, mind, and emotions can cause you to have a loss of interest in your favorite things to do or in life in general, leaving you feeling bored at home.

This, along with a mild difficulty to focus and loss of motivation, could spell “baby blues”.

Although as many as 75% of postpartum women encounter baby blues, this still doesn’t feel normal. And it shouldn’t. Baby blues are said not to last very long (about 10-30 days after childbirth). But if you are more than a month postpartum, and you are still having feelings of boredom at home you could possibly have postpartum depression.

Some additional symptoms to help judge if you have a bigger issue are:

Feelings beyond boredom to being apathetic
Feelings of sadness or hopelessness
Feeling on edge
Crying for no reason, or excessively
Lack of interest in your baby, your health, or eating

If any of these are true for you, you should contact your doctor right away. You are dealing with something beyond the scope of this post and need some attention right away.

what to do as a stay-at-home mom when bored

Usually, when moms are just bored with their daily at-home activities, one solution is creating a good routine. You may not believe me but having a routine will kill boredom.

Trust me, I know you also need some occasional splashes of spontaneity and changes in your schedule. Yet, that does not change the fact that if a stay-at-home mom has specific things to do each day, creating a unique look for each day, she will not be bored.

Creating a productive routine for things to do at home does take some thinking. Take some time to write out necessary things you need to do, like meal planning and writing out that grocery list. Then add in some activities you can do with your kids during the week.

Have a morning routine, an afternoon routine and an evening routine then lean into your routines. Of course, leaving room for a random visit to a park or a sudden game of Twister is helpful for spontaneity.

Now, keep in mind, there are different situations and seasons of life. Things stay-at-home moms do when they have babies are going to look different from when they have preschoolers.

Equally, routines for a work-at-home mom will vary from what a homeschooling mom does or needs. Regardless of your stage of life, be consistent and don’t pressure yourself or your family.

Find what works and be willing to adjust it week by week or season by season. Don’t worry about changing up your routines, this is one of the things stay-at-home moms do regularly. Routines aren’t to cause stress, they are to bring stability.

Fun Activities for stay at home moms

Finding things stay-at-home moms do for fun can be challenging. These activities have to be things that you don’t find boring, that you can do within your restricted schedule, and generally things that are not very expensive. That’s a tall order but it can be accomplished.

Some examples of things that are fun to do for a mom could include doing things with your kids like reading to them (one of my favorites) or doing a silly messy art project.

There can be a million things you can do with your kids, but sometimes a mom just wants to be a mom – have her own identity and enjoy something apart from her motherhood identity. I understand and that’s why I am giving you 54 things stay-at-home moms do when bored.

54 Fun Activities and Hobbies for Stay-at-Home Moms

To go along with this list I highly recommend you check out my other post on self-care ideas.

Learn a new skill: time management skills, photography, graphic design
Read a book, listen to an audiobook
You could even make a to be read (TBR) list on Goodreads
Start an online or video call bookclub! Challenge members to read so many pages a day/week
Teach yourself how to get organized using Youtube.
Find a new drama you can watch free on Youtube
Learn a foreign language.
Meet people you can practice with on HelloTalk
Spend time talking with those that encourage or share wisdom with you
Exercise at home with online videos
Get out of the house: Take a walk, hike or bike
Create a mom’s walking club
Watch the sunset or sunrise.
Go camping!
Have an indoor picnic or go out for an actual picnic
Organize your Recipe Binder (or create one)
Organize your kitchen or some other room in your house
Make a wishlist on Amazon.
Leave reviews for all of the products you’ve ordered in the past.
Photos: Delete ones you don’t want, pick some to order prints and store others long term.
Start a scrapbook (using old photos or the new ones you just printed!)
Write a letter or send a postcard to friends or family.
Talk on the phone to your best friend for an hour
Find a new hobby like knitting
One career move you can make today – Learn how to Blog!
Journal
Learn Calligraphy
Make a huge bucket list to accomplish by the time baby is ___(some years old)
The Sky or Stargazing
The Bible. Always a good time to get back to basics.
Paintings. You can find great art lesson videos online.
Someone in need. Reflecting on our own blessings, or ways we can be a comfort to others gets our minds in gear.
Start a garden (or an indoor kitchen garden)
Listen to podcasts
Have friends over – do a weekly meetup!
Join a mom’s support group
Get into decorating and finding thrift items
Go clothes shopping
Learn to create and sell jewelry
Learn nail art
Try some different makeup styles
Host a game night
Host a Victorian Tea Party (and dress the part)
Host a neighborhood BBQ
Dance
Join a dance/exercise club
Plan a vacation
Plan a girl’s night out
Write letters
Create greeting cards
Do puzzles or word searches
Learn a card game
Learn card tricks
Play video games

What Should a Stay-at-Home Mom Do All Day?

Simply put, whatever she wants!

First, figure out if you are having a bigger problem than boredom. Then you should create a regular routine that includes things you can do for fun. But lastly, always have a list of fun things you can do when you have time away from the kids.

Finding things stay-at-home moms do for fun can be challenging because you lose a sense of yourself once you become a mom. For a long time, I forgot what I liked to do for fun. But now, with the above list, you have some ideas and a path out of boredom.