At this point in the pandemic, parents are well overdue for a break from all the distance learning, summer camp pod, and Houseparty app planning they’ve been doing for their quarantined kids. And while celebrity moms and dads may have access to more resources than most of us, they, too, have turned to easy-to-order online DIY boxes that take off part of the planning pressure. Here are eight activity kits that have a celebrity seal of approval to entertain your kids while still sheltering in place this summer:
Fairy Camp at Home
Busy Philipps describes the fairy-themed day camp she’s sent both her daughters to for years as “BEYOND magic” and publicly sang its praises in June 2020 after it pivoted from an in-person offering to an at-home platform called Fairy Camp at Home. She explains, “they made Fairy Camp boxes with everything you need for Fairy Camp magic and they’re so cute and it’s a whole week of fairy camp all figured out for you!” Molly Sims supported that claim in August 2020, calling it “The best quarantine activity” and thanking the camp for “giving us mommas a quick break.” The curated box of materials you get for $250 is a companion to five 1.5-hour videos that can be done at your child’s own pace and are meant to guide campers through a day of activities, including stories, songs, and crafts. In addition to sharing that Jenna Dewan and Jenna Fischer are also fans, Fairy Camp LA Co-Creator Sue Bell tells GALUXSEE, “We are so thrilled that the magic, stories and sense of adventure we share with our campers in LA are now helping families across America (and across the globe!) find creativity and imagination during a stressful and strange time.”
Buy Fairy Camp at Home ($250 for the first box, $75 for add-on sibling box)
Miss Mini Donuts Donut Decorating Kit
Kim Zolciak has half a dozen kids to keep busy, so she thanked Miss Mini Donuts in July 2020 for giving some of them something to do — decorating donuts! Miss Mini Donuts tells GALUXSEE, “Kits are $25 each and come with 25 plain minis” as well as your choice of pink or white frosting and four toppings. For now, the kits at the $25 price point are only available for pick-up and delivery in the Orange County, CA area, so if you’re lucky enough to be nearby, donut wait! Otherwise, you can have one shipped to you for $80.
Buy Miss Mini Donuts Decorating Kit ($25 for local, $80 for out of area)
Solvang Bakery Cookie Decorating Kit
The Kardashian-Jenner’s favorite bakery for those giant gingerbread houses is keeping up its reputation with the famous family as both Kylie Jenner and Kim Kardashian turned to its cookie decorating kits when California issued its shelter-in-place order in March 2020. Stormi Webster tried her hands at frosting a tulip-shaped sugar cookie, while Kim commented how important it was to support small businesses like The Solvang Bakery “during this time.” Each box comes with a dozen themed cookies, three bags of buttercream icing, and multiple containers of themed sprinkles, and there is a theme for every interest: be it summertime, sports, unicorns, camping, furry friends, or simply home sweet home, where your child can give their cookie friend a sweet frosting-made mask!
Buy The Solvang Bakery Cookie Decorating Kit ($31.95 plus shipping)
Lizzie and Lex Tie Dye Kit
Busy Philipps is living up to her name, and she’s making sure her daughters and their friends do, too. Tie dye t-shirt making is just one of the many classic camp crafts she’s led during her self-proclaimed Camp Cricket (named after her youngest) and Lizzie and Lex is the brand she swears by for an all-inclusive kit. She raved, “This is THE BEST AND SO EASY! IT ALL COMES READY TO GO!”There are tie dye kits for masks, pillowcases, socks, sweatshirts, and of course, t-shirts, or you can opt to use something you already own and just order their pre-made pigments in a bottle.
Buy Lizzie and Lex Tie Dye Kit ($6-$125)
Dino Egg Dig Kit
Chrissy Teigen let little Luna Stephens loose in May 2015 with the Dig & Discover Dinosaur Eggs package you can order off Amazon. What the supermodel chef didn’t bargain for was that the dino egg digging fun would come at the cost of one of her own products that was being used to catch all the dust — she captioned a shot of Luna going at it with, “my archeologist hardcore ruining my Cravings baking sheet.” The science-themed toy comes with 12 clay dinosaur eggs containing 12 different dinosaurs, a digging stick, and guide. Cravings cooking sheet sold separately.
Snackathon Snack Box
“Did you know I LOVE snacks AND I love all things from Japan!” is what Jessica Alba revealed when she and friend Lizzy Mathis shared a video of their taste test of Japanese snacks in July 2020. The variety pack of sweet and savory treats all came in one container from Snackathon, which Jessica says she got from Amazon. As for her review? The Pandaro butter cookie and fried chicken-flavored puffs got good remarks (“I can get down with this,” she said), while the fizzy cider packet and cider ball each got a pass (“It’s fine. It’s not my favorite.”) While the snack box is a fun way to make a game out of snack time, Jessica warns one shouldn’t be eating them all at once!
Olive and June Manicure Starter Set
If you have an older kid or teenager at home, have them try their hand at an at-home manicure with the same polishes and tools Mandy Moore, Sarah Michelle Gellar, and Tracee Ellis Ross have used to maintain their good hand habits at home, available in LA-based salon Olive and June’s all-inclusive kits. The starter kit will get you going with the brand’s signature polish bottle handle — the Poppy — for easy self-application, as well as its top coat, and a barely-there sheer shade named after fashion editor and author Eva Chen called the EC (Fun Fact: almost every nail polish is named with the initials of the person who inspired it, including the neutral-colored MM for the aforementioned Mandy Moore). Tracee admits she bought her kit “from an @instagram ad,” but said, “It was so fun” to give her nail beds a bright makeover using the Sweet & Gracious shade of orange.
Buy Olive and June Manicure Starter Set ($28)
Playful Learning Lesson Plans
Molly Sims is keeping her youngest son’s mind stimulated this SIP summer with lesson plans provided by online education resource Playful Learning. She said, “The creativity juices are flowing in my little Grey Grey,” as the three-year-old showed off his artwork and completed printables. The subscription-based service can be searched by age or subject, so you can find the perfect lesson plans for your little one, whether it be letters, numbers, animals, insects, or rocks and minerals! Its website also offers a variety of free resources if you’re wanting to give it a try before you buy.
Think Outside the Box!
Finally, any activity you order that arrives in a box can become an additional experience for you and your child — just take note of how Christina Aguilera turned her boring brown boxes into colorful, interactive spaces for her 5-year-old daughter Summer! Since March 2020, the singer said she has been “Staying home and making art with this little one,” and added, “While we distance ourselves and keep our communities safe, I encourage you to get creative – find ways to do all the little things that make you happy. Life is a gift and sometimes it takes these hard reminders to realize all that we have and what we live for . . . the things that REALLY matter.”
Free!
