The internet is a place for all things weird and wonderful and we certainly haven’t been let down over the past month with fun social media challenges popping up on all platforms.Our favourite celebrities, athletes, TV and social media personalities have embarrassed themselves alongside us as we all try to stave off boredom, make lockdown as fun as possible for the kids and keep our families connected without physically seeing anybody. Fun challenges are keeping us sane and creating games out of lots of activities from drawing to dressing up, baking, makeup, dancing and fitness.Put these internet challenges to the test and see which prove most popular with your kids.Break Up Song ChallengeLittle Mixers across the globe can be seen on TikTok copying Perrie Edwards’ sassy dance moves for the band’s latest single, Break Up Song.Little Mix released a TikTok video for the Break Up Song after deciding to film their individual parts at home. The first challenge for fans was to film and share their own end to the video using the hashtag #BUSStayHome. Mixers are now showing their love to the girl group with the #breakupsongchallenge to this uptempo 80s-inspired pop anthem.Perrie demonstrated the fun routine looking very Flashdance with disco lights in her bedroom and the must-have leotard and leggings combo. Join Jesy Nelson’s ex-boyfriend Chris Hughes, British boy band New Rules, the Harfin family and plenty of others in spandex and short shorts doing the Break Up Song challenge.Try Not To Laugh ChallengeSorry to spoil the fun here, but you may laugh within the first five seconds of just one of these video compilations on YouTube. Search the ‘Try Not To Laugh challenge’ and so many past Vine videos show up as well as YouTubers’ own compilations and plenty of funny stuff from TikTok. There are pranks, lip syncs, impersonations, people falling (of course) and animals doing the craziest things.Sometimes the stunts people were trying to do in these ’epic fail’ videos can actually be quite dangerous so if you’d rather not teach your kid to laugh at other people’s pain, perhaps avoid those.Try Not To Laugh is just one of the YouTube challenges your kids must give it a go. There’s also the Eat It or Wear It challenge, Yoga challenge, Blindfolded Makeup challenge, Baby Food challenge and so much more.The Keepy Uppy ChallengeKick-ups or keepy uppies with toilet roll was quite ironic when the sports challenge first hit Instagram, considering it was one of the items shoppers struggled to get their hands on because of panic buying. However, that didn’t stop top athletes and football players – and even bad football players – giving this energetic challenge a go before nominating their friends. Everyone from Lionel Messi to Thierry Henry to West Ham Women’s player Jacynta Galabadaarachchi and freestyle footballer Liv Cooke has had a shot at this. If any of your kids think they’ll smash this game – challenge them to do the keepy uppy challenge in less than a minute or to shoot the toilet roll into a makeshift goal afterwards.Toilet Roll ChallengeToilet roll is the gift that keeps on giving and the #toiletrollchallenge throws up all kinds of ideas for what fun challenges you could create or do with your family at home, and even your pets.One of the funniest to watch on Instagram is when people have built makeshift loo roll hurdles and challenged their cats and dogs to jump over until they either can’t or crash into the stack to escape the room. People are even trying a toilet roll challenge with horses but with less success.School teachers, pupils, dancers, cheerleaders and gymnasts everywhere have been filming quirky videos where the toilet roll looks like it’s been passed from person to person who each does something creative with it. One makeup artist even used the empty cardboard tubes as hair rollers – how’s that for sustainability?!Cookie Time ChallengeOur inner Liam Charles and Nadiya Hussain have been unleashed during the lockdown with amateur bakers sharing simple recipes and their cooking wins on social media. Arguably it’s always #cookietime but there are some monster creations on TikTok and Instagram from cookie cakes, giant cookies baked in a skillet, quarantine cookie platters, animal-shaped cookies, oozing cookies filled with nutella and all things wonderful…Okay, enough!If you turn this into a Great British Bake Off-style competition, it would be a fun challenge for kids and as the judge, you get to try everything they make. Baking is also a great bonding task that could be used to encourage siblings to get along better by baking cookies for each other or using their favourite ingredients.However you interpret the Cookie Time challenge, it’s bound to stop the kids from getting bored for at least a few hours.The Gesture ChallengeYoung people seem to be so much faster at this than the old ones playing so different generations participating together is quite entertaining.The Gesture challenge has you copy emojis to the beat so like a dance mat for your hand. It’s one of the fun challenges which you’re likely to have already seen your friends or your kids’ friends trying on Instagram and can be played with one person or two – however many participants you can fit within your screen.The #gesturechallenge was created by the Instagram user @I.M.Noel which is where you’ll find the Noel Gesture Challenge filter. It might look easy, but looks are deceiving, and you’ll soon discover who has the worst hand-eye coordination in the family. (Probably the parents.)Six Days, Six Dinners ChallengeSarah Chick from Dorset wanted to teach her two eldest daughters how to meal prep after they asked how the mum-of-five and step mum of one, manages to cook for so many people and still have food leftover. Unintentionally, it led to the Six Days, Six Dinners challenge, which tasked her two kids with setting the menu for a week and using what they had leftover to cook the following day’s dinner.The fun food challenge has been a win with parents. Not only does it encourage children to cook creatively without wasting ingredients, but it also gets them involved in the family meal which is great for their confidence and cooperative skills. The family of eight tucked into a roast dinner; gammon, eggs, chips and peas; a veggie-packed macaroni cheese; and tasty homemade pizzas so they had a tasty week. Dress Up For The Bins ChallengeAustralians have started a movement which gives us all an excuse to get dressed up – if only to take out the bins for a brief few minutes of glamour.What started as a joke between Queensland resident Danielle Askew and her friend turned into the Bin Isolation Outing Facebook group, which now has more than a million members sharing their fun and inventive dress-up pictures. You may even spot someone you know in the UK version of the Facebook page.People have put on wedding dresses, fancy dress costumes, you can dress as superheroes or a famous family. Anything goes and there’s no pressure to share the photos online if your kids would prefer not to. Share your photos closer to home with just close family and friends, but make sure they complete the challenge too to extend the laughs.Top Tips For Talking To Children About Internet ChallengesAs amazing as these social media challenges are for keeping kids entertained, we also want our young people to feel educated on using the internet safely. For the times you won’t be doing these challenges together, it’s crucial children recognise when pranks or stunts aren’t safe, but also that they have the right to say no to any dare.The best way to talk to kids and teens about the potential danger of internet challenges is while you’re doing them. If you’re trying to choose between different challenges – ask your kids which they would choose and why, which one looks safest and just have a conversation.Before you film any videos for social media, make a point of discussing whether everyone is comfortable to upload the clip to the website. You may start speaking about safety features like making your profile private and not including hashtags so videos are less searchable and won’t be seen by as many strangers.If parents show they’re interested in what young people are posting online, the more likely your kids will show you what they’re looking at. Encourage them to show you what they want to try before they do it so you can discuss how safe it is and whether it’s in their best interest.
The internet is a place for all things weird and wonderful and we certainly haven’t been let down over the past month with fun social media challenges popping up on all platforms.
