Because of the current COVID-19 pandemic, many people haven’t had much choice except to stay home a lot of the time. As you can imagine, it can soon become boring if there isn’t much to do when you’re at home, aside from the usual household chores.

As a father, you undoubtedly want to maintain some sense of normality in your home. Plus, you want to keep sibling or parent-offspring squabbles to a minimum! With that in mind, you may also want to spend some time bonding with your son.

As you know, kids grow up really fast and, as a dad, you want to spend as much time as possible with your son before he’s old enough to fly the nest. Did you know there are plenty of cool father-son projects that you could do together? You don't have to only rely on toddler boy outside toys to keep your young man entertained, since these projects will promise hours (if not, days) of fun! Check out these seven examples:

1. Fishing

Many entertainment venues are closed or are running on a restricted basis at the moment. Still, that doesn’t mean there aren’t plenty of fun father and son activities you can do in the outdoors. One such example is fishing.

Fishing is a really good way to spend some time bonding with your son. You can teach him how to rig a line and make his first cast, for instance. And when your son makes his first catch, don’t forget to photograph that iconic moment!

If it’s been a while since you’ve been fishing, you might wish to give yourself a refresher. Take a look at this interesting article from Shakespeare Fishing on the subject.

2. Playing catch

Another fun pastime that you can both enjoy and even from the comfort of your backyard is playing catch. It’s one of those traditional pastimes that never gets old, even in today’s digitally switched-on world.

Aside from teaching your son skills he can use in other outdoor sports, playing catch is also a good opportunity to connect with each other by having deep and meaningful conversations together. It’s also something he could potentially do with his son one day.

3. Build a home cinema

Is your son really interested in the cinematic experience whenever he goes to a movie theater? If the answer’s yes, and you’ve got a spare room in your home, why not spend some quality time together by building a home cinema?

Some of you reading this might be thinking that you’d have to spend thousands on a complete room makeover. The truth is, you can make a few simple (and cheap) changes to create an amazing home cinema!

Check out the Max Your Home Time for equipment inspiration. Don’t forget that you can get your son involved in all aspects from choosing movie posters to put up on the walls through to planning the layout of the room for all the family to enjoy.

4. Camping

Another all-American favorite for father-son bonding time is camping in the great outdoors. Camping allows you both to enjoy what nature has to offer, such as seeing the stars and planets in the skies at night, and foraging for food.

If you find that campsites in your region have closed due to COVID-19, you could always camp out in your backyard! Be sure to remember everything you need for cooking, cleaning, and ensure you’ve got plenty of clothes to wear.

5. Build a race car

Does your son have the makings of a race car enthusiast (or even driver)? And does he love nothing better than to get his hands dirty and reassemble an engine? One lockdown project you could do with your son is build a race car at home!

You can get all the parts and tools you need shipped directly to your home. If you’ve got a large enough garage, you can both work on your race car even when the weather outside isn’t favorable. Just check your son doesn’t tackle dangerous jobs for obvious reasons!

6. Build a weather balloon

What’s the best way of seeing the world around us from a great height without actually flying anywhere? The answer is simple: build and launch a weather balloon with a camera enclosed inside of it!

People have been sending weather balloons in the air for years, and most of those folks have had great success with their projects. A fun way to learn more about Earth, space, and the world around us is by building and launching a weather balloon from home.

Of course, you’ll need to do plenty of research, including into days when the weather and wind conditions are just right for launch. But, it’s easily possible to do as a father and son team.

One father and son team from New York sent up an Apple iPhone and a HD camera in a weather balloon that went all the way into space! They tracked the location of their weather balloon using the iPhone’s GPS, and the HD camera recorded all the video footage.

Few sons can say they launched a weather balloon into space and have video footage of the experience. It’s a pretty cool project for any father and son to tackle, and you don’t even need expensive equipment to do so (you could use an old iPhone 4 for GPS, for example).

7. Play a virtual reality game together

If you’re the kind of dad that is a self-confessed technology geek, have you thought about playing a virtual reality game together with your son? Wearing the right virtual reality headsets means you have access to all kinds of fun, family-friendly virtual games.

For instance, if your son is a huge fan of Minecraft, you could both play the virtual reality version of the game using Oculus Rift headsets. It’s a much more fun and engaging way to play a game than sitting in front of a TV screen.

What’s more, you and your son can work as a cooperative group together, exploring and building a virtual Minecraft world.