I dont believe in “entertaining” children. If you are at home with them an entire day, it should be broken up so that you are only in fact “instructing” them as a guide/teacher for short short periods. You basically pull out some activity give them short instruction and demo and then let them get into it themselves.
They will naturally get bored of this within a short time, after they’ve experimented with what they can and cannot do with it and then turn to other activties.
Children need free play, free creative time and yes, they do need a bit of “guidance aka entertainment” as far as being given ideas as to what to do with themselves. But usually they will let you know what they want to do, naturally.
Playdough with household utensils for mushing with, (can make your own playdough by the way), sewing buttons on things (you can pull them off once they’ve gone to sleep), let them stand on a chair at the kitchen sink and “wash dishes” even 2 year olds can do this!….a wash cloth or spray bottle for washing the walls is a BIG toy in my house! Don’t ask me why. I have all nice expensive toys what a kid would want but they love the wash cloths. I let them do the windows, and turn a blind eye to the blurry smears they make. Polishing shoes is fun for 4 year olds. (Dont give real polish.) Give an apple with a peeler they think its great.
set up a train on railroad on living room floor,. they love this. Pull cushions off couch and let them jump to music.