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It is clear what an immense challenge many families are facing right now. Setting aside the unpredictability of COVID-19 and the unknown end date to protective measures, many families have had to learn how to juggle their own careers or job changes, all while trying to care for their children and continue their learning at home.

At Amelio, we have been trying to find new and innovative ways to not only keep young children engaged, but to help out families who may be struggling at home during these unprecedented times. With this in mind, we are happy to introduce Amelio Home Assist – Nanny Care and Learning at Home services at your doorstep!

Whether you need an extra hand with feeding, diaper changing and supervising your children, or help engaging with and enabling them to reach their learning and developmental milestones – we’re here for you!

Amelio Home Assist connects you with Amelio’s well trained, dedicated and experienced caregivers and teachers, across Chennai, Bangalore and Hyderabad.

Personalized care

With one-on-one care, our caregivers and teachers will be sure to give your child the care, understanding and education that they need. 

Flexible time slots 

Our programs are designed to be flexible to adapt to your family’s daily schedule.

Experienced caretakers and teachers 

We are happy to provide you with professional childcare services at home.

Safety, our priority!

Through Amelio Home Assist, our aim is to support families with professional childcare services at home, all the while keeping safety as our utmost priority. From daily temperature checks, regular health check-ups and COVID-19 safety kits to maintaining health & cleanliness at home, while commuting, during their stay and even in their communities, our caregivers and teachers will make sure that the health and safety of your families are at the forefront always.

Book your appointment today! Call 9176024000 or visit our website for more information.

https://www.amelio.in/home-assist/

Get your fussy little eaters into the kitchen and turn them into little chefs, with a few easy and fun cooking projects! You can help your child explore different foods when cooking using other senses besides taste, this can help them build positive associations with food. Kneading dough, rinsing vegetables, or tearing lettuce can all add to the sensory experience as well.

Here are 3 simple recipes for you to try out with your little ones at home.

No-Bake Peanut Butter Treats

Banana Pancakes

Pizza Toast

Cooking is an important life skill, and over time, cooking with your children can help build confidence – all the while providing rich sensory experiences. With enough practice, your child will someday be able to cook YOU a delicious meal!

Working from home has become a familiar standard the world over during this time. In one way it’s the best of both worlds – the ability to be available for one’s kids, while still bringing in a pay check. However, having your home be your office can be challenging – particularly with a toddler around creating havoc. Your little one needs constant attention, and unlike an infant, your toddler is mobile.

Here are 6 tips for working from home with a toddler:

Start the day early

The best way to work with a toddler at home is by getting as much done as possible when they aren’t around. Setting an alarm a couple of hours before they are up for the day, tackling your larger projects during that time or organizing and planning your day really helps.

Create a schedule

It’s important to structure your day carefully, so that you can plan your work around being there for your little one. Line up your projects according to the time you may have – how will you engage your child while you tackle a Skype meeting? When will you return calls? What can you accomplish during naptime? It’s important to work smarter, not harder – you’ll end up getting more done.

Make them feel important

If possible, try to spend some quality time with your child in the mornings. Perhaps you could do an exercise or activity together. If you start the day spending time with your child, they will feel important and tend to be less needy during the day, which means that you’ll be able to get more done.

Take advantage of naptime

Naptime is not only important for your little one’s health and development, it could help you be more productive while working from home too. Whether your toddler sleeps for one hour or two, you could use that time to finish your large assignments requiring the most focus and concentration.

Keep them busy

Toddlers love to help out at home. Give them tasks to do during the day – even if it’s just practicing scribbling. Look for activities and exercises that you can line up for your child to help keep them productively engaged. If your child has something to look forward to, they are less likely to interrupt you. You could also try setting up an activity spot near your workspace, so that your little one feels as if they have their own designated place to do projects while you catch up on work.

Be flexible

It can be frustrating trying to be productive when you’re a work from home parent – especially on days when your child is extra fussy. Being flexible goes a long way. Plan for interruptions, try to get your work done in blocks of time, and tend to your child’s needs in between. You’ll need to find a balance of patience and acceptance! Plan their day carefully too, and work around meal times, naptime and quality time. 

We hope that this helps your working from home with toddlers easier!

With schools and daycares closing across the country because of COVID -19, the kids are now stuck at home. Since children thrive on routine, there is sure to be some upheaval. But we are here to help! In our previous post we gave you some tips to create a schedule at home for your children. In this post, we will highlight some activities and ideas to keep them engaged and busy.

• You know all those cardboard boxes your online orders come in? There are tons of things your kids can do with them.  If you have a big enough box you can turn it into a playhouse or a car. You could flatten out a smaller cardboard box and paint a road on it around which your child could set up a village or a farm, or even race their toy vehicles on. This will keep your kids entertained for hours!

• Kids love to paint and colour on things, so find old toys, buckets, even pieces of fabric and let them go wild. You could even cover a wall in their room with chalkboard paint on which they could draw or do some writing practice. Here’s a link to help you with this. 

• Make reading and storytelling a daily activity. Create a cozy reading nook where you can keep their books, sit there and read aloud to your child. Also give them blocks of time in the day where they can read books by themselves or even just look at the pictures if they don’t know how to read as yet. 

• Learning at home can be fun and screens can help you with that. There are plenty of learning apps you can download onto your phone or tablet, such as Intro to Math or Endless Alphabet. Your little one can use the apps to trace letters, identify objects and animals and even do number work. However, make sure to use screens as a tool and limit screen time.

• Set up a Whatsapp/Facebook group with like-minded parents and every day let one parent suggest an activity that all the kids can do – this could be anything from the child painting their self portrait, to making a puzzle out of cardboard or even a simple science experiment. Once done you can share the images of your child’s creation on the group.

• Give your child plenty of opportunity for free play while at home. This is much needed for their imagination to grow and creativity to be sparked. Put their toys on a mat (rotate the toys around every couple of days) and allow your little one to lead and decide what they want to play with. Sit with them for a bit if they want you to and then move on to doing chores near them, thereby allowing them to learn how to play independently.

• There is plenty of stuff at home your child can lend a hand with. In the kitchen, let the kids wash vegetable and fruits, measure out ingredients, and even clean up. They can help dust around the house, water the plants and when it comes to laundry your child can measure out the detergent, dry clothes etc. There is no dearth of domestic activities your child can help out with, and they are never too young to start.

• Parks and sports centres might be closed, but your child can still get in some physical activity. Do some kid-friendly exercise videos together, turn on some music and dance around the living room as a family, and if you have some space around your home they can skate or cycle around. If possible, you could even go for a walk around the neighbourhood.

We hope the above ideas help you plan fun activities to do with your kids. And remember, like we said in our previous post, there will be days where you might not be able to do any activities with them, or just allow them to spend all day colouring or watching something. It’s fine! Try to get back on schedule as soon as you can, and remember this too shall pass. 

In an attempt to prevent the spread of COVID -19, malls and theatres have closed down, events have been postponed, and everyone is trying to practice social distancing. Schools have also been closed, and after-school classes and sports activities have been cancelled. While this is a much-needed move at this time, parents can’t help but ask themselves, ‘What are the kids going to do all day?’

 Kids are used to a routine and being shut up at home is going to lead to restlessness, loads of complaining and constant snacking. It would be easy to stick the little ones in front of a screen so that they aren’t getting in the way, but with weeks of no school lying ahead, this isn’t a realistic solution. We have put together a few things you can do to help set up a schedule to keep your child engaged for most of the day. 

∙      During the week, try to stick to the same wakeup time they would have if they were going to school.

∙      Let them eat breakfast and be ready for the day around the time they would leave for school.

∙      Use the times followed at school as a guideline, for example: 

1. If they, usually, do an activity at school between 9.30-10.30 am do a worksheet or even a simple experiment with your child at that time.
2. There might be a break at school around 11 am to go to the bathroom and have a snack. At this time, stop the activity and have your little one help prep a simple snack. Once they are done eating, have them wash and clear up.

∙      Break the day into 15-30 minute blocks of time. After snack time, you could read to your child and then allow them to do some free play or colouring till it’s time for lunch.

∙      Post-lunch, let your child have some quiet time for an hour. If your little one doesn’t nap, ask them to rest and turn on some soothing music for them to listen to.

∙      At around 3.30 pm, there could be a snack break again, followed by another activity. This could be anything from a craft project or doing a puzzle together.

∙     Next up, an outdoor activity if possible. Some ideas you could try are cycling within the building compound or going for a walk around the neighbourhood (while maintaining distance from other folks around), or even some dancing around on the terrace.

∙      Follow this with a bath, dinner and some more free play before bedtime. 

 While the above is just a general template that you can tweak to suit your famly and you, there are a few things to keep in mind while building a routine for the day.

• Whenever possible, try to involve the kids in simple household chores. 
• Change up the activities every day and try to rotate what toys the kids play with. 
• When it comes to television and tablets, don’t use them as a distraction. If your little one is used to a certain amount of screen time at a particular time of the day, you can stick to that. 

 This situation is new to most of us, so give yourselves a break if you can’t keep up! There will be a day where you don’t do any activities with your kids or allow them to watch more television than usual. The next day if possible, try to get back on schedule. And remember, all this is just temporary, and eventually life will go back to normal. 

Stay tuned for our upcoming post on activities and ideas to keep your child engaged and entertained while at home.

With everything that’s happening around us in the wake of the novel Coronavirus, with adults, kids at school and the news all hyper-focused on this outbreak, reassuring our children is important for them to feel safe. When they can talk about their feelings, they become less overwhelming, less upsetting and less scary.

Keep lines of communication open

Children tend to be anxious, especially when they don’t understand what is happening around them. They are hearing about the virus everyday, noticing people wearing face masks, hearing inaccurate stories from everywhere and seen their parents become more vigilant. Don’t be afraid to discuss what is happening, and take the time to convey the facts, and set an emotional tone. This makes them feel informed, and reassures them.

Be age appropriate

Don’t overload your kids with too much information, they will find it difficult to process everything all at once. Instead, give them the basic facts and try and answer any questions they may have.

Don’t add to their anxiety

When you’re feeling most anxious, it’s better not to have a conversation with your kids. Try to take some time to calm your nerves before trying to have a conversation to answer their questions.

Be calm and reassuring

Hearing about the virus will make children worry that they might catch it too. It’s helpful to reassure your child about how rare the coronavirus actually is (the flu is much more common) and that kids actually seem to have milder symptoms. We can teach them that most people who catch this sickness stay home, rest and get better, and that we have wonderful doctors and nurses who can help people when they need it.

Focus on what you’re doing to stay safe

An important way to reassure your kids is to emphasize healthy habits and the safety precautions that you can take as a family. We know that the coronavirus is transmitted mostly by coughing and touching surfaces. Teach them everyday actions they can do to reduce the spread of germs – this will help them feel more in control of the situation. Remind them to distance themselves from people who are coughing or sneezing. Help them understand the importance of washing their hands more frequently with soap and water. Educate them about good personal hygeine, and the proper way to cough, sneeze and dispose of tissues.

Stick to regular routines as far as possible

Children don’t like uncertainty. Staying rooted to routines is essential for them to feel reassured, happy and healthy. If schools and daycares are closed, treat it how you would a school break, with structured days and regular mealtimes and bedtimes.

Pay attention to what children see or hear

Consider reducing the amount of screen time focused on COVID-19. Too much information can lead to anxiety, and a lot of content may be taken out of context.

As public conversations around COVID-19 increase, children may worry about themselves, their family, and friends getting ill. Parents, family members, school staff, and other trusted adults can play an important role in helping children make sense of what they hear in a way that is honest, accurate, and minimizes anxiety or fear. Remind kids that maintaining healthy habits are always good, everyday ways to strengthen our bodies. We will all get sick sometimes, but we can be responsible in getting rid of germs when we practice handwashing, good personal hygiene and basic healthy living.

For more information and updates on the Coronavirus, do follow our COVID-19 updates page.