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.