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:
- 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.
- 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.