Keeping The Kids Busy During Lockdown
As we begin a New Year, we are faced with yet another lockdown scenario due to Covid 19. Once again we are entering into another week of the people’s homes turning into offices, crèches, schools, colleges and libraries in a bid to overcome the spread of the virus and to keep people safe and save lives.
The majority of parents and caregivers continue to multi-task to keep the show on the road, whether they are a stay at home parent, trying to home-school or trying to keep your own career on the right trajectory either working from home or working away from home in essential services.
In this blog I will give you my top tips for keeping the kids busy during lockdown.
Natural Instinct
Our natural instinct as parents or caregivers is to make sure everyone is safe, content and kept busy, these needs will vary of course based on the ages and stages of the children, as well as how many siblings there are! It’s also important for you as the parent or caregiver to know you have some sort of plan; to enable you to feel somewhat in control of a situation that we can’t currently change but can influence. As a mum of 3 children in a working from home scenario these are my top tips to helping keep the kids busy during lockdown.
Routine & Independence
While keeping the children busy is one of our main goals right now, routine is what helps hold it all together. During the last number of weeks I have been talking a lot about routine and how productive and beneficial it can be – for us all. Children cope a lot better when they know what’s going on; it creates predictability, consistency and a sense of normality in our day to day at home, children automatically feel happier in themselves. At the same time, it’s important that we don’t put ourselves under too much pressure to ‘get it right’, as long as we have regular wake up’s in the morning, ideally meals at the same time each day and keep bedtimes as you normally would during the week, this gives us a really good framework to go on.
While our days will vary it’s often helpful to consider all the options, spreading them out over the week, including a variety of exercise, fresh air, a little school work, screen time and some fun activities. The other aspect to all of this is that our children need to experience independent play; developmentally they have that ability from their toddler years. Yes, many of our children love us being by their side to play but it’s also okay to leave them to it to explore. I am going to take you through some ideas of how we can keep the children busy allowing the parents to take a step back – well at times anyway!
Like I mentioned previously our children’s needs and what they like to do will vary depending on their age. Regardless, getting them involved in making a list allows them to have some form of control too.
Home-Schooling During Lockdown
Home-Schooling Tips: Home-schooling has now become part of our everyday language, we have either embraced it or fought with the idea of being the teacher too - something that does not come naturally for many!
Here I share a few tips on managing it like a pro!
Start first thing in the morning – when the kids are feeling fresh & focused.
Different ages and stages mean a variety of learning skills.
Life skills are just as important as academic learning.
Do what you can.
Schools are keen to emphasise not to get stressed or worried over the academics.
It’s more important to maintain routine, good attitude to work/work ethic & positive mental health.
Creative Activities for 4-7 year olds
As children of this age are establishing friendships, they also love a bit of independent play, for many, the messier the better! If your child has either just started school or is a little order but loves being creative check out my tips below.
Messy Play is a great way for children to explore their senses and foster an environment for imagination, creativity and inspire curiosity.
Here are my top 3 messy play ideas:
Mix Cornflour & Water together – it makes an amazing sensory mess – kids love it! For variety you can add food colouring to the mix as well.
Window Painting – mix a shaving foam with food colouring in a cupcake tray and let the kids paint with their fingers or brushes on the outside of the windows.
Toy Car painting – set out a large sheet of paper, let the children ‘drive’ their cars through sections of washable paint to create multi-coloured tracks.
Arts & Crafts Activities will help boost children’s self esteem, facilitate independent play and encourage self-expression.
The list is endless when it comes to arts and crafts, you can make the most of what you have at home from everyday items like empty egg cartons, toilet rolls and paper plates all that is needed is some imagination, pencils, paints and glue! If creativity is not your forte or time simply is not on your side, pop into your local supermarket or shop online at one of the many independent toy shops to source your supplies.
If you need some ideas, I shop at Mimi Toys who are an Irish family run business who offer a great same day dispatch service at present.
Here’s an easy activity to rustle up:
A storm in a jam jar!
Everyone can fill their jar with water until it’s around three quarters full.
Add one drop of washing-up liquid to the water with a sprinkle of sand or child safe glitter.
Make sure the lid is tightly screwed on!
Turn the jar upside down and shake it like crazy in a circular motion, place it back down.
Watch your storm brew, swirl, and disappear.
Physical Exercise: Exercise is an essential everyday activity, it’s not always possible to get out doors while juggling work and school timetables, however there are a number of good resources that can help get heart rates up from the comfort of your own home.
RTE Junior 10@10 fun and enthusiastic daily 10 minute exercise videos for on the spot adrenaline boosting activities.
Cosmickids.com offers stories, mindfulness and yoga resources for kids. Videos are tailored based on length or energy level depending on whether you want calm, focus or active. I have heard a lot of great things about this particular company, another way to help everyone take a breath and relax.
GoNoodle.com focuses on movement and mindfulness, they have a huge selection of free videos, including dancing, exercise, meditation, reflection activities. Something for everyone.
PE with Joe is streamed live on Joe Wicks’ (The Body Coach) YouTube Channel, he creates fun 20 minute workouts for all of the family at 9am three mornings a week. All videos can be viewed at any time that suits you and your family.
Toy Rotation
Have you considered rotating toys for younger children? Toy rotation helps keep the toys available to your child at a manageable level. You may not have considered it before but children are free to flex their imaginations when given fewer toy choices. We’re learning Einstein was right when he said, “the true sign of intelligence is not knowledge but imagination.”
Despite the thought that lots of toys bring hours of fun, the reality is that children with too many toys often become overwhelmed, frustrated and even bored.
The benefits include reducing over-stimulation but encouraging more creative play and “outside-the-box” thinking. There is also less clutter.
Creative Activities for 8 - 11 year olds
As we are now in the middle of our 3rd lockdown, it is hard to avoid feeling that fatigue of keeping the kids entertained, especially the older ones! However when you step out of the busy week and take some down time for the weekend, it is great to introduce something different on those days we have off!
There is no doubt that older children are missing their friends from school, sports and other friendships they have formed from extra-curricular activities. Many parents worry about the effects of too much screen time, however once ideal boundaries are set there are opportunities for you to make the most out of your digital devices.
Digital Scavenger Hunt
Actionbound is a brilliant app for older children who love a challenge. Users can go on real world treasure hunts and guided walks.
Virtual Zoo Visits
Dublin Zoo have opened their virtual gates where visitors can get to see many of its residents.
Online Coding for Children
Lots of primary school children are coding now – there are a variety of websites providing online learning which will give the opportunity to continue at home which will keep minds busy and active.
Kids Coder Cub is an Irish Company which exposes students from 7 -18 years old to Computer, Coding and ICT skills, another great option is Code Advantage that supplies live and scheduled coding classes.
Arts & Crafts
Art for Kids Hub on YouTube, is a family run channel and is absolutely brilliant, I can vouch for this as my kids really love it. There are lessons that children can follow at their own pace.
Board Games & Deck of Cards
You can’t beat a good game of switch or likewise the board games that may have been gathering dust, we love ‘Game of Life’ & ‘5 Second Rule’.
Baking For All Ages
Baking can be incorporated into the home schooling curriculum as the process will help reading, decision making, numeracy skills and communication skills. Encourage the children to pick what they might like to bake, it not only keeps them busy but it also gives them that sense of achievement and a nice treat to nibble on too!
Reading
Reading has so many benefits and should be encouraged, it cultivates imagination, improves concentration and will help a child’s vocabulary to evolve.
Irish Libraries have created Borrowbox where you can rent ebooks and audiobooks online from your local library.
Oxford Owl is the free e-Library from Oxford Reading Tree. Read a new book every day. Book titles are suitable for 3 – 11 year olds.
Stories for children are currently available to stream for free from Audible.
Another great resource is Nessy which has programmes that are designed to help students with Dyslexia learn to read, write, spell and type. They offer a 1 month free trial.
Activities for all the Family
Right now we need to be so mindful of ourselves and others in regards to social distancing, the more open the space, the less people, the better. If you find that your usual favourite spots are busier than normal, think outside the box to explore somewhere new.
Fresh Air
Get out and about in the fresh air in wide open spaces (within the current guidelines) if and when you can, it is great for the children and us too. We regularly take the kids up the mountains near where we live – Coillte have made many buggy friendly trails.
Keeping in touch with friends
Something I’ve noticed with my own children is that they are missing their friends both from school and where we live. We have been encouraging virtual playdates via Zoom, Facetime, WhatsApp and Facebook Messenger when possible. No matter what age your child is – they will miss their pals; it’s amazing to see that mojo come back after making the connection again!
While there are so many ideas of what we can do to keep the children entertained and busy, it’s also important to allow us as the parent to recharge the batteries too and create a calm home. Be kind to yourself, if you are feeling overwhelmed, take some time out if you can and consider what would help to clear your head.
I recently appeared on Dermot & Dave on Today FM to give some pointers to get you through this tough time. You can listen to the podcast here.
Stay Healthy!
If you are feeling overwhelmed or facing challenges with your children, I am here to help, I offer tailored 1 to 1 parent support sessions. Get in touch with me today at aoife@parentsupport.ie.