Surviving School Closure
We knew it was going to happen, but here it is, the schools will now be closed possibly until September due to the Coronavirus.
Although on the face of it, some children may feel excited by being off school thinking they will be spending most of this time watching movies or playing on their xbox, the reality is going to be so different. I can already hear it now “im bored”, “can we go out now”, on top of what I am sure will be countless arguments and disagreements.
For me, this time is going to have to be about balance – having a structure and integrating some fun. It is going to be essential if I want to be able to distinguish between weekdays and weekends at least.
In terms of schoolwork, I know my kids’ school has set them up with an online portal that they can go on and do fun learning activities. They will be getting a set time to do this daily.
I plan, around my own working commitments of course, to keep my kids’ days as structured as possible with learning and fun.
So, I have already started thinking what am I going to do to keep the next few months fun and leave me with some sanity at the end of it. I hope some of these ideas are useful
Craft ideas for kids
Here are a few crafts for kids that should keep them entertained for a while:
- My daughter has already said the first thing she wants to do is design a timetable for us to fill out ideas for each day
- A paper aeroplane competition. Compare different designs and see how well they fly and land.
- Create a family tree together, to explore the different branches of your family and their generations. Print out photos of each person and stick them on.
- Make a set of bookmarks to encourage their reading.
- Challenge your child to create an artistic collage – cut out from magazines and catalogues, use stickers and paint to bring it to life. If you have an empty picture frame it can go on their wall.
- Raid the garden for decent sized stones and do some rock paintings.
- Make sock puppets out of odd socks
- Me and my daughter are also going to be having a photography challenge once a week
- For those that have countless toilet rolls, make something out of the cardboard rolls when empty or just to make skittles
Fun activities for kids involving exercise
If the challenge for your brood is to get them moving and away from screens, here are some suggested physical activities for children:
- Choose a song for a choreography. Work together to create a funky dance and see if you can remember it all!
- The floor is lava. Even older children are obsessed with this game. Put cushions on the floor to help you make your way around the room without touching the floor.
- Musical bumps or statues. The perfect opportunity to revive these favourite party games.
- Fun circuit training. Draw pictures of different activities and place them around the room – or all over the house. The children need to visit each picture and do the activity – e.g. hop on one leg 10 times, do 10 star jumps, 10 squats, 2 roly-polies etc. See how many circuits they can manage.
- Hide and seek
- Dodge ball or catch in the garden
Other things to do with the kids
Myself and my daughter have very much been getting into baking our own cookies and bread lately and so a lot more baking will continue (stock of flour permitting and other essential elements of course). I am also going to be using the time to get my children to learn other practical skills such as sewing.
Don’t feel bad if the children end up watching screens for some of the time. You may well need to get some work done or just may want to sit down and enjoy a hot coffee and 5 mins peace!!!
Planning activities for kids at home is a way to break up the day – not completely fill it. It might help to have a daily timetable so that everyone knows what to expect. Mine will include chore time as I will not be spending the next few months constantly cleaning up after them that is for sure! Ensuring that we hopefully get a daily walk, reading time and cuddle time too.
There is also a facebook group called Family Lockdown Tips & Ideas with lots of different ideas being posted daily with things that you can do with the kids to hopefully try new things
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