4 Things You Can Do to Keep Your Kids Busy During The Shutdown
The Amy Jones Group
4 Things You Can Do to Keep Your
Kids Busy During The Shutdown
1. Cleaning Out Closets, Donate Toys and Declutter
Two kids, four bedrooms, and a garage equals a lot of stuff being accumulated over the years. No matter how many kids, dogs, or pet turtles you have, there's bound to be some spring cleaning you can do during this time of social distancing. Let your kids use this time to go through their rooms and play areas to declutter and get rid of toys, games, and clothes that they no longer use or need. Items that can be used by those who need them can be donated to local shelters, foster care resource centers, or neighbors in need. Once the rooms and spaces are cleaned out, then it's time for a deep clean and we've got the perfect person to help you with that, too!
2. Reading, Coloring & Learning
While the kiddos are out of school, it's still important that they are getting some learning in! While many teachers have been sending our kids work books and assignments to keep their creative juices flowing, there are a ton of resources online for creating a fun learning environment at home during the school shut down. Amazon.com has some great learning workbooks and ABC Mouse is a fun one to download on the iPad. Museums are offering free virtual tours, celebrities are doing live readings of Harry Potter at night and there's still the ol' fashion create your own math workbook at home that we used to have our parents do for us as kids. Create your own book club and then donate the books to the local library, turn coloring and painting into a learning game, and share ideas with your friends to keep those little minds going.
3. Staying Active, Exercise & Playing
It's important to stay active for your waistline and to avoid the brain fog of isolation. Unfortunately all of our kid's team sports activities are temporarily shut down, so the absence of the chaos of constantly shuffling kids between practices, games and team activities is going to take some getting used to. Soccer practice at the fields and sports complexes will be replaced with training in the backyard or neighborhood park while basketball at the gym will be replaced with the good old-fashioned driveway. Hop scotch in the kitchen, cartwheels in the loft, even jumping in the pool as it starts to warm up counts - keeping active is good for mind, body, and soul!
4. Unplugging
Keeping the boredom at bay will be a challenge no matter how old the kid. Boredom often leads to iPads, electronic devices and Netflix which is in part okay but keeping some unplugged times through out the day helps keep kids in the routines you had previously set up for them. Setting a schedule for education, play, and unplugged time will give your kids some of the structure they are used to in the school day and help with the boredom of being stuck at home. Use a picture of a clock with color-coded time blocks, spend time as a family creating a daily schedule that you can post on the wall, or ask the kids to put together a tracker that works for them!
There are so many resources out there, here are just a few of our favorites:
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