States affected by the Coronavirus are announcing school and daycare closures all across the country in an attempt to reduce the spread. While the effort will help to protects our loved ones and others against potential infection, how do you deal with the infectious boredom in your own household?
Most student’s schedules revolve around mingling with others their age. Commonly, parents take their children to the park, the library, play dates and museums to keep their kids with short attention spans entertained. This now leaves parents and caretakers scrounging for activities to do with their children within the confines of their own home. Luckily, many are offering services for free as a way of giving back while our nation is sheltering in place. The following is a list of 5 ways to entertain your kid for free while in quarantine:
1 – Get outside. It is important to count our blessings when we can during these unprecedented times. Be thankful to be quarantined during the warming spring months when getting outside is more comfortable than it would be in January. Explore your neighborhood, play hopscotch, or do some laps around the block in a foot race or on bikes. The vitamin D absorbed by the sun will help to alleviate some of those quarantine blues you might be experiencing.
2 – Storytime. Reading to your kids is a great way to integrate learning into family time. Audible, Amazon’s audiobook app, is offering their story services to kids for free. You can also use your newfound time to explore lesser-known storytellers and stories such as The Perils of Petey Podango and indy authors. If you are looking for ways to have your kids burn off extra energy, have them create a skit of the story you read and perform it for the household.
3 – Museum tours from the couch. Google is offering free virtual museum tours to the most visited places of arts and culture around the world. From the comfort of your living room, you can see the Mona Lisa, visit the Eiffel Tower or take a walk through the Smithsonian. Discuss the importance of art with your kids and encourage them to explain why they do or do not like a certain piece of art. You may be surprised by their answers.
4 – Create something new. Just like having a child, making art doesn’t come with an instruction manual. You don’t need a paint-by-number kit to make a painting —actually, you don’t even need paint! You can use your favorite colorful vegetables, like beets and purple potatoes, and create stamps by cutting them into shapes. Do a puzzle, write a story together, make cookies and decorate them or draw each other’s portraits. You can also create art from repurposed items you find around the house. Re-purposing can serve as an educational opportunity, it will give your children a new perspective on how they look at waste.
5 – Reconnect with family and friends. One thing the quarantine is giving us is more downtime and quality time within our households. To connect with others that do not live with you can FaceTime, Zoom, Facebook Messenger or use Google Hangouts to see one another’s faces. If your kids are feeling bored and lonely, likely their friends are too. Encourage your children to write them a letter and become pen pals with the people they are missing the most during this time.
Staying home may seem hard at times but with a little creativity, it can be fun! Try some of the suggestions above to save yourself the headache of hearing “I’m bored!”
Photo Credit
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Guest Author Bio
W.M. Chandler
W.M. Chandler is a Colorado native and works best with her head in the clouds. She is an avid researcher and enjoys writing about unfamiliar subjects. She writes passionately about nature and the outdoors, human connections and relationships, nutrition and politics.
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