We all need a day off work and schoolwork. During COVID-19 it might be worth considering if you can afford to take parental leave or if you can use a little annual leave. Breaking the week up will support you and your children as you get through the next couple of months together. Setting up office and school in the home is challenging. Getting the new routines in place and keeping everyone sticking to them takes energy. Rewarding the family to a ‘Party Day’ or an activity day once a week could be just what you need.
Parents who are at home on a regular basis might want to change things about a little as they find themselves confined to the home.
Taking a day off once a week, on Friday for example from the office and the schoolwork, housework, could boost morale in the home. Coming up with ideas of games at home that you normally don’t play will make it even more fun.
So for this week here are some ideas:
- Create a Treasure Hunt in the garden or the in the house, depending on your space.
- Gather up some bits and pieces you have hid away in the press or forgotten about as prizes.
- Or make a plan together around what the winning prizes could be: a head massage, nail painting, a night off cooking. Every family will come up with ideas to suit them.
- The parent or maybe an older teen creating the treasure hunt will need some time to prepare. So be patient. The more time you spend getting the clues ready the more fun you will have.
- For those with younger children keep the clues really simple, look for colours or shapes and each child can take a turn to create the treasure hunt.
- Children as young as three years old can engage in successful treasure hunts.
Building Huts or your Mine Craft Village
- Why not forget about the real world for a few hours and build a new world.
- Using boxes, moving about some furniture, getting duvet covers you can create a new world.
- Use the materials to make a world under cover. Crawl about underneath the new spaces you are creating.
- If you can get out to get some large boxes from the supermarket, join them up with tape and cut out passageways from one box into the next. Children can decorate the boxes, add windows etc.
- If you have the space and tools, why not paint the boxes and make a real new home to live in!
- Add a tea set and have a party. Add some animals and you have a jungle. Add some cars you have a racetrack. Maybe there is a space to cuddle up and read up a book!
- If you have a garden building a den in your garden could be great fun. Using heavy duty bin liners could be a way to get started. Getting some bamboo shoots, old sweeping brushes will help build the structure. See what the garage has inside.
- Children love being in tents and in hidden spaces. They will learn so much about building, creating and working together and it is possible to have hours of fun. There are many ways for children to learn while the schools are closed, many ways for you to have quality time with your children and build stronger connections so you can look back on these weeks with many fond memories.
- Don’t worry about tidying up. It won’t take as long as you think.
Making Movies
- Children love acting, singing and showing off, well mostly they do in the comfort of their own homes with the people they trust and love.
- Why not become You Tubers for the Day!
- Everyone can script some ideas around what your You Tube Channel would be.
- Using your phone or Tablets you can take turns recording each other as you act out your show, your You Tube sensational video.
- Children and parents can be encouraged to use props, to get dressed up, learn about new things, rehearse, and speak up loud and clear. When children watch back the recordings they can edit their own work. Children without any prompting will be able to see the errors, the hand fidgeting, the twisting about, the hair pulling and they themselves will correct it.
- I know a six-year-old who takes great pleasure in doing this, it can be so much fun to watch.
- Children will grow in confidence as they develop skills, share knowledge and learn new talents, share hidden talents. Parents will laugh out loud as they too take part and join the land of You Tubers!
- If you would rather keep things a little simpler why not try out some simple craft ideas here.
As children have this time off school, try not to over worry about teaching them everything they learn in school. Parents can create so many opportunities to learn at home. Helping children learn things they will never learn in school. All the time building long lasting secure relationships with your children. Children will have fond, long lasting memories of these days and COVID-19 will not be the first thing they recall when they think of 2020.