Keeping our kids occupied at home is a challenge at the best of times, let alone during lockdown. Here are some of our favorite ideas to get your children out of your hair so you can get some work done. Naturally, how successful they are will depend on the individual child but definitely all are worth a shot.
Create Snack Packs
The number of times your children say they are hungry seems to multiple astronomically during lockdown. Rather than get up every 10 minutes, create lunchboxes or snack packs at the start of the day or the night before. Have them within easy reach for your children. Likewise, have drink bottles filled and ready to go.
Scavenger Hunts
There are many printables you can find online to get the kids scavenging, like these ones from Australia’s Stay At Home Mum. If it is a nice day, send the kids outside for a nature scavenger hunt in the backyard. The gathered items could then be used to create a collage or piece of artwork. If the weather isn’t great, a hunt for different colored things is a great idea. Place papers or plates of different colors on the floor so that the kids can place the items on the matching paper. Alternatively, have them sort their Lego or other blocks into colors this way – the perfect game turned organization hack!
Story time Sessions
There are many wonderful story-times videos to choose from local organizations or businesses to stretch your children’s imaginations. Check out the Goldfields Libraries’ (Gisborne, Kyneton, Romsey and Woodend) and Squishy Minnie Bookstore’s Facebook pages for their online sessions. The Myths and Legends shop in Gisborne also has an extensive archive of their fairies telling stories on their website.
Online Lessons
Many organizations are doing free online sessions at the moment such as local Elly’s Music Playtime. There are also plenty of videos on YouTube to choose from such as, Cosmic Kids Yoga sessions, and How to Draw videos on Art for Kids Hub.
Messenger
If you can spare a device, go into Messenger and put it on selfie photo mode. There are a number of fun filters to try. Your child will be occupied for ages creating funny faces. If they have a cousin or friend who they want to chat to, call via Messenger and they can both try the filters as they chat. It is bound to cause giggles all around.
What keeps your children occupied whilst you are working? We would love to hear any more practical ideas that we could share with our community.
