Home Alone (Except with Kids)
With schools being closed and everything else being shut down, many parents and children are now at home more than they ever were before! But what do you do to keep your child entertained? Video games aren’t always the best for engagement and with limited outside play, you must get creative. Here are some unique ideas for activities to do with your children while being safer at home!
Blog# 001
by:Matthew Koshko
1. Develop a “Screen Routine.”
While it may be easy to give your children a tablet, it’s not always the best thing to keep your child engaged. With online schooling now being more important than ever, you still want to ensure that your children limit their screen time! That’s why a “Screen Routine” is more important now, than it ever was before. For starters, if you want to maintain independence for your children, have them give you a window of time for them to play. This could be their choice and will help maintain a routine, despite the school buses not running.
2. “Cook-Up” a Good Time!
Independence is a huge necessity for students of all age. What’s a better way to build independence than learning how to cook? Obviously, we aren’t ready to start firing up a grill with our first grader, but this at-home time can be super valuable for developing a young chef. Giving the children a chance to mix and match flavors is a great way to find new and delicious meals that can help bring new and exciting dishes to the dinner table.
3. Be Wise and Organize.
You and your child are spending a lot of time at home together. Have you been meaning to clean out your bookshelf? How about organizing the kitchen items? This is a perfect time to get show your child around the house and give them a chance to help re-organize. This may also lead to some exciting room changes. Your child may get the chance to decorate or rearrange their own room. This will further your child’s independence and also show them that they have full control of their own space!
4. Exercise Your Body (And Your Brain)
With gyms being closed and limited physical activity, you and your child would probably benefit from a little movement. Why not try at-home exercise with a twist. Grab some dice and start rolling! If you roll a 5, then you have to do five jumping jacks, push-ups, or sit-ups. You can take it a step further and take turns picking the exercise for each other. Want to incorporate spelling? You have to do jumping jacks for every letter in the word, “elephant.” Run in place for however long it takes for your student to solve a math problem and vice versa. Exercise AND entertainment all rolled into one.
5. Read, Read, Read
Reading is valuable in any classroom. Now is the time to make reading an adventure. Set up a calm and relaxing room solely dedicated to reading. Dim some lights, light candles, build a fort with sheets. Do whatever you can as a parent to make reading more fun. Do it as a family every night for at least 30 minutes and you can develop a lifetime of reading habits during this time spent at home.