Yesterday, (just like many of you) we received the notification that my daughter would not have school for at least two weeks due to the Corona Virus Pandemic.
Although inconvenient, I am so thankful for our government and school officials who have had to make hard decisions for our country and community. Now it’s up to us as a whole to keep one another safe and try our best to prevent the spread of this virus.
I know many of you are in the same situation as we are, and are scrambling to find a safe place for your kids during this time. I am fortunate enough to work from home, which means I am always dealing with trying to balance keeping Lilly entertained without tons of screen time while I work, so I thought I would share some of my tried and true activities and our typical daily schedule (minus the preschool part) in hopes that it might give you some ideas on how to keep your own kiddos entertained during this unexpected time off school.
Indoor Activities:
- Workbooks and Activity Books: Keep your kids up to date on all their education with some fun workbooks. Lilly does the Brain Quest one after school every day. We love it!
- Teach them Something New: Do your kids know how to fold? Make their bed? Bake a cake? Dust? Teach them something new and fun based off of their age!
- Read a Chapter Book Together: We have been reading the Harry Potter Story Books with Lilly. They are the same chapter books but with amazing pictures. Read a few chapters a day!
- GoNoodle: this free app/website is amazing! I have Lilly use it every day. She loves their dance parties and their yoga. It’s a great way to keep your kids active inside.
- Cosmic Kids Yoga on YouTube is another favorite of ours!
- Play a Board Game: Below I have a few great board/family games for every age group! It’s a fun way to keep learning while having fun family time!
- Make an Experiment: I found this fun book full of EDIBLE experiments. Fun, educational, and tasty!
- Scholastic Learn-At-Home: Scholastic offers twenty free days of learning, reading, and inspiration
- Listen to a Podcast: Our favorites are ‘Wow in the World‘, ‘The Past and the Curious‘ and ‘Stories‘
- Build a Fort out of Pillows and Blankets
- Build an Obstacle Course with household items and time each other as you go through it.
- Use cardboard boxes AND ALL THOSE TOILET PAPER ROLLS to build a spaceship, a dollhouse, etc. and decorate it with stickers and markers!
- Make Something New: Learn how to sew or hand-knit. Make friendship bracelets. Use a kit like this one to make a mermaid!
- Do a fun puzzle together
- Play Hide and Seek
- Put on a show or a puppet show
- Play dress-up and have a tea party
- Indoor scavenger hunt themed after a favorite book or COLORS/SHAPES
- Play-doh, slime or something sensory!
- Clay: use molding clay to build your favorite character, bake and use for your show/puppet show
- Make a musical instrument with things you have in the house like toilet paper rolls, rice, and duct tape to make a shaker!
- Write a story: each family member gets to pick one part of the story (location, characters, events) and each of you gets to draw the pictures for one page. Put it all together and see what kind of whacky story you come up with!
- Build with legos or blocks!
- Make a postcard for your friends and family and send it to them!
- Go through clothes and toys and set aside things you don’t want/need to give to others.
Workbooks:
Games:
Activities:
Books:
Outside Activities:
- Go on a nature scavenger hunt: I found this one on Pinterest!
- Take a long walk
- Plant something: Lilly helps me plant flowers in the spring! I picked up some seeds to spread while she’s home yesterday!
- Using items you find around the house make a Fairy Garden
- Make the Birds a Snack: Using birdseed, pinecones, and peanut butter! Roll the pinecone in natural peanut butter then roll it in the birdseed. Hang it on a tree!
- Use chalk to draw, learn letters/words, play hopscotch, or make an obstacle course!
- Bubbles are hours of fun!
- Learn a new sport or outside game!
- Make-up fun races like hopping on one leg or running backward
- Ride bikes or scooters
- Play I Spy with items you see outside
Outdoor Play:
Apps and Shows:
- Epic! is one of my favorite apps for kids. The kids learn how to sight-read and pick books to “read” and are asked comprehensive questions at the end of each story.
- Endless Learning Academy has really fun games that teach the alphabet, words, vocabulary, math, science and even SPANISH!
- Brainchild on Netflix is so great for kids. It teaches the science behind germs, emotions in a fun and interactive way.
- ABC Mouse: we do pay for Lilly to use this. I have been so impressed with it. If you are looking for something fun and educational, definitely invest in this for your child.
- Watch a movie on Disney+ and do one of these Disney-inspired crafts after
Fun Subscriptions for Kids:
- Your kids will be so excited to get a monthly letter from their puppy penpal, Puppy Liza! She will have your kids excited about reading and even includes the pawfect gift in every letter you receive!
- Walt Life: can’t go on your Disney trip? Bring Disney to you with a fun monthly box filled with Disney surprises. Use the code: STYLEHERSTRONG10 to get $10 off your first purchase.
- Little Passports: a personalized activity kit that comes monthly! We have done the pirate and dino ones! They are amazing and teach kids so much about history, science, art and fun facts on the “monthly theme.
- Literati: Get new books monthly with this fun subscription box!
Keep a Schedule:
My one last piece of advice is spend time over the weekend creating a schedule that works well for your family and stick to it. I notice a huge difference in Lilly’s behavior on days she is scheduled and days she is not. Keeping some structure in your life will make things so much easier when school does start back up again, and your kids will be so much happier during their downtime.
Stay safe and healthy!
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