5 Ways to Keep Your Kids Busy During Quarantine

As weeks of quarantine go by, many questions pop-up into our heads. There’s one in particular that we know every single mother or father has thought about during the coronavirus outbreak.

“What do kids do all day when they’re at school?!”

If you’ve run out of activities to entertain your kids -- trust us -- you’re not alone and we can help with some great ideas. Read on as we go through five simple, yet effective ways of keeping your children busy during quarantine!

1. Make Sure They Follow Their School Routine

Your child is used to following a certain routine during their school days and maintaining it is a great way to keep them busy during the quarantine.

If your kid’s school is doing online classes, most of the routine will already be planned out. Make sure that your child has a tidy, distraction-free spot to attend their classes.

If your kid isn’t attending online classes, or you’re homeschooling them instead, remember to:

  • Wake them up and give them breakfast at the consistent time of the morning.
  • Allow them to have breaks -- but at a consistent time of day.
  • Avoid overwhelming them with too much work at once -- try to space it out during the day.
  • Be there to help them when needed.
  • Get familiar with the topics your child needs to know.

Creating a school routine will be beneficial for yourself as well, as it will allow you to plan out your working hours more efficiently. Plus, it will give all of you some structure in a time when losing track of time and giving in to procrastination is so easy.

2. Go Outdoors (But Be Careful)

Yes, we should all be at home. However, going outdoors can make these stressful time a lot easier to deal with, no matter if you’re a child or an adult.

So, how can you do so while ensuring everyone’s safety?

If you have a backyard, it’s easy. There are plenty of activities you can do with your kids that will keep you all entertained while you get some much-needed vitamin D.

Just to name a few:

  • Gardening. Let your kid choose some seeds and start your own veggie garden. You’ll all be really excited when you start seeing the vegetables grow and you’ll have free, organic food to use for your meals. Way to kill two birds with one stone!
  • Camping. If you have a tent and some sleeping bags, why not sleep outside in the backyard? You can have a unique family night and pretend you’re anywhere in the world. Traveling, coronavirus style!
  • Playing sports. If the isolation has gotten your kids feeling a bit down, there’s nothing like exercising to release some endorphins.

Your child can still enjoy the outdoors, even if you don’t have a backyard - you just need to be extra careful. Go on walks or bike rides around the neighborhood and, most importantly, avoid playgrounds and playdates.

3. Take Virtual Tours

Right now, you can’t go on traditional family adventures. So the second-best thing is to go on the virtual tours, that countless attractions around the world, have made available during the outbreak.

Finding the perfect one is a matter of doing some research, but here are four tours every kid would love:

4. Have Friendly Family Competitions

A little competition never hurt anyone, did it?

You can have some occasional activities with the kids or go full out and organize the Quarantine Olympics of 2020. Keep scores and choose a grand prize for the winner. A few activities you should definitely include are:

  • Board and trivia games, that are suitable for your child’s age.
  • Art projects. You can show the final products on Zoom to your family members and have them choose the winner.
  • Toilet paper dodgeball. A new game that many families are loving during the coronavirus quarantine.

5. Cook With Your Kids

There are many tasks in the kitchen that your children can help you with like: getting the ingredients from the fridge or pantry, measuring and pouring them, or even chopping them; if you have a kid-friendly knife.

This is a great opportunity to teach your child some basic cooking and nutritional skills -- letting them know what makes a healthy, balanced meal.

If your child is old enough, it can also be fun to reverse the roles: they’re the main chef and you’re their helper. Not only is this a great way of improving their leadership skills, but it’ll relieve you of some of the million tasks you probably have on your hands right now!

Thriving During the Coronavirus Outbreak - Family Style

We’re all stuck at home and we’re all going through a bit of a rough patch - toddlers and children included!

However, as you can see, there are many things you can do during this quarantine!. Things that will keep everyone busy, that will allow you to create some unique family memories and even that will teach your kids some useful skills.

Stay positive and be safe!

If you are looking for some other great ways to kill time during this quarantine -- check out our Quarantine and Chill list!

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