Even with a vaccine making its way around the globe, the COVID-19 pandemic seems to be heavily on the rise throughout. Stay-at-home orders are still a large part of our society right now and this can be especially difficult for children. 

Instead of binge-watching TV or playing games, children need to find ways to be more interactive and entertained during these hardened times.  Finding ways to keep them occupied can be a daunting task for parents, and you want to find things that can help draw on your child’s interests and abilities so that they enjoy them, and do something other than becoming couch potatoes. Limiting screen time is incredibly difficult right now so there are some great tips for keeping kids busy right now.

ONLINE EXTRACURRICULAR LESSONS

Since schooling has been moved online, many extracurriculars and activities have also moved to that same platform. Private teachers and coaches are finding more ways to engage students in the virtual setting, and even though having sports online isn’t something that is easily maneuvered, there are plenty of other activities you can enroll your child in online to keep their hands (and minds) occupied: 

• Online piano lessons with Music To Your Home is a wonderful way for children to work on their musical talents. The piano is a great beginner instrument for young children but can also be beneficial for students who are older. There are plenty of other online music lessons, so if your child isn’t interested in piano you could try guitar, or voice, or any number of other musical ventures. Music also has a long-standing, positive effect on helping children in their development so this can help with their education as well as keeping them entertained.

• Online art classes or craft masterclasses for kids are another of the available resources that you can utilize if you have a child that is more artistic and creative. Even simple online classes for fun such as origami-making, knitting, or crocheting are great options - especially if you’re worried about a mess being made with painting!

• Dance studios are also in the business of offering online courses now, so this is yet another option. The trick here is to make sure that wherever your children take these classes, that they are in a place where they have some freedom to move. 
  

OUTSIDE ACTIVITIES

If and when the weather allows, getting your children outside is important for their health. Even though the orders say to “stay-at-home”, getting fresh air and being in sunshine is a great mood booster, so you should set aside some time each day in your children’s routines to make them get outdoors. You can do some simple activities together outside like taking a walk, exploring the woods and/or parks in the area, or playing some outside games like soccer, catch, or tag. If you live somewhere that it snows, go outside and go sledding or make a snowman as long as it isn’t too cold to be outside. Getting out of the house is important more than ever if nothing more than a change of scenery. 

CLEANING IS AN ACTIVITY

Believe it or not, cleaning is an activity, and it can help to teach children responsibility and care. Take some time with young children to demonstrate to them how to clean up something specific, and then set aside time each day to create a new routine of the activity. The chores can be simplistic in nature, such as cleaning up toys or games and putting them away appropriately, or wiping down surfaces. Older children can make it more enjoyable to wash dishes, do laundry, and clean floors by playing some music that they like and introducing you to some of their favorite songs or artists. 

GAME TIME

Game nights had become a thing of the past until now. Instead of parking in front of the television after dinner, make that the new “game time” for the family to play a new board game together. Younger children can learn to play simple matching or counting games, and you can quiz older children in trivia. If you’re stumped on more specific game ideas here are some suggestions that you can try:

• Together Moments - this is a “conversation starter” type card game to get your children talking, with the goal of keeping communications going throughout the family system. 

• Various card games for kids with just a deck (or two or three) of cards are a great way to use just one thing and have many uses, and the possibilities of what you can do with them are endless! You might even be so innovative and creative to challenge your children to make their own games with cards.

• And along with cards, board games are another great way to encourage game night. Depending on the ages of your kids you could be playing a few rounds of Hungry Hungry Hippo, working on The Game of Life, or having a full-on Family Feud. 

ARTS AND CRAFTS ACTIVITIES

If you have children that are geared towards creating, having an Arts and Crafts time can be a fun and educational activity.  There are tons of various YouTube videos and tutorials on “How To Make____” out there on many things like towers of Legos, how to make your own musical instruments, and more - you can really draw on your children’s abilities and interests by having them create, paint or draw something that they will really like. Some suggestions for fun crafting and art activities that you can give children:

• Finger painting: be sure to use washable paints, and/or keep kids’ clothes to a minimum. Give them a big canvas to work with to go nuts!

• Sand art: There are multiple ways to create and make collectibles out of various colors of sand, such as this Sand Activity Kit from Fat Brain Toys. Your kids will not only make cool art but also learn all about Costa Rica in the process.

•  KiwiCo: This is a great service for kids, you can subscribe and get kits delivered with various activities and crafts for children to make, such as geometric candles, paper bowls, and even printing their very own graphic on a backpack. Perfect for parents who aren’t that creative on the fly!

The most important aspect of all of these ideas that will help keep your children engaged is to make sure you do this one thing first: schedule the time. Your children are at home, and they need to practice having less screen time and becoming more involved with other activities, but unless you plan and set aside the time to make it happen, there’s a possibility you can fall back into mundane activities that include television, video games, or tablets and phones. 

Make sure you actively set the times aside for your kids to know each and every day, so that they have those expectations laid out for them and are more likely to make it a habit in the long term. You could even make an activity out of it, and make a large activities chart to follow together and get it started. 

**Be sure to list the activities you have found in the comments for even more fun suggestions!