Keeping the kids occupied in isolation

In these COVID times random bouts of isolation are becoming more and more common, but that doesn’t make it any easier. So if you’re stuck at home with the kids we’ve put together a few ideas of how you can keep them occupied and entertained.

Yeah yeah I know, it’s not that easy when you’re stuck at home. Not everyone has the luxury of a back yard, but keeping active is important for both our physical and mental health. If you don’t have a lot of space it’s time to get creative.

• Make an obstacle course inside. Crawl under the clothes horse, leapfrog from cushion to cushion then roll across the bed.
• Dance party! A quick search of the streaming services will bring up hundreds of different kids play lists, full of both music and fun games. Whether stomping like an elephant, playing stand up/sit down or just dancing around, it’s a great may to burn of energy.
• Try some kid’s yoga. There are thousands of free YouTube videos, my two rug rats are particularly fond of the Cosmic Kids channel. It’s a great way to both keep active but calm things down.

Games and Activities

Duh. But what do you do when your kid doesn’t want to play Snakes and Ladders for the 10^th time (or more likely Mum & Dad’s brains can’t handle it)? Time to mix things up.

• Try a scavenger hunt. Make a list of random objects, or an objective like who can find the most red things.
• Similarly, why not set up a treasure hunt with clues for them to solve. Get the searching from one end of the house to the other.
• Colouring and drawing are always a favourite. Let their imaginations run wild, and then get them to make up a story about what they’ve drawn. If you need something to colour a quick Google search of “free colouring sheets” will give you thousands of printable images for every interest imaginable.
• Activity sheets. Oh boy is Google your friend. It’s not just colouring but a whole range of activity sheets available. Counting, word searches, dot to dots and so much more. Or take it one step further and get the kids to make their own! Get them to do dots for you to trace around and vice versa.
• Crafts, crafts and crafts. So many crafts. Carboard tubes, empty boxes, old margarine tubs, slap googly eyes on them all! But seriously, your kids will love seeing their creations come to life, and from there will make up more games to play. Cut a slot in an empty box, paint it up and now it’s a mail box to play postie with. Old cardboard tubes become swords for heroic knights. The possibilities are endless.
• Hand in hand with crafts are experiments. My girls love these and it’s great to see their brains starting to ask questions about how things work. There are so many different things you can try with household items: colour mixing, baking soda volcanos, growing crystals. Again, Google and YouTube are bottomless wells of ideas.
• Reading is always great for some down time. If your kids are complaining about having read them all before why not look up your local library. Some libraries are offering ‘book bags’, a random collection of kids books to help give some variety. Depending on your library some will even deliver them to your door, otherwise you might need a friend to pick them up and drop them off.

Parenting can be a tough gig, even more in iso, so give yourself a break and just take it one day at a time. Hopefully these ideas help make your stint a bit easier.