Kid-Friendly Quarantine Activities
It has been proven to be a strange time for all of us. With workplaces and schools transitioning to mostly, or even fully-online, we find ourselves with a lot of free time. This free time may lead to chaos, for adults and children alike. To simmer down this chaos, it’s a good idea to create a schedule for each day. Laura E. McAleer-Leavey, M.D., a family medicine physician at Riverside Primary Care Kiln Creek, affirms, “The whole family can benefit from a predictable routine. Routine tells the brain what’s coming and helps children and adults mentally and physically prepare for the next event. It provides a sense of predictability that can reduce stress and anxiety.” A routine should include time for educational and physical activities and general time frames for meals, cleanup, personal hygiene, and rest.
You now may be asking, what activities are there available? As a childcare provider, I know that many fun places are closed due to the pandemic, but there are plenty of things that you can do in your home or around your neighborhood. For physical activity, you could go for a walk or bike ride in the neighborhood. Though it might be an obvious first choice, it seems to be a fun one, especially when walking down one of the streams, finding new rocks, or even doing a photoshoot! Another good physical activity is to go on a scavenger hunt, either indoors or outdoors. I remember when the pandemic first began, there were a couple of scavenger hunts going on. They seemed like fun!
Education-wise, there is a nice amount of resources online for fun educational activities. You could take a virtual field trip to regional and international zoos, museums, and aquariums, visit famous landmarks and exciting regions around the world through books and websites or learn about healthy eating and test out new recipes. For offline education, you can put together age-appropriate puzzles, solve word games such as Sudoku, hold a series of family game nights, create a family tree with photos, read a book series, or conduct simple scientific experiments.
Creativity is a must-have during this uncertain time. Some creative activities include making shapes and structures with modeling clay or Play-Doh, building with blocks and magnetic tiles, Creating a family fort with pillows, sheets, and boxes, learning to knit, crochet, or sew, or playing games that require acting like charades or improvisation.
I’ve compiled 400+ activities in one list, so you will never run out of ideas. I’ve opened editing to the public so that you can add your activities for kids! You can find the list at
http://bit.ly/QuarantineActivitiesForKids
I hope this list can keep you busy for a while. Stay safe, and see you next month :)
