10 ideas for keeping the kids entertained during lockdown

Between home-schooling and work, and generally making sure younger family members are occupied, there’s a lot for parents to juggle and think about right now.

If your children are of school age, they may be able to spend some of their time tuning into virtual lessons and doing their homework. But what happens when it’s the weekend or if your children aren’t at school yet?

Now that going to the park and children’s play venues are not available right now, the options are limited and very much home-based.

Have you got to the point where you’re starting to run out of things to do? These 10 ideas will hopefully help:

IDEA #1: Make invisible ink, do blind food tests or make your own butter

These are just three of the wacky and wonderful science experiments that are featured on the Mommy Poppins website. All in all, there’s a whopping 63 experiments to try, which should hopefully keep you and the rest of family occupied for a little while…

IDEA #2: Make a rainbow to hang in your window

If you haven’t already done this, it’s such as simple and positive task to do! It’s entirely up to you how you make your rainbow. You could paint it directly on to the window with washable paints or create a shape with painted handprints, use individual Post-It notes to create one big rainbow or paint a rainbow picture and stick it in your window. You could also knit or crochet a rainbow too.

IDEA #3: Build a back-garden den

As we get closer to summer, make the most of the better weather by heading outside and making a secret den in your garden. If you don’t have a garden, why not build an indoor den? The good thing is, it’s one of those kids’ activities that you can use anything you like – chairs, blankets, cushions, plants, fairy lights. This is just one of the ideas that’s been shared by Save the Children, take a look at the full list.

IDEA #4: Practice spellings with Sir Linkalot

The Sir Linaklot app is designed to make spelling, punctuation and grammar fun. The app usually costs £6.99 a month, but is free to use from now until June 12. To benefit from the free membership, simply sign up to the mailing list and you’ll be sent a free code. Practise away!

IDEA #5: Sit back and listen to a story (or two!)

Several children’s audiobooks, including David Walliams’ books, are available to listen to for free right now. Audiobook app, Audible, has also released hundreds of children’s stories for free, which are available to listen to for as long as schools remained closed.

IDEA #6: Tell a story with music (special education needs activity)

Make the story-telling experience more interactive and engaging by using sensory exploration and incorporating simple songs. One of the many ideas featured within the BBC’s Bitesize SEND toolkit.

You’ll also find lots of practical support about other areas, including how to support children’s reading at home and incorporate mindfulness into everyday life, as well as techniques for keeping children calm.

IDEA #7: Draw a Gregosaurus

In addition to free online stories, there are lots of free online drawing tutorials too. This includes #DrawWithRob, which is from the author and illustrator, Rob Biddulph, and features 13 tutorials. Learn to draw a sausage dog, Sonic the Hedgehog, a peacock, a monkey, and even, your own self-portrait.

IDEA #8: Paint pebbles

This is a popular activity that anyone can enjoy. It’s taken on a whole new positive edge with children painting stones with positive quotes and in colourful rainbows. You can either keep them or leave them somewhere and help brighten up somebody else’s day!

IDEA #9: Write a letter

It’s not something we tend do these days anymore but given the fact it’s difficult to see our friends and family at the moment, writing and receiving letters is a great way to keep in touch. If your children are too young to write a letter, why not get them to paint or draw a picture instead?

IDEA #10: Create a bug hut

As well as heading outdoors to create a den, you could also create a home for the many bugs that live out there too! Slugs, snails, spiders, ladybirds, they’re all out there for you to observe. If you’d like to have a go at creating a bug hut or hotel, check out these instructions from the RSPB.

Keeping the kids entertained can be challenging, but there are plenty of different things to do. Don’t forget, you can take these ideas and make them your own. We hope you enjoy doing some of these suggestions over the coming weeks.

In the meantime, for more on the help and advice that’s available through our #BrumTogether campaign, head over to this page – www.brumtogether.com.

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Author: admin