Apr 24, 2020

4Wyndham Gordon • Apr 24, 2020

All-Ways Moving 

12 Things for children to do during lock down.

12 Things for children to do during lock down.

School’s out for, well we don’t know how long? 


The covid-19 pandemic has moved the classroom and the office online for the foreseeable future, meaning that there are a lot more hours in the day to fill when it comes to entertaining your kids. Keeping kids entertained during lock down is a tough order, but unlimited screen time is no way to spend this time at home (though if your kids are getting more screen time than normal they’re going to be just fine, so long as you strike a healthy balance).

With many park’s, shops, and community groups closed across the country, plus a hiatus on playdates, it’s definitely a tough time to be a parent. Fortunately, there are lots of creative things you can do when it comes to keeping kids busy during lock down that don’t require leaving your home. Check out 12 of my favourites and think outside of the box when it comes to keeping your little ones (and yourself) occupied until social distancing requirements are lifted.

1. DIY Board Games
Give your kids a poster board, some markers, and some construction paper, and ask them to design their own board game that you can play as a family later in the day. If they need some inspiration, assign a theme—such as outer space or their own take on Candy Land. This fun activity does double duty as a learning experience, since it requires the use of critical thinking to create a cohesive game with a beginning and an end. Once it’s done, make it the star of a family game night and test your skills to see who comes out on top.

2. Family Book Club
Have each of your kids pick out a book and come up with five discussion questions about it. Then have everyone read it and come together for a kid-led book club. If your child is too young to read on their own, read a book out loud to them and then work together on coming up with a few questions. This is a good opportunity to encourage more reading during lock down, and gives kids a chance to play teacher with you as the student.

3. Plant a Garden
Planting a garden is one of those things that it can be difficult to find the time for in everyday life. But with the coronavirus putting a halt to busy schedules, there’s no better time to finally tackle your gardening project. Choose whether you’re going to plant vegetables, herbs, or flowers (or all three!) and let your kids pick out the specific plants you’re going to put in. Order your seeds and supplies online and then spend a sunny day getting your garden all set up. Your kids will enjoy digging around in the mud, and you’ll all get a ton of enjoyment out of tending to your garden and seeing it come to life.

4. Mystery Film Nights
Put the mystery in film night by having everyone in your household pick out three to ten family-friendly films that you’ll be able to stream. (You may need to supply your kids with a list of options to choose from.) Then write each movie on a small strip of paper, fold the strips up, and place them in a jar. A couple of times a week, take turns reaching into the jar and selecting a movie to watch. You won’t have to worry about fighting over the pick since everyone has agreed ahead of time to watch whatever movie gets chosen, meaning you can queue up the film, get your popcorn popped, and curl up for a cozy and calm evening.

5. Cardboard City Planning
All those home deliveries mean you’ve probably got lots of cardboard on your hands. Making sure to follow proper sanitization protocols before providing them to your kids (i.e. keeping any cardboard in quarantine itself for at least 24 hours before bringing it inside your home), hold on to any boxes you get for a fun city planning project, including cereal boxes and other food packaging. Once you’ve stocked up, task your kids with designing their own city, using cardboard, scissors, markers, and whatever other arts and crafts supplies you’ve got on hand to design buildings, buses, and all the other things you’d find in a bustling metropolis. Not only is this a great project for killing a whole day, once it’s done your kids can use it as a backdrop for toy car racing, action figure fighting, and whatever else their imagination can come up with.

6. Host a Snack Competition
Food projects are a no-brainer when it comes to keeping kids entertained during quarantined. To mix it up, try this snack cooking competition—no stove or oven required! Taking a cue from the fan-favorite Food Network show Chopped, create a mystery basket of ingredients—one per kid—and give a set amount of time for each “contestant” to create their own showstopping snack. Easy ingredients to use that inspire creativity include spreads like nut butter or chocolate-hazelnut butter, dry cereal, and something special that your kids don’t get all the time, like mini marshmallows or chocolate chips.

7. Show and Tell
Show and tell doesn’t have to be relegated to the classroom. Have each member in your family go into their rooms and select up to five items that they want to share and talk about. If you want to tack on some time and give your show and tell some structure, provide some guidelines for the items that are chosen, such as an item that you’d bring on a deserted island with you or an item that helps you relax. When you reconvene, give everyone a chance to show off their items and talk about why they decided to choose it.

8. Go Camping in the Backyard
How about an at-home vacation for keeping kids entertained during quarantine? Set up a tent in the backyard and have a full-fledged camping experience without ever leaving your home. hotdogs for dinner, tell stories by flashlight, and curl up in sleeping bags to watch the stars. Even if you still go to sleep in your own beds for the night it’s a whimsical break from your normal routine, and you can keep your kids busy during the day by asking them to plan out some fun camping games and activities for the evening ahead.

9. Play “Eye Spy” on a Walk
Fortunately, keeping kids entertained during quarantined does not have to mean never leaving your own property. Walks are still allowed, and even encouraged, so long as you maintain at least six feet of distance between yourself and those outside of your household. Make it extra kid-friendly by putting together a list of items ahead of time that your kids have to look for while you walk—such as a piece of sidewalk chart art, a squirrel, a bicycle, a person walking their dog, and so on. Cross each item off the list as you find it, and stretch out your walk time by trying to find every single item that’s on there.

10. Take a Virtual Tour
Places like museums, zoos, and theme parks are closed to public use, but many of them have expanded their digital offerings to include virtual tours that allow you to explore their space right from the computer. From the Louvre in Paris to the Shedd Aquarium in Chicago, your kids can get an inside look at some of the most interesting places in the world, with lots of opportunities for discovering new things. They can even visit the surface of Mars!

11. Write to Pen Pals
If your friends or coworkers have kids of a similar age, ask if they’d be interested in starting a pen pal group. Opt for handwritten letters instead of emails to make it more of a novel experience—your kids will love receiving letters in the post.

12. Make an Obstacle Course
There are so many ways to create your own obstacle course for keeping kids entertained during quarantine. Build one inside with chairs and pillows, or break out the chalk and design one on the driveway with areas where your kids have to hop like a frog or walk on their tiptoes. Make it as crazy as you like, and let your kids help you put it together (you can even have them design it all on their own). There are limitless options for obstacles, and your kids will have fun testing their skills.

TV and iPads are great, but when it comes to keeping kids entertained during lockdown, thinking outside of the box is one of the best ways to ensure everyone is having fun and staying active. Try out the ideas above, making tweaks where needed to accommodate kids of certain ages or with unique interests. Use this time to bond as a family and learn some new things, and who knows, your kids might ask to keep the fun going even after lock down has been lifted!

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