How To Keep Kids Entertained While You Work From Home.
Life under quarantine may be draining, boring and most importantly monotonous especially for children, who are in constant need for ‘fun’. It could be a difficult task for parents to keep the children motivated, active and stimulated while also working from home.
How to keep kids entertained while you work from home?
The first thing parents or guardians could do is design fun activities for kids that would keep them engaged with their surroundings and also learn something in the process.
Indoor activities could include solving puzzle boards, playing board games such as Taboo, Pictionary, or guess who and teaching them a new game such as chess, scrabble or sequence etc. Parents could also design their own version of a game such as treasure hunt in their own backyard, setting prizes for completing chores for example choice of movie will be decided by the first child who cleans their room and does laundry, hosting a fun karaoke night within the house and creating more interactive, friendly competitions and activities to keep the children on their toes while you work from home.
Cooking with children and involving them in the kitchen is also a great fun indoor activity that parents and kids could enjoy together. However, it is important to keep all sharp utensils and flammable objects away from the kids. Baking cookies, brownies, rice krispies treats, pizza etc. are some of the easy to make food items that a family can cook/bake together.
Indoor activities for toddlers (age 1-3) can be even more fun, since at this age the child is extremely curious and full of energy. Hence, parents could create fun activities for kids such as water painting on cardboard, building towers and buildings with blocks, learning about different animals and where they live through pictures, solving simple colorful puzzles, playing with playdoh and hosting a tea party with toys. These are some of the indoor fun activities that parents could design for their kids while staying busy with work at home. You can even get a bamboo hooded towel to make bath time fun for your child.
Outdoor activities can be limited since due to the spread of COVID-19 it’s not safe to go in crowded places and interact with people, however some alternatives to places like water parks, zoos and amusement parks can always be arranged. An outdoor pool in the garden could be set up which could be a great summer activity as well. The pool can be filled with water and ball pits to make it more fun for kids. Setting trampolines or building a treehouse could also be a great family activity, the kids could help out their parents with the making and designing of these projects while also learning about the tools and how to construct such things.
Outdoor activities could also include setting a camp for kids and creating a bonfire for kids to interact more with nature and learn about camping while staying safe. Going for walks, playing catch with a pet and playing sports such as football, basketball, soccer are some of the simplest outdoor activities that kids could do without constant parental supervision. Moreover, there are also artificial intelligence (AI) toys available that can keep your kids entertained without parental supervision.
All the above activities are examples of how kids could be entertained while you work from home, even if it’s on a rainy day, during summer holidays or in this case under quarantine.
To find more interesting activities to do with your kids. Head over to the Toronto New Mom blog.