Survival During the Pandemic
Let’s face it, we are living in extraordinary times! It is hard to keep little minds and fingers busy when we cannot leave our homes. During the quarantine it is helpful to have a few activities that will break up the monotony especially when kids cannot play directly with their friends. Depending on your child’s or children’s age this can be challenging. Limiting time on screens right now is especially difficult but remember that there are other media available. Our children may be finding it difficult to keep themselves entertained but we need not feel overly burdened to fill this gap for our children. There is something to be said about being bored! It allows for the brain to process information more completely. Down time like this is excellent for brain development. Boredom is good for the brain and during the quarantine we have plenty of time to take advantage of being bored together. Benefits of boredom is that it encourages imagination and grit, according to Why boredom is good for your child. This website also had some other activities that encourage independence and imagination for developing minds.
Moreover, now that spring is here, children can explore outdoors in ways that cannot be accomplished in the winter. Such as pulling out a blanket and looking at clouds. Ask your child to look for shapes in the sky. By observing the different types of clouds, we see can foster an understanding of weather patterns as well as fostering imagination. This lazy day activity can last from only a few minutes to an afternoon event depending on the child. It may even lead to an afternoon nap! Nothing wrong with that! Prior to the quarantine we were all living life at such a rushed pace many of us have been sleep deprived. Developing brains need plenty of rest. Following the outdoor activity, children can draw pictures of the clouds they saw, and older children can write down some observations. This can be expanded into a nature journal and used for various things observed in creation developing a scientific approach to nature walks.
Another Scientific activity to do with children is fill an empty peanut butter jar with dirt and some carrot peelings. Gather some earth worms from the yard and place in the jar. Cover the jar with a lid that has air holes and cover the jar with dark paper so light does not touch the dirt. Earth worms will burrow through the dirt and leave a tunnel trail that kids can track. They can also see how the peelings move in the jar. After a few weeks empty the jar and see how many worms you now have in the jar. This is a fun science project that can last up until a month. Depending on the child’s age, they can keep a field study or science lab of the growth and development of worms. When you’ve completed the activity, simply release the worms in your garden. If your child enjoys this activity, you can purchase butterfly, ladybug, and other beneficial insects to observe.
Quiet time activities can be super helpful as well. Children can create art sculptures using household items such as toilet paper and paper towel cardboard rolls with glue and cardboard scraps. Making salt dough along with children and later shaping it into various sculpture that can either be dried out and painted or stored for future play is also a wonderful way to express creativity. The best part is that these activities do not necessarily need adult supervision (depending on the age and maturity of the child/ren).
Each age and stage of children present their own specific challenges. Young kids often need lots of adult supervision while older children are more difficult to engage. Uncle Rocky, of the popular children’s book, Uncle Rocky Fireman books provided various free downloads for children well into teen years. Also offered on the website is various books about Fire fighters.
While living during this time, under the cloud of COVID-19, it is important to have various kinds of activities to employ our children. But do not feel it is your responsibility to engage children all day. As stated above, it is important for children to learn how to entertain themselves.
Moreover, you cannot impart what you, yourself do not possess. To build up your faith and strengthen your walk with God, she out Mom Strong International. Here you can connect with other moms around the world and from various walks of life. To help build your faith, download the free monthly Scripture writing challenge. You can do this along with your child as there is a free manuscript copy work for children to practice their penmanship. For a paid membership, you can download cursive copy work and be a part of the monthly Bible Study at MomStrong International. Resting in God's Word is important for us as well. This is the most important self-care you can take for yourself at this time.
"We ought always to give thanks to God for you, brethren, as is only fitting, because your faith is greatly enlarged, and the love of each one of you toward one another grows ever greater:" (1 Thessalonians 1:3 NASV).
