While Nurseries and Schools in the UAE are closed due to the Covid19, you might find yourself struggling keeping your kids busy at home. If you are a working Mom, you probably wonder what activities you can give them while they are away from school? How can they be busy without exposing them on too much screen time?
We collected few tips and tricks to make your tiny beings busy at home!
Plan Ahead
Create a Kids Calendar
The key to any successful block of time is having a schedule for it. The difference between our work schedules, tidily maintained in Outlook or Gmail, and the schedule of our kids is that our kids schedule is usually kept in the mind of Mom or Dad -- change this.
Get three pieces of big poster board and create a homemade calendar for the next 10 weeks with a ruler and a felt pen on the first two pages. Allow the blocks to be big enough so that your 6-year-old can draw in activities if he/she can not write them in yet. Let them work with you as you put things onto each day. On the third page, make a list of activities which are optional and can be fit in if you hear, "I'm bored." Then you can refer them to the list!
Every Week a Theme
Decide on a theme for each week. Then, base at least one meal and one activity or craft around that theme. This helps to fill in time slots in the schedule and makes summer fun easier for kids who will get into the themes even outside of the subscribed calendar activity and meal.
Some examples: A certain nationality or cuisine, colors or soccer (the meal could be from the country of your favourite team or else you have orange popsicles for dessert to represent oranges at half time).
Activities:
DIY/Craft Time
Get on the floor and play. Release the creativity in you and try to produce any arty stuff with the help of your tots. Make Vlog and record your experience. You can check out Amanda’s Instagram for amazing ideas of crafts and easy DIYs experience with your kids.
Have Messy Mixing Time
Set up a big tarp on the floor, and give your child some bowls and things from the kitchen they can mix together. Let them go wild. Your child will be so excited that they get to be messy indoors that they'll be willing to play without your constant attention.
Create a Scavenger Hunt.
You don't need to make a whole list—just say, “Find me something that starts with the letter B," and let them run around the house searching. To keep your kids motivated, you might reward them by letting them choose a dish for dinner once they've found 10 things.
Grow a Garden
Give your child a small plant to care for. Maybe they can grow an herb garden or a few flowers on the windowsill. Have them water their plant each day and when you need a few moments, ask them to check on it. They'll be immersed in their work.
Give Them Chores
This isn't a popular option, but can be good for them. If you're going to clean the kitchen, have your children clean their rooms. Not only will you get time to actually do your job, but your kids will learn that they have a role in keeping the house clean, too.
Baking Goodies
Kitchen is fun! Shop ahead of time for the ingredients for baking and let them loose to work on a kid-friendly baking or cooking project. Bake a simple cookie, cupcakes, cakes, etc. Let them beat the eggs, whisk the batter and customize their cakes. Get more baking ideas with your kids at BakingMad.
Take a Trip to Your Family Memory Lane
It is great for your kids to see your old photos or you family roots. “It lets children learn who they are and where they fit,” psychologist and author Judy Weiser. “They learn their genealogy and the the uniqueness of their own family and its story. When a child sees a family portrait with them included in the photograph they say to themselves: ‘These people have me as part of what they are, that’s why I belong here. This is where I come from.'”
Take your kids to your memory lane and tell the story of each of your photo memories. Plan ahead and make your photo book with Instorya and share them with your kids. You can also let them select the photos which you wanted to be printed and binded and let them be excited once their photo book delivered within 5-7 working days in the
UAE.
“My personal and clinical bias is there is something very powerful in touching your fingers to an actual print. Touching the photograph is the same thing as touching a book when you read it. There’s a lot of stimulation of the brain when you have that sensory experience.” - child psychologist Craig Steinberg.
Make the time you spend with your kids count. Being a parent is a special thing, but eventually it will expire. Eventually you will either go back to work or your kids will be all grown up. Be a kid again. Get on the floor and play. Go outside and run around silly. Put on some music and dance. When possible, try not to worry about the cooking and cleaning. Take a photo of each of their activity so you can look on back to it after some time. Preserve your memories with Instorya and share it to your little ones from time to time.