What are you doing with your kids during the Coronavirus shut down!

Tink_83

DIS Veteran
Joined
Mar 29, 2017
I’m looking for ideas to keep them occupied. I work full time and am authorized to telework during the shutdown so I’ll be home with them but I have a first grader and a 2 year old. They normally have school / activities during the day and I’ll still have to do work so I can’t keep them entertained all day. Looking for ideas if anyone else is in the same boat.
 
Well I am a teacher and apparently it doesnt matter if we are sick.... kids are out of school but we still have to go....so my 5 and 8 year old will be at the school with me doing who knows what... :sad2:
 
I guess the same thing that they do during the summer. I assume that they have toys and the TV. Maybe get a few easy arts and crafts. My kids usually entertained themselves. My oldest could spend hours playing with her wooden train set. She would make the tracks and then take them apart and re-do them over and over. My youngest liked coloring books and arts and crafts. The 2 yo will be harder, but the 6 yo should be able to entertain herself. Sending them outside to run out their energy every few hours will help. Contrary to popular belief, stay at home moms do not spend the whole day playing with their kids either.
 
We have some activities from our school district that I am going to have her do and I ordered a few arts and crafts kits for her to do from Amazon, along with a few activity workbooks. I plan on taking it day by day for now since I am also at home for the closure as a teacher but I don't what is going to happen should the closure extend beyond the original time set (I may have to teach my students remotely, somehow). I also plan on sending her outside to our backyard to play and taking walks (in our neighborhood) to burn energy. I'll probably let her use a device for educational and less educational interests, too.
 
We have a 6 y.o. and are doing work books, flash cards and some on-line programs. The school is supposed to be sending home packets next week. We're also going to do some simple science experiments. The first one I have planned is to get four small flower pots, potting soil, plant food and seeds. One pot will have soil, seeds & light, another soil, seeds, plant food, light, another soil and seeds, but left in a darker area (I'm thinking the basement) and the last with soil, seeds, plant food and dark and see how they grow.
 
We have a 5, 8, and 11 year old and we are doing distance learning with work assigned by their teachers every day, so that is taking up a good chunk of the day.

Beyond that regular activities (Legos, coloring, puzzles). And yes, screen time

Trying to get out of the house when we can even if just for walks (I need a break from work every now and then too). Having them help with cooking when they are interested
 
Other than homeschooling - DD14 does her own thing - she basically has her same school schedule from home starting at
8am

DS9 has a lot of work !

They both finish at around 3pm

We spend most of the time playing Uno and Go Fish
Movies - finally got around to watching "Spies in Disguise"
DVD - WAS HILARIOUS!
Playing a lot of Animal Crossing !

And- Oh yeah - eating a ton !!
 


I’m looking for ideas to keep them occupied. I work full time and am authorized to telework during the shutdown so I’ll be home with them but I have a first grader and a 2 year old. They normally have school / activities during the day and I’ll still have to do work so I can’t keep them entertained all day. Looking for ideas if anyone else is in the same boat.

My own student is older, but I'm used to working with younger kids. For now:

If you can structure your work day any way you like, try to rearrange your tasks to do a few items before they get up in the morning, after they go to bed, or while the 2-year-old is napping. It's probably a lot easier to have them "help" with housework than with your job!

When you do have to do virtual meetings and stuff:
  • Have them play school, with the 6-year-old as the "teacher" for the 2-year-old. (Bonus: It's a great way for the 1st grader to practice reading!) If you trust her with tech, let her use the Homeschool Pop YouTube channel, too. (My 4-year-old niece and nephew love the US state videos!)
  • Suggest easy games they can play together, like Simon Says, Mother May I, Hide the Thimble (substitute a small toy), etc.
  • Arts and Crafts - coloring, making cards for far-away relatives, craft kits for the 6-year-old when the little one naps.
  • Exercise - Follow the Leader, Limbo, Freeze Dance (If you have Alexa, "she" does this, but it's called "Freeze Dancers"), kids' exercise videos on YouTube.
  • Traditional Toys - Dig out the blocks, dolls, etc. It's amazing how long kids will sometimes play when they aren't told it's time to move on to the next thing!
  • Build them a fort! - Sofa cushion, chairs and bedspreads, whatever you can use.
  • And it is definitely OK to allow a few more movies than usual on TV!

For more ideas later:
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https://www.amazon.com/Keep-Your-Macmillan-Lifestyles-Guide/dp/0028630130
 
It's been rough. I'm a single foster parent of a K and 3 yr old. The K has some catching up to do with school so I'm trying to work from home and catch her up. She's been doing a lot of her school's math game and we also got ABC mouse. We've been doing "science" by watching the Cincinnati zoo videos. I also am spreading out my work hours over 7 days since it's not like we can go anywhere on the weekend so that I can get to spending time with them a little earlier each day. Oh and Josh Gad reading stories on twitter. The kids love him and his funny voices.

It's been rough and now they announced that the school will be doing mandatory e-learning starting monday, which is a great idea, but she is so far behind she will need someone to sit with her to help her. Plus she's in kindergarten so I imagine she will need a lot of guidance, which I won't have time to provide, so it's going to get interesting.
 
I don't have to factor in working but I have four kids 2, 4, 7 and 10. We spend like 3 hrs doing schoolwork each day. I aim to send them outside for an hour each day. I put on music and let them dance. And they get screen time at the end of the day when everyone is kind of just done with everything. Oh and my older kids have chore time. While I am working with my older kids my two year old is very challenging. I have had success with ay dough (although clean up afterwards is about as long), putting pom poms in a wisk and sensory bags putting materials into a bag and duct taping it shut. He likes to eat things he shouldn't eat and throw stuff at us so lots of fun....
 
Bought Monopoly for the Nintendo Switch - my lil ones, 14 and 10, have never played the board game - we grew up on it -
They absolutely love it ! The gameplay is easy and the graphics are amazing !
 
There is a very lovely series on BBCiplayer called Malory Towers. It is based on the Enid Blyton books of the same name and is a Canadian-British collaboration. Good wholesome story lines suitable for probably 6/7 year olds and older.
 
Starting Monday school is going to all e-learning. This should be interesting. I'm working from home and DH is taking care of the 13 month old. What I find interesting is that the school isn't providing/offering tablets/laptops. What if you're a family that doesn't have those devices/internet? We live in a rural area with many people who only make minimum wage, and some areas don't have great internet access.
 
Our schools provided full curriculum while our kids have been distance learning so from 9am until about 2:30pm they have been busy with schooling, zoom class calls, worksheets centers etc. We got mailed a giant box of workbooks, centers, crafts supplies etc. So its been going really well. I love our school.

Anyway, in the downtime that they have they've been playing with building toys and disney figures, reading books, playing outside in our yard and we've been building garden boxes outside and started a huge vegetable garden. We also made two composts in our backyard that theyve had fun helping with and learning about. They dont watch tons of television but sometimes they will watch a movie.
 
Kids have a schedule that we’ve made for their homeschooling. DS10 has about 30 minutes of work and then five minutes of an exercise which works well for him. DD12 has longer work. With occasional breaks. Both are finished somewhere between 230 and three. We have also offered them the different free drawing online courses, Khan Academy and things like the Cincinnati zoo live Safari. We’ve also incorporated dinner theme nights and they are excited to help. Last week was Hawaiian with teriyaki chicken pineapple skewers, fried rice and Asian chopped salad and last night was fancy night. We also have made signs for a home theater (by our big tv) and I picked up some candy and microwave popcorn for the concession stand that the kids man.
 

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