I don’t want to belittle the virus in any way, but I felt more fear over school being closed for a month then I have about the virus. That seems so silly to admit, but we thrive when we have a schedule, we are in a good routine, homeschooling sounds terrifying, and I refuse to let them turn their brains to mush on electronics. I just wrote THIS post about throwing all their devices in the Pacific Ocean. I decided to sit down and make a game plan that I’m sharing as I go.
I would strongly suggest you set your boundaries early on with the device time and usage. THIS is a great article.
I’m a planner so I needed a plan for the next few weeks. Like my menu planning, I’m going to take it a few days at a time instead of trying to plan a whole week. Bite off what you can chew. I 100% believe that kids should be able to entertain themselves, but I don’t mind planting ideas for their creativity to grow.
CREATIVE WRITING
My Annabelle loves to write. She’s 12 pages deep in a mystery she is authoring. She’s only 10 years old and while I’m biased, it’s quite good. We will set aside time for her to continue her writing as she feels led.
A teacher friend of mine suggested I give the kids a theme for the day and have them write a creative story. When they announce to me that they are bored, I’m ready to point them toward creative outlets.
Here are a few writing topic ideas and 300 more:
- If you had $1,000 what would you buy and how would that day play out?
- What do you want to be when you grow up?
- Write about an adventure in our house that you might have if you were only 1 inch tall.
- Pretend you are our cat, Smokey. Write about what a whole day as a cat would be like.
- Write about one of your most memorable and favorite days in your life so far.
- What would you plan for dinner for the next 4 days? (see if you can get your kids to do some menu planning for you!) 🙂
Another avenue for creative writing is to have your kids write a letter to their cousins or a friend from school they are missing.
My kids have also done some creative podcasts (with voice memo on my phone) where they improv songs and scenes from school. Let me tell you that those audio clips are treasures to me. It’s a lot of silliness, but I love it. I think it’s somewhat popular in iTunes and on YouTube to do these improv musicals.
CHORES
You are not the maid or the household servant. While it may take more time to have the kids help with the housekeeping, you are setting them up for future success if they are good workers. I can’t function when the house is turned upside-down. I don’t mind toys out if they are playing with them, but it has to be within reason. Depending on their ages, they can tackle some of these tasks in addition to cleaning up after themselves:
- Make their bed
- Put their dishes in the sink
- Sweep the floor
- Lysol wipe all the doorknobs and light switches
- Fold and/or put away their laundry (I let our kids watch their favorite TV show while they do laundry, but they have to be done when the episode ends.)
- Clean out closets one day and toy boxes another
SMALL CHANGES CAN SPARK FUN
Sometimes little changes can lead to excitement and fun. For instance, we know we have a week of rain coming. We live in a very small house. We decided to park the cars outside and use our garage as another room this week. The ping pong table is set up and waiting for them to discover.
Pull out toys they haven’t seen in a while. It’s a good time to access what toys are ready to be passed along too. Use your extra time to clean out the toy bins!
We will have a night that they can sleep in the tent that we will set up inside. We also let them have “sleepovers” where they pick one room to all sleep in together. I want these next few weeks to hold lots of memories that we wouldn’t have gotten to make otherwise.
My kids love to help with the cooking. While I am concerned about hibernating at home and getting chubby, we will do some baking. We’ve made pies together in the past and it’s quite fun. Charlie came home with a cookie recipe he wants to try. Plan a few days of kitchen fun.
SET UP STATION ROTATIONS
THIS is a post for summer that I wrote 5 years ago, but it can be adapted. I work from home about 15 hours a week and I found a way to free up about 2 hours in the afternoon so I can get my work done. Station Rotations are where you pick 4 places in your house and create a 30 minute station. Get where this is going? 4 stations equals 2 hours. This is where I will allow the device time. Here are a few ideas to get you started.
- iPad station
- reading station
- TV station
- chore station (sweeping, put clothes away, clean rooms, etc.)
- play doh station
- alternate stations depending on the day (piano, outside, shoot hoops, coloring/painting, play quietly in room)
The video below was created during a Station Rotation and I love those sweet faces acting out their favorite scene from Guardians of the Galaxy. How did 5 years pass so quickly?
RESOURCES
There are so many educational tools that have been made available for free during the next month. While I’m somewhat overwhelmed by this list, please check it out: http://www.amazingeducationalresources.com/
I have plans for my Charlie to try out Fluency and Fitness. It’s math and reading mixed in with fitness moves. Brilliant!
Don’t forget about yourself! I’m a big fan of the Tone It Up app. I’m going to be losing my gym routine, but I will work out at home. Most workouts are around 20 minutes. You can try the app for free for 7 days. It’s a super cool community I’ve been a part of for a few years.
USE THIS GIFT OF TIME WISELY
Last thought for today. Our own device time can be the new “second hand” smoke. We’ve been given a unique gift of TIME during this coronavirus isolation. Every year I complain that our Spring is so insanely busy. Now I’m faced with a Spring where everything is cancelled. No church, school, sports, piano lessons….we quite suddenly have all the time in the world. I want to use our time well and avoid idleness. I don’t want to have my nose in my phone either. I’ve had to give myself a pep talk or two, but I want to make beautiful memories in this unexpected time we find ourselves in. I’m hopeful the rain showers we have coming will pass quickly so we can get outside too!
I trust that God is in control and He has a purpose and plan. We should be wise, wash our hands, and keep one another in mind with our germ sharing…and trust in the Lord when we are afraid. Ps. 56:3.
