Families are experiencing some new challenges during this quarantine.

Here are some suggestions from a former stay at home mom

Try to create a schedule. Children are comforted by a routine. If they are developmentally able to contribute to the creation of a routine, please let them be involved.

It’s okay to have a relaxed schedule. Take advantage of the new normal to have more downtime.

Because teachers won’t be able to create very many hands-on activities during this time, try to find a way to bring the lessons they do send to life. If you can’t think of a way, reach out to your child’s teacher for suggestions.

You can bring a worksheet to life by making copies of it on cardstock and cutting the images out. Put magnets on the back. Take out a cookie sheet and create a game out of the workbook page.

If you don’t have art materials on hand, consider ordering some. Create an art center in a corner of your home where the kids can freely experiment and create.

Make homemade musical instruments. There are tons of resources online describing these types of projects. Many can be made from cardboard or other discarded items.

If your kids play instruments already, have jam sessions. This will help them unleash their creativity instead of just practicing the scales and tunes in their regular lesson. If you don’t play an instrument, you can still jam with them by clapping, whistling, making up lyrics or banging on pans and oatmeal containers (uh, I mean drums). Or try your hand at spoons! Go to https://youtu.be/X5e0TVUC_ko

Two of my favorite things to do with my kids was singing around the piano and then dancing to music. We had a little finch that would dance in her cage and sing with us!

One of my daughters loved gymnastics and one day she removed everything from her closet and was doing bar activities inside her closet! I’m not necessarily recommending that because it may not be safe! But I’m mentioning it because kids will come up with their own activities when given the opportunity.

Craft – Even if you don’t have much in the way of crafting material, think of using old clothing, old books, magazines, cereal boxes, discarded plastic lids and other recyclables. Search the web for “altered books.” These are fascinating. You’ll need glue, old books and something sharp to cut into the book. You can use so many things to alter books that you might have around the house!

Here are some examples of how far you can go with this:

https://www.pinterest.com/lyssenelson/altered-book-examples/

There are youtube examples too.

Then there is upcycling. Look that up and maybe do something with old clothing!

Ah! The art of messing up the house with happiness!

Please share if you try anything you’ve read here or if you have other suggestions!

Christiane