Getting outside and running around is the best way for children to burn off energy and keep fit and healthy. But there are times when it may not be possible to go outside. Current social distancing rules mean that parks are off limits and if you don’t have a large outdoor area, or the weather isn’t great, you may need some other ideas on keeping the kids entertained – and yourself sane!
The internet has vast amounts of information and activities your children can undertake while stuck inside on a rainy day or social distancing. Below are just several ideas to keep your children entertained in a somewhat educational manner.
eBooks – Reading, whether they are being read to or reading themselves, is very important for a child’s education. Apple Books is available for Apple devices and Amazons Kindle can be downloaded on Apple and Android devices. These apps allow you to download books directly to your tablet. Grenfell Public Library also offer a service called BorrowBox from which you can borrow ebooks as you would from the Library. The Library is also offering a ‘click and collect‘ borrowing system for physical books.
Best & Less Retro Colouring in fun – Colouring in is a popular activity among children and is a great way to get some simple ‘arts and crafts’ activities with minimal clean up. Crayola also offer some free colouring pages.
How To Make the Perfect Paper Airplane – Get creative and unleash your child’s inner Aerospace engineer. If Mum or Dad are handy on the tools there are also some plans for building a paper airplane launcher! This activity could be fun indoors or outdoors.
Create Stories, Games, and Animations with Scratch – Screen time often gets bad wrap, but technology is a great tool when it is used to create rather than consume. Scratch is an easy way to introduce your child to the world of programming. Some info for Mum and Dad can be found here.
Zoo Cams – There are plenty of Zoo’s live streaming their animals. You can see live streams from zoos close (ish) to home, such as Taronga Zoo. Or even travel abroad to San Diego Zoo. More Australian live streams can be viewed at at zoos.org.au. Typing ‘zoo live stream’ into Google brings up plenty of results.
Kid-Friendly Cooking – Cooking is a great way to teach children the importance of healthy eating. Having your child help out in the kitchen may even entice them to try those new foods – It was something they cooked after all! And with the measuring, adding up, and weighing of ingredients it counts as a delicious maths lesson. Doesn’t it?
YouTube – We all should get a chance to unwind at the end of the day. YouTube can be a great place to learn new skills with plenty of educational channels on the platform. YouTube kids is a safer version of YouTube that Mum or Dad will need to configure an account for first. If the family are going to unwind together some great channels are NasaTV, AustralianZooTube, and MinutePhysics.
These resources are only the tip of the iceberg when it comes to the vast amount of information on the internet. The internet has plenty of material that children should not see, but could easily stumble across. The best way to prevent this is to ensure devices are used in common areas such as the living room and don’t leave children unsupervised when browsing the web.
Children may have a harder time adjusting to and understanding social distancing rules currently in place. This can have its toll on the whole family. Beyond Blue have resources on talking about Coronavirus with children. They also have a dedicated portal on Coronavirus for anyone who isn’t feeling 100%.
Take care, and stay safe!