The world is fighting the coronavirus pandemic with the sole weapon: The Lock-down. Until the vaccine is ready for use or the spread of the virus is contained, the lock down would persist. This sense of ambiguity and uncertainty generates unnecessary anxiety. Besides adults, these adverse feelings can affect children as well. Hence, it is essential to keep your bundles of joy engaged and happy. In normal times, you could check-in to a hotel and relax to beat the blues. But, in these crisis periods you have to make the most of your time at home. The following list suggests some of the major methods to utilise the lock-down period productively for the effective mental and physical growth of your child.
Children have access to multiple media avenues. They are at a high risk of exposure to false news as well. Amid the pandemic, it is very important to understand their fears and clear the doubts. Hence, a healthy conversation is mandatory so that children can peacefully concentrate on the following activities. The activities can be easily incorporated in the routine life of the new normal, the temporary lock down.
Sous-chef
Cooking is broadly known to be a stress-buster. In a crisis, anybody can indulge in creative cooking to stay calm and composed. Children can be the perfect sous-chef. While actively participating in the kitchen, they learn life lessons which would definitely help them for the big world. Besides helping parents, children can also prepare food which can be made without fire. All these activities would develop a sense of responsibility in the little ones. The prospect of value addition to the family is an enriching experience in itself for the tiny soul. Engaging the child to plan a meal helps them understand nutrition and the importance of a balanced diet.
Some of the major ways a child can help around the kitchen are:
- Make the batter for multiple food items like cakes and puddings.
- Peel the vegetables.
- Garnish the salad and other meals.
- Prepare easy-to-cook food without fire like mug cakes and other desserts.
Once your tiny tot becomes an ace sous-chef, you could organise fire-less cooking workshops in an hourly hotel near your locality. Trust me, there are many parents out there who would love to send their children to such workshops.
Help in house-cleaning
In a bid to give children a wonderful childhood full of fun and frolic, we generally keep them away from household chores. But, these chores can be an effective alternative to video games. As the maid will not be around during the lock-down, it is absolutely normal to take your child's help to dust around the house. This would help children understand that "Cleanliness is next to Godliness". As they would understand the importance of a clean house, they would strive to keep it clean as an adult. Besides dusting, children can help tidy up the house by arranging the shoe rack, book cases and etc.
The next time you visit a hotel, you can explain to your tiny tot that the spic and span room is a result of continuous cleaning.
Tidy the room
It is widely known that charity begins at home. Keeping the room clean is the best way to teach a child to be responsible and organised. Making the bed after waking up and tidying the room after playing are not humongous tasks. On the contrary, they can be building blocks of a stronger personality. A tidy house is home to a healthy mind.
Fold the Laundry
Folding the laundry is an easy but lengthy task. It would definitely engage a child for a sufficient length of time and help develop their hand-eye coordination.
Art and Craft
Playing with colours help to develop the cognitive skills of a toddler. They learn to see life through a coloured glass and understand the beauty of nature.
The services of policemen, military and medical staffs in the fight against the coronavirus is an endearing tale for the little souls. They can be encouraged to make cards to express gratitude to the heroes. This would keep them engaged for a considerable amount of time and improve their creativity.
By the end of the lock-down period, you would have a treasure trove of cards and other arts. The next time you book a hotel for a few hours to throw a party, you could use these to decorate the space.
Puzzles
Puzzles develop the cognitive skills, analytical abilities and problem-solving capacities of a child. As the child spends hours labouring their grey cells to solve a puzzle, their thinking abilities improve many-folds. There are various types of puzzles to keep children engaged depending on their choice and taste.
Thus, the next time you check-in to a hotel to rest for a couple of hours you can keep your child busy with their favourite puzzles.
Read Story Books
In the digital era of video games and social networks, reading habit has become a rare quality. In every profession it is inevitable for an individual to read extensively. This lock-down period is no doubt a great time to nurture the reading habit in your ward. Reading not just improves the imagination of a child but also their vocabulary. There are a plethora of books available for children of all ages. If your children are too young to read then you can introduce them to the world of beautiful and interesting pop-up books.
Treasure Hunt
A treasure hunt is no doubt a great outdoor game. Nevertheless, it can be played indoors. You can hide clues and things around the house and tell the kids about the game. As they would rampage about the house, they would be engaged and active for quite some time. This would definitely enhance their thinking capacities. Once the game is over, you can engage them further by asking them to tidy up the little mess that they had created in excitement.
Next time you go for a vacation, you can play the game around the hotel area. This would keep the children engaged while you get ready.
Improve Vocabulary
In the world of Google and various other applications, the dictionary seems to have lost its place. But, it is still a great tool to improve vocabulary. Besides reading books, you can teach your child to use the dictionary. You can also give them tasks to write a set of new words with their meanings and make sentences. This would increase their reading and writing skills and also improve their grammar. Before you would even realise, your child's vocabulary would have increased many folds.
Indoor Games
There are a plethora of indoor games available to keep children engaged and thinking. "Ludo", "Snakes and Ladder", "carrom" and "chess" are some of the common indoor games. However, the best game to keep children engaged for hours is "Monopoly". The near-never ending game is a great tool to teach calculation and trading skills. There are various other games like "Scrabbles" to improve a child's vocabulary and "Lego" to improve their imagination and cognition.
Remember to carry their favourite games on your next vacation to keep them engaged in the hotel for a few hours.
The above list is definitely not exhaustive. But, until you can go out on a vacation and enjoy the hospitality of hotels near you and your favourite vacation spots, the above mentioned activities can be a great way to utilise the self-quarantine period productively for your child's growth and development. You must also prevent yourself from feeling depressed by following the various methods to fight the lockdown blues. Stay happy and safe and we will overcome this situation soon.