By Linda Erskine
Years ago I wrote down all the ideas I could remember that I used to do with my kids. Most of these were school holiday activities but can be used any time.
First some guidelines:
Your children are a blessing- enjoy them!
Remind them that a family is a team - work together and then play together
Have a set of old clothes for messy/painting activities - that way no one stresses 😊
These ideas are ones I did over many years!! Take the ones you like and run with them and make them your own
Tip #1
Choose a chapter book from your book shelf and read aloud a chapter a night as a family.
Revisit your childhood and choose one you love. You can share the reading with the kids if you want.
Some suggestions are classics like the Narnia series, Little Women, Charlotte’s Web, Little House on the Prairie series, Princess Bride, Wind in the Willows, etc.
The whole family enjoyed this before bed. 😊
Tip #2
After you’ve told the kids that the family that works together can then play together, try to enjoy schooling at home.
Make a cubby house - 1 big one for all the kids or individual ones, depending on your kids.
Be a delivery person and deliver school work, then at morning tea time be a postie and deliver an encouraging love note with their morning tea (whether you think they deserve it or not!!). At lunch deliver “Uber Eats” to be eaten as a picnic in their cubby, a “park” in the lounge (any green sheet or picnic rug will do) or the backyard.
Many teachers are making themselves accessible online. Call one if you need to. 😊
Tip #3
I hope the kids enjoyed the love notes as much as mine used to. ❤️
Now clear an active space inside, especially if you can’t go out at all. Blow up balloons or scrunch paper to make a ball. Play your favourite ball games but with a twist - tennis with a hand instead of racquet, volleyball, etc.
See who can keep the ball in the air the longest (individually and then as a family), keep aiming for personal bests. Compete over FaceTime with another family or friend 😊
Make up your own games with your own space. 😁
Tip #4
Do some cooking together. Ignore the mess, just enjoy the time together 😊
A cake is also good for many school subjects ...
Maths: halve or double amounts, fractions of the final product
Science: changing state of things, temps
Humanities: where are the various ingredients from?
Health: how much sugar is good for us - let them find out and tell you
History/culture: cakes from your background, history of cakes, war time restrictions, see how many different kinds you can find (Masterchef)
English: forms of writing and following instructions, creative writing to make your own recipe (after learning what basics are needed!) and then test it (back to science)
Art: decorate the final product!
Cookies can be the same but also useful for multiplication and division tables 😁
Now - plan some fun in the kitchen and make it your own!! 😁❤️❤️
Tip #5
Play dough - buy it or make it, it comes in handy.
It is not only a therapeutic stress reliever but is good for art and can also be used for other subjects:
Geography: model terrain
Math: 2D and 3D shapes, fractions, multiplication and division
Health: organs of the body
Share what other things you use it for. 😁
Depending on what you have you can make regular stuff (recipe on side of cream of tartar container) or make a salt dough for a sparkly look (add a touch of blue for Frozen fans😉)
Tip #6
Start thinking about Easter decorations.
Those who know me well know I don’t do eggs at Easter but focus on the Christian reason for the day. To this end I have prepared an Easter advent calendar (some time ago) for using for the 2 weeks leading up to Easter. Email the office if you would like me to email a copy to you for you to print and use. It would start this Sunday 29 March.
Some Easter decoration ideas I’ve come across include:
Put up the Christmas tree and decorate with Easter symbols from the bible
Instead of eggs make chocolate crosses - just melt choc and use a spoon to pour onto tray in a cross shape. Decorate with sprinkles or smarties.
Make an empty tomb and little characters to tell the Easter events - clay can be helpful here. Some clays can be baked or left to harden to use again next year.
Make a banner saying ‘He is risen’
Have a Passover meal on the Thursday before Easter - just simple with lamb and talk about what happened
Sing Easter carols - He Died upon the Cross, When I Survey the Wondrous Cross, Amazing Grace, etc.
On Easter Sunday morning have a trail set up with arrows taking them to the empty tomb (sheet over chairs) with cloths (his burial cloths) and then off to the disciples house to tell them he isn’t there, he is risen, then celebrate with the chocolate.
Start thinking and preparing now and enjoy celebrating this Easter time 😊❤️
Tip #7
Those empty plastic milk bottles can be cut into a scoop shape and used for throwing and catching a soft type of ball. We liked to use scrunched up paper balls (good for stress relief 😳😁). Invent games individually and together. Could take it to a park and see how far you can throw it.
Make a fun time of going to the park for today’s walk - take some of your home cooking for morning tea, and spend some creative time there ... take a drawing book and pencils or let the kids experiment with some photography on your phone. Learn how to frame an arty shot. 😊