How to Keep Children Busy During Corona Lockdown

The prevalence of the corona pandemic is an unprecedented time never seen in decades and rarely seen in centuries. The situation has forced everyone to be locked inside homes. Being locked inside homes for prolonged days and weeks have their effects which are generally negative for a person of every age. For kids this means no fun of any kind outside their homes may it be visiting their favorite parks, malls, zoo or going to fun places and eating outlets. For adults and elders, being at home has given much needed time that can be spent with family which otherwise is scarce during routine days. But for kids, this time is a complete boredom and we see a large number of kids complaining of boredom.

We must, first of all, let our kids know about the corona pandemic, its effects, and after-effects on our lives and measures to stay safe. Being Muslims we have strong faith regarding whatever is happening is from THE DIVINE side. So it is equally important to reestablish our direct link with The CREATOR of this universe and seeking his mercy through prayers and reading the Quran, to mention the least.

Some suggestions for Parents for Pleasant Learning Experience of Their Kids during Lockdown

To make this available time of Lockdown productive, following are some of the suggested ways to keep kids occupied and enhance their learning experience during the process:

1. Chalk out a schedule similar to the one once schools would have been open

2. Keep a separate space for school-related tasks and activities. Also, give them playtime or recess during these tasks

3. Make them try to learn a new language. Being Muslims our emphasis should be to try and learn Arabic which will help in developing an understanding of The Quran

4. Make them carry out household chores after their study tasks have been done

5. Involve them in cooking and baking tasks carried out at home

6. Let children read a book and then teach how to write a book review

7. Let kids watch their favorite movie and then ask them to write their opinion about it

8. Planning an indoor picnic with some homemade Bar B Q

9. Play card games and board games such as monopoly, scrabble, etc

10. Teach children to play chess as it is a good mind exercising game

11. Gardening is a great learning. Get your kids involved in gardening

12. Play some badminton or racket game

13. Carrying out some physical exercise is a must

14. If your kid loves music make him learn and practice some instrument

15. Take a virtual of famous places from the comfort of your home such as:

a. Most famous international museums in Louvre,, France

b. Historical places such as the Great Wall of China

c. British Museum https://britishmuseum.withgoogle.com/

16. If your kid is curious about something ask him to listen to But Why Podcast

17. Try educational online resources for learning like Brain Pop, ABCmouse Learning Academy, and Scholastic

18. Learn new words and increase the vocabulary of your kids by visiting sites like vocabulary.com and just the word

19. Learn and improve the spellings of the kids through spellingcity.com or visiting other spelling websites

A Word for the Parents

1. Activities of the kids should be so managed and schedule to be made such that screen time is kept within limits.

2. Kids should be kept away from depressing and bad news. A lot of myths and misinformation are also making rounds on social media. Parents should try to disseminate only necessary and authentic information to them

3. Use age-appropriate language to educate children about recent developments with regards to coronavirus

4. Teach them how to use proper hygiene.

5. This is a trying time and we should not expect the kids to be engaged all day long

6. Help your kids to remain calm during this period of lockdown of coronavirus. A Suggested way is that parents should themselves remain calm and manage their anxiety. Parents should not let their anxiety about the uncertainty of the situation trickle down to their family and kids.

7. Parents should try to keep their mood upbeat and make this time memorable so that once this difficult time passes by you have some sweet memories to cherish.

Photo by Ben White on Unsplash