COVID-19 (2019 Novel Coronavirus)

Activities to do with Kids

Respiratory Illness

Vaccines

Schools

Travel

Living with COVID-19

Sticking to a schedule is helpful. Routines help provide a sense of stability and structure. Kids can get anxious when routines are lost. This will be more important as time out of school increases. Create a schedule that works for the whole family. Do things together but also allow for self-discovery in any process.

Consider these:

  • Keep consistent wakeup and sleep times
  • Schedule time for meals
  • If you choose to do schoolwork, schedule time for it – visit the Ministry of Education Learning portal to access math and literacy skills, and other learning resources
  • Schedule time for breaks and exercise (indoor/outdoor)
  • End the day’s routine by 3 p.m. (or the same time as their regular end of day)
  • Keep an evening routine that’s familiar

Activity Ideas for Social Distancing/Self Isolation

Cooking/food prep

Preparing meals and eating meals together is a great way to stay connected, and has nutritional, health and social benefits.  The extra time together is a great chance to involve kids in the planning and preparation of meals – not to mention you may actually have time to sit down for a meal together. Remember to put devices in a basket or away from the table. 

Meal planning and cooking is an important life skill that you have the opportunity to foster during this unplanned break from school. And, if you’re at work, while your tweens/teens are at home – put them on dinner duty. You might all be surprised what they’re capable of accomplishing. If it doesn’t work out, you can always rely on breakfast for dinner: scrambled eggs and toast with cut up veggies on the side!

Resources for Parents:

Reading & languages

Reading is a great way for kids to expand their world and imaginations. With his extra time on their hands, reading is a great way for them to learn and escape while staying home.

There are many apps out there to help children learn a new language is a fun way. Learning a new language is not only a great life-long skill, but also stimulates growth and creative thought:

Have your children write letters to residents at your local long-term care home. Not only will this improve their writing skills but also brighten someone’s day who isn’t permitted visitors at the moment.

Science/Learning

School’s out but learning never stops. There are plenty of neat and interesting activities you can do at home using what you have laying around your house. Parent-supervised experiments can be fun and informative for everyone.

Create an animal fact sheet – make it up and then do real research with the kids and see how what you made up for that animal compares to what’s real.

Indoor play

Pillage your closet and see what fun stuff can you find in there. Dress up party/fashion show. Make believe time helps to broaden future creativity.

Outdoor play

Social distancing does not mean you must stay in your home at all times. There are many ways that you and your children can stay physically active, even while maintaining the social distancing guidelines.  Some outside ideas include:

For more ideas visit Activities for Life Raising Physically Literate Kids

Wondering how much physical activity your family should be getting?

Go for a bike ride

Arts & crafts

Who doesn’t love to paint, or draw, or create? Here are a few ideas and links for you and your children.

  • Write a book / create a comic together

Arts & crafts, painting, drawing, etc:

Have your children create pictures and messages to mail to your local long-term care home for residents who cannot currently have visitors.

Explore the virtual world

While we typically want to dissuade overuse of screen time, parent-supervised exploration of the virtual world may be a fun way to share an experience together. Many museums, zoos, and aquariums are offering free virtual tours or live cams of their exhibits. There are apps that will even take you to outer space!

Explore the solar system – apps, solarium, etc.

You could even throw on a podcast for some background listening while doing other things

Learning new skills

Time on your hands? Why not learn something new?

Learn how to edit videos/code/do things on the computer

Things to do together

With you at home, your kids want to be with you. Take some time to do something together that is fun and is something they can immediately connect with.

  • As a family make a fun video or post for social media
  • Make a family YouTube channel/podcast
  • Include some age appropriate chores in the day

Helping your child navigate COVID-19

Other (links)

Pages of ideas under different categories: activities with or without screens, activities requiring little supplies, activities for calm/quiet time.h