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Fun Indoor Activities to do with Kids during Lockdown
Being indoors can sound quite boring, but there are so many fun activities you can do for indoors to be fun! Especially under the circumstances at the moment, where we all have to stay home, it can be difficult to keep the kids entertained every single day. I've listed a few fun indoor activities that you can all enjoy below.
Helping Your Child with their Home Learning
Whilst in lockdown, our children are forced to carry out their schoolwork at home and since they might not be going back to school for a matter of months, it is crucial that they continue learning. This can be challenging for both parents and their kids but by paying attention to what they are learning about, you will let them know how important it is. I have teamed up with an independent school in Somerset to offer the following tips that will allow you to help your child with their home learning during this difficult time.
As with any behaviour that you’d like your child to learn, you
will have to set a good example when it comes to working at home. Let them see
you sitting at your desk working on a project. It doesn’t have to be related to
your actual job, but your child will be far more likely to take work seriously
if they see you doing it. Even if they see you reading a book or practising an
instrument, they will feel more motivated to do the same.
Of course, they will need a dedicated space to do their work.
With that said, you might have to set them up a little workstation that is
quiet and free from distractions. Fill it with all the necessary supplies,
including pens and paper, a calculator and their textbooks. When they are
studying, don’t be too far, as they may have to ask you for help. If you are
not available, they are more likely to give up in frustration.
When your child has spent a period of time doing schoolwork, be
sure to tell them how proud you are. After all, nothing is more encouraging
than praise, especially for kids! You could stick their work on the fridge or get
them a little treat to celebrate. The important thing to remember is that it’s
the effort they put in that’s worth something, not getting all the answers
right.
Exploring STEM Subjects with Your Kids
STEM is an acronym for Science, Technology,
Engineering and Maths. They are subjects important for any child’s learning
experience and they help develop crucial life skills, from problem-solving to
teamwork. Many industries require educated individuals with a background in one
or more of these subjects, so they are not something that should be overlooked.
Childhood is the perfect time to develop an interest
in STEM subjects, by exploring them both at school and within the family home.
Of course, teachers usually integrate STEM subjects into lessons naturally as
part the school curriculum. Parents can continue this learning experience and
help their children develop key skills by encouraging various STEM-related
activities at home. This doesn’t have to be a boring replica of their lessons;
it can be fun and enjoyable for the family as a whole.
Read on for some examples provided by an independent, co-educational schoolin London on how you can explore STEM subjects with your
kids…
Toys & Games
There are
lots of toys and games available on the market that can spark an interest in
STEM subjects and help a child learn. Jigsaw puzzles, for instance, require
concentration and problem-solving skills. Even something as traditional as
Monopoly will help a child with their numeracy skills as they will have to
count their moves and add or subtract their money.
Fun in
the Kitchen
Encourage
your child to help you with the cooking or perhaps baking a cake. This is a fun
activity that will also help your youngster with various imperial and metric
measurements. There are probably lots of interesting things in your kitchen
that you could use as part of a science experiment, such as food colouring or
bicarbonate of soda. Even something as simple as water is great for learning
about sinking and floating.
Playing
Outside
If you don’t
have a garden, take your child out for a walk every now and again so that they
can explore elements of nature. Ask them to observe their surroundings and
consider their senses; what can they see, smell, feel and hear? Talk to them
about the weather and how it changes with the seasons.
Make STEM something you talk about with your child.
For instance, if you’re in the car, you could explain to them how the engine
works. Use dinnertime to discuss anything interesting you’ve read about in the
news, like a medical breakthrough or severe weather conditions. Essentially,
the trick is to normalise these subjects for your children. If you require
additional information about STEM subjects and how you can explore them with
your kids, don’t be afraid to contact your child’s teachers or delve into the fantastic
resources found online.
Decorating A Child's Room To Suit Their Personality
Your child is growing, and growing fast! They’re outgrowing the bedroom you once decorated carefully
for them, and they want more and more to work with. Personality is something we all have, and it’s
their own right now, they’re going to need more support than the rest of us.
How do you satisfy their need to feel comfortable and at home within their bedroom, especially when
you’re working with a limited budget and the knowledge that your child is just going to grow again in a
year’s time?
Well, we’ve listed some ideas below for your convenience. So go, be the best parent you can be, and
help your kids feel happy and accommodated for within their own room!
Don’t Throw it Away, Paint it!
A lot of old furniture can be chucked out of a child’s room, seeing as they outgrow things all the time,
and who knows if that chair is still high enough for them. But instead of throwing something out, why
not choose to repurpose or repaint it instead? It’ll be a lot cheaper on your budget, and it’ll help to
ensure the design of your child’s bedroom has longevity.
That old chair they can no longer sit in? Use it as a table! Put an alarm clock on it, or let them keep
their books there. Give it a new coat of paint, sit it in a corner, and then let your child make use of it in
a different, more productive way.
Include Space for Your Child’s Development
Your child is going to grow at a rapid rate - they all do, and there’s nothing we can do about that!
So you might need to factor in some separate spaces within their bedroom that could foster their
development as they get older. Let’s go through a couple of ideas:
Maybe a space to sit down and read or use a gaming console; a beanbag is cheaper than an armchair
or a loveseat, so think about buying a couple of those.
A space to sit and work, on things like homework and other creative pursuits; a desk and chair would
be great for a child who is approaching their teenage years, but could also work well from the age of 5
and up.
Make sure you fill these spaces with things your child actually likes, rather than focusing around a
theme or a colour. It will help your child to feel like they belong in their room, and that they can revel
in what they love. Design for practicality, and your child’s personality, rather than for your own aesthetic
pleasure!
Think About Wall Stickers
The walls of your child’s bedroom can get very messy. All kinds of crayon marks and felt tip pen strikes
can litter them, and you never know just how scratched the skirting board can get until you pull the
furniture out of the way. You might just want to paint the whole thing a dusky brown or deep blue and
be done with it! But all in all, the walls are the most important part of decorating your child’s bedroom
to suit their personality!
So, you might want to make use of some wall stickers here. After all, you can take them down just as
easily as you put them up, which means little to no work is needed for the next bedroom renovation
when your child has grown again! Shop with sites like Aspect Wall Art for a wide range of wall stickers,
because you’re definitely going to want to get creative here!
You could get a collection of wall stickers here, to put together to make into a collage of things your
child likes at the moment, like farmyard or jungle animals. You could even put up a decal of their own
name, helping them to feel like this space is their own.
Ready to Get Decorating?
Decorating a child’s bedroom to properly accommodate them can be hard. We can’t help but let our
tastes get in the way sometimes, and they’re nowhere near old enough to be helping out with the redec!
So keep these tips in mind if your child is growing and needs a new room to grow with them.
It’s important to think of them as little people coming into their own, and to give them a space that
allows them to do just that.
collabroative post
Fitness, Why Do You Evade Me Again?
Most of us have the means and skills to stay healthy. Indeed, most people in western countries have access to plenty of food
to establish healthy meals. The fact that we might end up eating more takeaway pizzas and fried food than we should can
only be blamed on our motivation. We know what healthy eating looks like. But we choose to ignore it to satisfy our unhealthy
cravings. Who wouldn’t switch a green salad against a slice of cake if they had the choice?
The same argument can be made about physical exercise. Sure enough, we understand that staying healthy also involves
staying active. Physical exercise can help to tackle many health conditions, without mentioning the fact that it strengthens
our immune system. But somehow, knowledge doesn’t replace motivation. Exercise, why do you keep evading us?
Your workout lacks diversity
There’s an interesting dilemma about fitness. On the one hand, you want to embrace it as a habit as you should exercise
regularly. However, you need to diversify your routine, which ultimately goes against the definition of a habit. But, bear with
us on this; introducing variety to your workout makes it less dull and helps your body to benefit from it in the long term.
For instance, if you could try out some new moves, such as learning the fall yoga poses or changing your Zumba
choreography to a new song. It doesn’t matter what you choose as long as you make things a little different.
You expect immediate results
So, you’ve been exercising for a couple of weeks, and you still haven’t noticed any results yet. Here’s the sad truth
about it: It’s normal. Depending on what you want to achieve, it can take several weeks or months for visible results to show.
If you’re trying to lose weight, you need at least eight weeks of regular practise to spot a difference. Additionally, you will also
need to build a healthy calorie-deficit diet to help your weight-loss objective.
Alternatively, if you’re trying to build up muscles, it can take up to three months to feel a difference, including a dedicated
fitness diet. In short, lower your expectations. You’ll achieve your goals in the long term, not overnight.
No, writing it on the calendar doesn’t make it a habit
Habits are easy to follow. It’s an automatic behaviour that you’ve trained yourself to apply, such as brushing your teeth before
going to bed. You don’t even need to think about it. It simply happens. Exercising, on the other hand, should be a habit.
But, as with most things, habits don’t appear out of the blue. They need time and repetitions to develop. According to
Dr Maxwell Maltz, it takes 21 days to adjust to a new situation. In reality, you will need over two months
to make working out a habit. In other words, you will have to force yourself to exercise for up to 66 days before your brain
accepts it as your new reality.
Why can’t you get motivated to stick to your fitness routine? The answer is simple. You don’t need motivation. There are
many things you do every day that don’t require motivation, such as getting to work rather than staying in bed, for instance.
But you do them because you understand the benefits of your actions. As such, understanding that fitness is good for you is
the first step. Then you can make it easy to practise through diversity, realistic expectations and repetitions.
- this is a collaborative post
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