Ways to Care for your Children Without School
Well parents, it looks like school is out for the rest of the school year. If this set off a panic alarm, don’t worry! Christian Family Care is here to help you through this time with practical advice to help you and your family navigate through these new realities.
If you haven’t read our article How to Explain COVID-19 to Children, I’d highly recommend checking that out for ways you can explain this situation to the kids in your care.
Below are some suggestions about how to promote holistic health for your kids. Consider building one activity from each category into your daily schedule.
Emotional Check-Ins:
- Check in with your kids using happy, mad, sad face drawings
- Let kids each build a “safe place” fort in a separate area of your living space
- Make gratitude a daily family practice
- Practice using Zones of Regulation or The Engine Plate
- Practice basic coping skills (e.g. take a deep breath, count to ten, take a break)
- Practice calm with coloring sheets
Brain Activities:
- Practice math facts orally.
- If you still get grocery ads delivered to your home, have kids practice making lists and totaling their purchases on their own receipts
- Read books together
- Have kids write their own books
- Watch history shows
- Tour museums online
Physical Activities Indoors:
- Access GoNoodle
- Try Cosmic Kids Yoga
- Fitness Blender has workouts online for free
- Make stationary bikes
- Try to maintain regular eating and sleeping schedules
Physical Activities Outdoors:
- Draw with sidewalk chalk
- Make a garden or a pretend garden
- Make patterns on the ground with spray bottles filled with water
- Take a walk or bike ride around the neighborhood
- Walk around a local park while maintaining a healthy social distance
Social Activities:
- Designate a specific communication hour each day
- Make cards to give or send
- Teach and practice the art of letter writing
- Send e-mails
- Take and share photos
Spiritual Activities:
- Keep the Sunday morning routine by finding a church live stream or by having your own family church
- Commit to a daily time of prayer for the pandemic or just people who are sick in general
- Memorize Bible verses, try using hand motions or pictures for kids who don’t read yet
Article written by Sarah Earles, MS, LAC
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