GUEST BLOG
By Yana Crane | orig: March 16, 2020
With spring break, school closures and C-virus self-quarantine I see so many parents struggling to keep their kids entertained. Nowadays it's almost a basic need - to keep kids busy. Firstly, I want to reassure you that it is ok for children to be bored sometimes: it's actually a good thing because it can spark creativity, build self-confidence ("Look what I can do mom!") and inner motivation (they do things because they are bored not because they will get a candy or 1 hour of screen time).
Of course it could be hard at first - they will come to you with "I don't know what to do. I'm bored. Mom..mooooom..mom-mom-mom-mom.." Sounds familiar? :)
As a homeschooling mom I spend 90% of my time with kids and we never have enough time to do all things we want or started to do. There are so many opportunities to learn and play! Most of the public school-parents don't know about them and I would like to share some ideas.
Apart from regular reading and colouring, hiking and playing in the park here is what you can do.
1. Cook and bake with kids.
They love it! (most of them for sure). What can they learn: adding and subtracting carrots, potatoes, buns. Fractions while baking - 1/4 of the cup, 1/2 of the tea spoon. Or they can make veggies-fruit and meals out of play dough which develops fine motor skills!
If your kids are passionate about cooking and are old enough you can enroll them in online cooking academy like this one: www.kidscookrealfood.com
We also love Preppy Kitchen on YouTube. He is fun to bake with!
2. Science experiments!
You can do loads of them just with household items.
We really love Mystery Doug videos and different activities-lessons (lots are free), www.superchargedschool.com (free science classes and now they have a new content daily)! For Pre-K and elementary school we love TheDadLab on Instagram - so easy fun!
3. Crafts.
So many choices here! And it doesn't matter if you have boys or girls, some boys really love to learn how to finger knit or sew a button! You can level up that regular play dough mess creating arts, learning an alphabet or planets (we made cell-parts, planets, Earth structure, parts of the plants and more).
Sewing, making dolls out of fabric, wood, beads etc - so many ideas on Pinterest. You can make simple yarn dolls or Slavic Spring fabric dolls (you can ask me how, most of the instructions are in Russian).
Simple felting (we have a great yarn store in Vernon with wool supplies and I'm sure every city has one too).
Origami! My youngest found a great youTube channel with easy to follow instructions. She is 6 years old and sometimes needs me to show her the details but mostly she would just pause and fold. And you don't need special paper, use old magazines, wrapping paper or old drawings you wanted to recycle!
Toilet paper rolls! I'm sure you will have tons of them left *wink wink*!
Endless opportunities. I didn't even want to dig into my photos for that. Just save it, give it to your kids and let their imagination flow!
Random crafts like building structures and bridges, DNA cells or space ships. Making kid's favourite book heroes out of paper and playing with it while reading another story or creating your own - a new turn, a new ending or beginning and the character gets another life while your kids develop creativity and language skills.
4. If your flights were cancelled or vacations postponed go on an adventure from you home!
Learn about new countries and cities, cultures and traditions, cook Indian food or sushi, listen to Italian music and The Beatles! If you have Wi-Fi and a computer it is so easy to do. If you also have books - even better! (Or use your local library, you can also place books on hold from your home and just quickly go and pick it up when you get e-mail notification).
You can make your own lap-books with kids and if you own a printer you have lots of free resources out there:
Flags - print them, glue to a toothpick and play with a map using little piece of play dough to attach flag to the country!
Travel with two little dogs - Bella and Harry adventures. They have free colouring sheets and lesson plans of this website. We love the books as well (you can buy them on Amazon).
Treasures of the World museums. As a photographer I love to learn about artists and masterpieces. We have lots of books to go through but unfortunately no access to the real museums with art here. So we use online resources to look at the paintings and sculptures all around the world.
Youtube channel we love to watch: Geography Now.
5. Play board games!
If you don't have many - print your own games! (Or draw them if you don't have a printer). And I don't even know where to start - there are lots of websites with printable educational and fun games (please don't hesitate to PM if you are stuck with it, I will send you some games on e-mail or show the links). Many amazing moms and dads made them for us to use! Some are free, some cost just a little but so worth the $.
6. Play!
Do a treasure hunt (or a scavenger hut) in your backyard. Invite toy-guests for Sloth's Bday party! Do a Fashion Week show (boys love dressing up too!). Play a cave-man (stick-stone tools, cave art, dances, mamoth-papa hunt). Cardboard boxes are amazing toys - make a ship, a car, a plane and learn about Marco Polo, Amelia Earhart, Michael Schumacher, Columbus or other great explorers!
There are so many more things you can learn and do with kids! They are naturally curious and daring, creative and can absorb information better than we think. Take this opportunity to really know them, bond with them and explore together - it is so rewarding in a long term. Just follow their interest, then you'll get the best results and the most fun!
And if you happened to be a photographer pick up your camera to document this days!
If you are not a photographer but want to have this memories to cherish, I would love to help - I do in-home sessions and this is my jam!
Some other helpful links see below.
Free Subscriptions during the school closings
Free live Opera streams - Metropolitan Opera
Free Lapbooks and units for different subjects
Art lessons for kids (different grades)
Outschool lessons - online lessons, lots of subjects. Some are live, some recorded, many options just search with key word or browse.
About Gameschooling
Open Culture - free online classes, audiobook, lectures etc.
Composers study - fun way to learn classical music and composers for kids
Experiments with Steve Spangler
Khan Academy - free online classes and tests (math, science, social studies)
Head over to my website (click-able link below) and add your favourite ideas or resources in comments. There are many many more of them and I actually sometimes think how great it would be to have 48 hours a day :)
I hope that helps and you can use some ideas at your home! I would love to share my experience and help to anyone who needs it!
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