If we go back in time to 2019, nobody would have expected that there will be a pandemic. The world was changed. It does not matter if this was the plan of God, or not. We have to confront the difficulties and become stronger.
You might ask – Why? Because of our children! Right now, we have to be brave, intelligent, and wise!
In this article, we will look at some engaging indoor activities for children. We will give you a few ideas on how to spend your time with your kids at home. If you read till the end, you will understand what the New York fashion stylist, blogger, and mom, Liz Teich recommends to moms around the world about those difficult times.
Reading plan:
Creative Kids Activity 1 – Draw on boiled eggs or rocks
Creative Kids Activity 2 – Draw on sand
Creative Kids Activity 3 – Drawing with hands or on them
Creative Kids Activity 4 – Rice play
Creative Kids Activity 5 – Food figures creation
Creative Kids Activity 6 – Exact instructions challenge
Creative Kids Activity 7 – Construction challenge
Survival Guide for Stay at Home Parents
Time to read: 7 mins
Survival Time – Home Edition
The worst thing about Covid and staying at home is that life does not stop. Our children keep on growing. We have to take care of them, help them grow mentally, physically, and emotionally healthy. Eventually, one day, everything will be just like before, and we will only laugh at those memories.
As an ex-kinder-garden teacher and currently a parent, I know what is essential for children's development. As we said, you have to help your kid with the main areas of growth in his body – physical, mental, and emotional. You have to be creative and find ways to have fun with your baby, to find games that it can play alone, with its brothers and sisters, or with you.
Even if you are trying to teach to a homeschooler, do not forget that one of the most important things about the child is play. Sometimes it is helpful for the learning process; other times, it is excellent for refreshing the mind. It can be used for teaching almost every subject or topics like What is love; What are my reasons to be happy; How can be good and so on.
We will try to give you some more creative ideas on what to do. We hope that you will try those and enjoy them!
Those activities are great for:
- Toddlers
- Preschoolers
- Elementary
- Middle School
- High School
- Parents, too
Drawing Benefits and Ideas
Drawing is a great activity. It helps brain development, improves memory, stress relief, improves imagination, and gives you the ability to be a creator. If we accept that God created us, this makes Him creator. This might explain why we have the urge to create and achieve mastery.
One of the most exciting things about drawing is that you can do it with pencils, pastels, watercolor, and many more instruments. We want to give a few ideas on how to make it even more creative and funnier time. This is especially important if you are trying to be a parent who is interested in different parenting styles like gentle parenting.
Creative Kids Activity 1 – Draw on boiled eggs or rocks
Drawing can be so much fun. However, it can be even more enjoyable. Involving pieces from nature will improve the children's understanding of the environment around us. You can use the situation and teach the children different things about rocks, plants, or animals while painting and drawings.
*You can draw something on the eggs or color the whole egg.
Creative Kids Activity 2 – Draw on sand
For some of you, the next idea might be a new thing; for some - not. Drawing on sand is one exciting and beneficial activity for children. It improves sensory and motor skills; hand and eye recognition; it allows involving the brain creativity parts even more.
One of the easiest ways for people to learn is when they combine physical and mental processes. This means that listening to a lesson while walking can be much more effective than just sitting. In the case of drawing on sand, you combine physical touch and creativity.
If you want to set up a home sand drawing board, you can do it by putting Christmas lights under a clear acrylic box.
BONUS TIP – to make the sand edible, put nuts or cereal like Cheerios or another kind of honey circles in the blender, and you are going to surprise your child!
Related article: Things that start with R – R words for kids
Picture by: Sandschool Planeta Detstvo
If you have a child younger than 5 years and you prefer cooperative games for children, you can check these board games for 3 year olds.
Creative Kids Activity 3 – Drawing with hands or on them
What can make drawing funnier than it is? How about drawing with hands?
Drawing with hands is another very beneficial activity for your child. Again, you will be able to combine physical activity like touching and brain activity like drawing. You can always give the child chance to draw on its own hands. It might be interesting activity even though after that you have to spend more time under the shower.
Do you know what is the best about this type of drawing? You can make an edible paint. You can do this by using toothpaste and a food coloring powder. You can also use yogurt instead of toothpaste. With both of them, you can be calm that your child will not eat something poisonous.
If you are into the DIY, you can check these canvas art ideas for kids.
If you are thinking that these ideas are great but still looking for ideas that can be tried in the summer, you can check 6 Strategic Ways To Keep Kids Busy During Summer Break And Save Your Sanity!
Food Play Ideas and Benefits
Play with food? Yes! Playing with food allows using the hands, smell, and even touch. It is another beneficial brain-developing activity that can always be done at home. It benefits the brain, concentration, and sensory development.
Creative Kids Activity 4 – Rice play
Another great food for fine motor skills development is rice. You can spread the rice on the table and ask the children to put it on a plate or bowl while counting. You can also ask the child to move it from one bow to another.
I also tried another activity in the kindergarten, and it worked exceptionally well with the children there. I gave a bow with rice and a balloon to every child. I asked them to start filling the balloon with it. The first time we tried it, I was amazed at how funny and exciting it was for them. Can you imagine a group of 15 children being quiet for 15-20 minutes? I could not before trying this activity…
What is my experience as a kindergarden teacher? You can read that on our About Us section.
If you are interested in this type of activity, you can check this great edible sensory play article.
Creative Kids Activity 5 – Food figures creation
You can allow your child to use the knife in this activity. Of course, only if you are next to him/her or he/she uses a children's knife. You can cut tomatoes, cucumbers, and other types of vegetables or fruits and make different figures out of them. Together, you can make a house, animal, or human face. You can also ask the child to make a scene from some story that you read before sleep.
BONUS: You can do this over a sandwich and eat it after that. This will make the play even funnier.
Related: "I can write" - Downloadable Free Alphabet Tracing Kit (2 pages)
Creative Kids Activity 6 – Exact instructions challenge
You can ask your child to write (if it can) exact instructions on how to make a sandwich. If it cannot write, you can ask him/her to give you exact instructions vocally. The funny thing here is that children do not get the idea behind “exact” in the beginning, and you are going to have real fun. If you cannot imagine the game by reading this, you can watch this hilarious video.
Creative Kids Activity 7 – Construction challenge
Would you like to help your child become an architect? Why not prepare for this challenge and see your loved one has an interest in this type of work?
Give the child set of toothpicks (at least 100), plasticine, bubble gum, play-doh, or glue, and then ask the child to make a house, bridge, or a construction difficult enough to challenge the child like the Eiffel Tower. This is similar to the good old puzzle or making house of cards but is more interactive, challenging, and innovative.
Related: Child Rearing Definition, Practices and Montessori for Everyone
You can alway try playing board games. Here`s a list of board games that you can play in Covid time by Ella`s Blended Family blog.
Survival Guide for Stay at Home Parents
If staying at home with your children is a real challenge for you, we recommend Liz Teich`s Stay at Home Survival Guide. In this article, you can get some great ideas on how to go through the difficulties of staying at home with your children. It has been a while since the beginning of the pandemic, but working from home will be used more and more by all types of mothers around the world.
Liz Teich is a great mother of two wonderful children. She is an experienced and professional fashion stylist and blogger. Liz has been a commercial stylist for more than ten years and has worked with big companies like Marshalls, TJ Maxx, Alex and Ani, Timberland, and Peloton. She has worked with celebrities like Mike Tyson, Ashley Graham, and the cast of Stranger Things.
Her blog The New York Stylist covers topics like parenting, motherhood, beauty, home décor, all about New York, and many great topics for mothers who do not live in that city. She can be great inspiration to every mom, no matter where in the world you are!
If you are interested in checking her excellent services and eventually working with her, you can do it from her second website about her fashion styling services.
Conclusion
If you have never worked from home before the pandemic, trying it might have been a severe shock to your family. However, do not lose hope…this is a great possibility to spend more time with your family. Many people lost their lives in the Covid battle. We are sure that everyone would give everything for one more day with their children and family if they had the chance to choose it…
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All of these activities can greatly benefit you. If you are reading this article, this means that you most probably want to best for your child. Mindful parenting and creating mindful moments for children is not an easy task but we hope that these activities can help you!
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