How To Engage Kids During Lockdown?

Photo by Jelleke Vanooteghem on Unsplash

The pandemic Coronavirus has taken a toll on the entire world and India is no exception. Thanks to our Indian Government that has taken the lockdown decision and request people to stay home and stay safe. So, schools were the first institution that gets closed to curtail the pandemic situation. Later, the announcement of 21 days lockdown also forces parents to stay at home but continue to work from home.

The situation is overwhelming but it also brings exhaustion. Now that you have to manage work, family, household chores and kids altogether, life is really tough for you. Kids are happy that you are home for 24 hours. What’s next? How do you want to handle all the things without a pinch of frustration? Are you seeing yourself in the middle of nowhere? 

Planning Is The Key

Then, let me tell you planning makes you win the game. There is no rule book to follow but you have to engage your kids in such a way that they remain productive most of the time during this lockdown period.

Kids especially younger ones are unaware of this crisis. They only know that school time is a holiday, parents are at home. Hence, every day is a weekend for them. They do not understand your work priority. Hence, they crave more attentions, demands, and show tantrums to their parents.

Educate Your Kids

Discuss coronavirus with your kids in detail. What is the coronavirus? How and from where it spread? What are the safety measures? Why does the Government ask every citizen of India to stay home? What is self-isolation, quarantine words mean? The more you educate them, the more they will become self-aware. Kids are energetic soul and when you feed positivity in them, they will try to give that positivity to the world too. Make this conscious effort towards your child and you will win half of the game. 

Also, make them sit and talk about your work, online meeting, report submission. Kids love discussions. When you discuss your life with them, they feel confident. They think that they play an important role in your life. So, never ignore, shout on kids to bring out the frustrations of your work and managing home during this moment. Rather take them along with you in this lockdown journey and they will become your strong support system.

Also, the house helps are on paid leaves now. It is the responsibility of each family member including in-laws to split the household chores. Sometimes, the elder generation also shows tantrums. Ask them for help shamelessly so that couples cum parents can manage everything smoothly on time. 

Things You Can Do To Engage Your kids During Lockdown

Maintain the routine- You must be following the routine before the lockdown, then why you should break it. If your kid used to wake up at 7.00 am for school, then continue to do the same even after lockdown. Utilize the school time say suppose from 8.00 am to 1.00 or 2.00 pm for in-home schooling.

But, do not make it boring. Engage them with all types of educational activities at home. Sometimes kids share their ideas and you should not sound authoritative rather encourage your kids to share ideas and implement some ideas that you find will work for your kids

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Talk with friends and teachers- Now, most schools and home tutors started online learning facilities through a video call. Take part in such activities with your kids. This activity will kill the boredom of your kid. They can talk and see their favorite teacher and clear doubts anytime. They can even talk with friends and share their pieces of talk related to anything. 

Engage in motivational and physical activities- Beware! Staying at home means an increase in screen time. They will want to spend more time on television. They will glue to your Smartphone for hours. Your laptops can become their playing toys. Most parents find it easy solution to control the tantrum of a kid. But, in the long run, it can strongly affect their physical ability. 

Hence, this lockdown will help you and your kid to engage in other activities. Ask your kid to clean and organize things in their room. If you love gardening, ask them to assist you and teach the importance of nature in this concrete world. When the man of the house enters the kitchen, let your kids help their fathers. It increases the father-kid bond. And, they will learn that no work is gender-biased. 

Learn new skills- As parents, it is the time to explore your hidden talents and let your kid know about it too. Encourage your kid to learn new skills during this period. Both of you can take up this new skill to stay motivated. Take the help of YouTube if you want and learn a new skill that you will charge up throughout the day and cut the boredom.

Explore kids’ talent through social media- Let's be real, we cannot stay apart from the addiction of social media. Even your kids know about this online world more than you. So, it is time for you to make short videos of your kids’ talent (dance, paint, sing, guitar, DIYs) and share it with the world. You can even take part with your kids to break the shyness of your kid. Let’s spread positivity with some creativity. It is very much needed in this current scenario. 

Conclusion

Initial days for engaging your kids in the above activities will be tough. But you are not super mom or dad. You have to be a real mom and real dad to make the best of this lockdown situation. It allows you to enjoy perfect family bonding time. Let’s not overpower negativity in our life. Have you started engaging your kids during this lockdown? No, Then, start today!

 Click here to know how to get your kid to do chores.

Diapnnita is a stay-at-home freelancer and Youtuber mom. She believes in gender equality and finds perfection in imperfection. You can connect with her at Youtube, Facebook, and Instagram. 

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Disclaimer: The opinions expressed in this post are the personal views of the author. They do not necessarily reflect the views of The Mom Store