How to Keep Kids Active during COVID-19 Outbreak

Imagine a world where kids happily find themselves busy and learning turns fun for students. Doing everything they want to and learning complex maths problems, tough science formulas, and more at ease. Due to the widespread virus, schools and colleges have been shut down. But there are some institutes and educational organizations that are making efforts online to keep the students aware of facts, figures, education and more.

But what about the junior ones? Staying at home due to curfew and lockdown can make them feel bored or irritated. How about turning their boredom into an entertaining experience, fun activity or a challenging task.

Schools are the best way to build a child’s mental strength, improve their curricular skills and more. But when there were no schools we still educated ourselves. Our parents engaged us in different activities that not only helped us in removing boredom but educating as well.

COVID-19 is a serious condition that is largely affecting our daily chores. This time will also not last for long. But why compromise with a Child’s growth and learning?

Learn more about COVID-19.

Being a parent, we always pre-plan the schedule for the summer vacations so that our kids’ don’t get involved in only watching TV every day. We plan for outings, putting them into learning additional skills, joining sport activities and more.

We reinstate their brain system with other creative activities and competitive programs every summer or over breaks to work for their good.

Adventure Points?

We have listed some of the best activities that encourage movement and help them enjoy activities without getting bored any further. As letting your kids out in the field nowadays is too dangerous check out some of the listed adventure points.

Sports

Even the WHO has stated that physical activities are really important for each individual. Healthy adults must do 30 min/day of physical activity and children should be physically active for 1 hour/day minimum. 

Physical activities help cope with stress as well as improve cardiorespiratory fitness. These activities build strong bones and muscles, relax the mind by reducing signs of anxiety and depression, keep you energetic and control weight. Furthermore, it reduces the risk of Heart disease, high blood pressure, obesity, and more health conditions.

 “SIT LESS & MOVE MORE”

Tips for encouraging Physical Activity

• As kids can’t be sent out for play, choose in-home activities your child likes and that are fun such as running around the yard, Walk up and down the Stairs Dancing to the music, Jumping Rope.
• Keep your child engaged by sharing different activities for trial such as Balancing the body with one leg, playing active video games, Yoga exercises that are quite interesting for the kid and he/she wants to complete the task.
• Build your child’s strength with physical activity such as doing some stretching exercise, washing the car at home, or pull-ups and push-ups.
• Praise and encourage your child by rewarding him for his work.
• Be active yourself which will create enthusiasm in your kind and involve the whole family. Practice old games such as UNO, Chess Hopscotch, Monopoly, Scrabble and more.

Learning

We can’t play with a child’s mind during COVID-19. No studies will make them less informative and only playful. Thus, it is important to add good habits in their daily workout plan. Learning helps in shaping one’s personality, furthermore builds their brain on how to deal with situations of life. 

• Play Learning Games with your Kid. For preschoolers, make them learn more about animals, numbers, colors, shapes, places, alphabets, word creation and more. For school-age children, one can cover history, anatomy, different languages, geography and more that excites them and builds interest.
• Make learning phonics an adventure point for the kid.
• Reading books in the field of literature, history, politics, and other numerous subjects contribute to them to think “out of the box” and enhance your kid’s thought process.
• Help your child discover his creative side by engaging him into activities such as crafts, playing an instrument, acting, writing, poetry, design and painting, and more
• Listen to a history podcast or make them watch a TED talk
• Watch/do a lesson from Udemy or Great Courses online and give them advanced learning benefits.
• Try Science Experiments at Home
• Make them explore world cultures
• Teach Math with old techniques and tools such as Abacus
• Play Vocabulary and discuss new terms each day.

Creativity

Creativity helps us express our thoughts and ideas openly. For kids, it is beneficial as it fosters mental growth, helps them express and cope with their inner feelings, build up confidence, develops and improves coordination as well as motor skills. 

Help nurture and encourage creativity in your kids by following some of the tips listed below:

• Make them writer story and perform drama
• Encourage art activities. Let them enjoy experimenting with texture, space, dough, clay, and colors in pieces of art. Let them draw, paint, make folding origami and more.
• Share some interesting quizzes and puzzles that will generate interest in them to make optimum use of their creative mind.
• Ask thought-provoking questions such “what do you think would happen if…?”
• Let them enjoy listening to music and singing.
• Make them write a mail or a letter to friends or family about the day.
• Try playing treasure hunt
• If your child loves cooking, let him try different recipes under the supervision of someone older at home to avoid any mishappening.
• Make your child read storybooks to siblings and develop good communication skills within your child.

Make a more similar list of fun activities for your kid that you find will help develop his/her skills. The best you can do to ensure your kid is enjoying these activities is to create a competition amid your kids by allotting points for each game or activity.

Decide on the Reward for the winner so that his motivation level stays high. 

COVID-19 has created havoc in countries but has brought us close to our family as well. No offices, No schools. All you have is the time to unite together and make memories that will always stay close to the heart when the storm fades. It’s the time to relive your childhood with your kid. 

Read More: Coronavirus Precautions one must take

Feel free to share some of your fun ways to encourage creativity and enhance physical movement during COVID-19 lockdown time at home?