For the next couple weeks and possibly more, we need to practice social distance to prevent the spread of the COVID-19 outbreak. This means that a lot of people are working from home if possible and schools are closed. Here are a few ideas of things you can do with your child during these times to maintain productive and meaningful days!
1. Keep regular wake-up and bedtimes
Organizations such as the National Sleep Foundation suggest that keeping the same schedule for waking up and going to sleep each day promotes overall health (sleep.org). School provides a great routine for this with kids. When school is cancelled and you don’t have to wake up to catch a bus, though, it can be easy to fall into a pattern of sleeping in until whenever. Waking up consistently at the same time during this break can help ensure your child is getting the right amount of sleep and create a comfortable routine when everything else feels a bit chaotic. Especially if you are trying to do some home-schooling methods, having a morning routine still in place will help give a positive start to the day!
2. Participate in movement-based activities
Kids stuck at home without their regular schedule might be feeling a lot of pent-up energy. Without an outlet for that energy, keeping the calm in the house and keeping focus on any learning activities could be quite difficult. Creating opportunities for movement in a fun and educational format is a great way to use this energy productively! Whether you create something on your own or want to utilize a class being taught online, there are a lot of options (And Spectrum Creative Arts will be offering live-stream movement classes starting the week of March 23rd!). In addition to live-stream options, there are several YouTube movement videos that are available at any time. Fun ideas on your own could include creating an obstacle course in your living room (try an army crawl through a sea of pillows!) or taking 10 minutes for dance party breaks throughout the day.
3. Play, teach new, or create your own games
A lot of people have been recommending playing board games while we can’t leave the house, which can be super fun if you find one your family enjoys! This could also be a great opportunity to teach a new game to your child (and even though kids might not realize, learning a new game works on a whole lot of important development skills, too, like following directions, maintaining focus, and taking turns!). If you don’t have many board games but have a simple deck of cards, the internet can be a great help to find new games with just that. And if you can’t find quite what you’re looking for, then you and your child can create a new game together! This especially can help give your child a sense of control and opportunities for choice-making in a time that seems a bit scary.
4. Create social stories with your child
Explaining the current situation with the COVID-19 virus can be quite difficult with kids. We want them to understand the importance of social distancing and why school is closed, but we don’t want to scare them with information they don’t quite understand. Social stories are a model that providers and educators frequently use to share information to kids in an appropriate way. You can start by making simple, short sentences, such as, ”Today my school is closed. This is different than normal. We are staying home to stay healthy. We will be okay.” Then, add a short song or pictures to each of these statements, and have your child help create these! Involving your child in the creation of this social story can provide with them with a better understanding of the situation as well as an increased sense of control, which can be quite important in times like this.
5. Save time for regular breaks when possible
If you are suddenly going from your child being at school 8 hours a day to having them stuck in the house with you 24/7, that can be overwhelming for everybody. Understand that you will most definitely feel frustrated at times, you don’t have to become a perfect home-schooling teacher, and it’s okay to take breaks! Since a lot of us can’t leave the house at this time, we will just have to be more creative in how we take these breaks. If you are able to have another guardian stay with your children, give yourself a 10-minute walk outside or another activity you enjoy. If you are not able to leave your child with another guardian, then find something like a 10-minute educational YouTube video they can watch with headphones while you take time for yourself to breathe deeply and relax. This gives your child their own time to take a break as well, which might be needed with a sudden change in their routine. However you have to do it, just remember that your own self-care is important and necessary all the time, but especially during a time like this!
Katie is a board-certified music therapist at Spectrum Creative Arts. She works primarily with students age K-5 in the school and clinic settings. Katie utilizes her clinical experience to write songs and create individualized interventions, and she has played piano for over 15 years.