–   OCTOBER 2021   –

Kids’ games and activities to help through lockdown

If you’re a parent or have young children in your care, life in lockdown can be exceptionally testing. In our own team, we’ve exchanged tips and tricks to help keep us all going. Sharing the love, we’ve put together a list of the games and activities that we’ve used as our go-to source of inspiration when we are all out of ideas!

Here’s 10 ideas to help make family time more fun through lockdown:

1. Hide-and-seek
   A few rounds of hide-and-seek can be a great way to break up the day, when transitioning from one activity to the next during home schooling.

2. Kicking a footy
   It’s amazing how long this can keep kids entertained for! Setting some age-appropriate challenges for increasing the level of difficulty can help extend the longevity of this activity. Homemade obstacle courses to dribble the ball around, using household items instead of cones have proved popular with our kids so we recommend giving it a try.

3. Bike rides
   Adding a quest element to bike rides can make them more exciting if your child’s enthusiasm is waning. We’ve set quest challenges such as looking out for things that are a specific colour, birds and other wildlife, or things commonly seen in gardens to switch things up a bit and keep our kids engaged.

4. Board / card games
   A trusty staple when it comes to keeping kids from boredom is a good old board game or card game. To make this more exciting, depending on the age of your children, they could make their own game as a craft project, or play a new version of an existing game by changing the rules to it.

5. Dance parties (with strobe light app!)
   If all else fails, dance it out! A tried and tested winner! Mini dance parties are great for an energising boost, playing a couple of tracks as loud as your neighbours allow and freestyling. You can make it different each day by dancing ‘in the style of’ – a kangaroo, an ostrich, a possum – and whatever else you can think of to keep things fun. Our kids have loved using the strobe app to add to the party feel (although this is not suitable to use for anyone with epilepsy or who suffers with seizures).

6. Cooking and baking
   When maths lessons have hit a wall, we’ve found it helpful to use cooking and baking as opportunities to practice measuring skills, and exploring creative expression in the form of the food’s presentation.
   
   
7. Bubbles
   Nobody is ever too old for bubbles! The bigger the better!
   
   
8. Couch fort
   Who doesn’t love a couch fort? Perfect for kids and their favourite cuddly toys.

9. Picnics
   Indoors, outdoors – we love a good picnic! Asking each family member to suggest one food they’d like included in the picnic selection ensures even the fussiest eater can look forward to picnic time.

10. Rock painting
    Suitable for all ages and abilities, there are endless possibilities when it comes to rock painting. If your kids are out of ideas, setting themes for what to paint on their rocks – flowers, faces, favourite animals, or crazy animals combos putting two animals together in one can help extend the activity. The painted rocks could even be incorporated into homemade board games.
    

We hope this gives you something to spark joy and keep your children smiling!