Kids and isolation

I have young kids how do I tell them we aren’t allowed to go out? How do I keep them entertained during a period of isolation?

At the time of writing we haven’t yet been told to isolate unless we have symptoms of Coronavirus COVID 19, but I am very much working on the assumption it will come at some stage and as my blog post (here) explains I believe planning is key.

With that in mind I wanted to provide a couple of ideas I will be using with my own kids to ensure a period of self-isolation is as fun, safe and enjoyable as it possibly can be.

1. Keep learning. My first tip is to ensure your children have an active mind no matter what provision there is from your school or education provider. A great resource to help with this and one that is used by a lot of teachers is https://www.twinkl.co.uk/

2. Learn a new skill, ours is going to be a language with https://www.duolingo.com/ but we have never been in a better place to learn remotely. Youtube videos, subscription services, podcasts there are now so many provisions online all we have to do is take advantage of them.

3. Consider yours and your children’s mental health. Probably the most important item in this list during an extended period of time at home with lower amounts of social interaction. Talk to them about their feelings, it might help to encourage them to write them down in the form of a journal, probably something you should also consider. Other activities you could do to encourage healthy mindfulness is exercise see below and meditation, encourage your kids to talk about their mental health and it will help you to do so to.

4. Exercise & healthy diet. Being stuck at home it is going to be very easy to fall out of a normal healthy routine without the ability to go to the gym and the necessity to meal plan especially with the kids in tow, but why not get them involved? Bodyweight exercise is sufficient if done correctly and there is already lots of home workout ideas on Youtube with the likes of Joe Wicks and I am sure there will be more released over the next few weeks. My kids love having a dance round the living room, it doesn’t have to be any more formal than this.

Further updates and tips to come from myself and team.

Don’t forget to make it fun!