Learning should never be confined inside the four walls of the school. At home, there are ways to continue your kids’ learning while keeping them engaged and entertained. More hours at home could breed negative habits such as using gadgets longer, oversleeping, or binge-watching TV shows and movies. While these activities can be fun and beneficial in moderation, too much of them could impede your child’s growth and development.
From learning a new language and baking to fun crafts and challenging puzzles, here are activities you can do with your kids to avoid cabin fever and keep the joy of learning alive.
1. Gardening
Horticulture and tree care is a fun and stimulating year-round activity. Keep your kids away from screens to the backyard by including gardening into their routine. You can set up a greenhouse and grow fast-growing vegetables from seeds, or plant trees in your backyard. You can even teach them to turn their food scraps into compost or make fertilizers using natural materials from the pantry.
There is a host of skills you can teach your kids, from mixing soil and watering plants to transplanting seedlings. Not only will it help them develop a green thumb, but it will also educate them about how their food is made and instill a love of nature and the environment.
2. Cooking
Cooking and baking are essential skills to have across all ages and genders. Build your kids up to be self-sufficient adults by teaching them how to cook early. You can buy kid-safe cooking tools for them and let them assist you in the kitchen. You can start with basic skills such as slicing, dicing, peeling, frosting, and making cookie batters. It is true that the more you cook, the healthier you live. Cooking allows you to control how much fat, sugar, and nutrients you introduce into your diet. If your kids experience the hard work you put into every meal, they will be more appreciative and hesitant to waste their food.
3. Solving puzzles
Most kids play games using their mobile devices and computers nowadays. While there are kid safety features in most devices, you can’t guarantee if they’re spending their time and energy on worthwhile games. Introduce variety by playing physical board and puzzle games with your young ones. Scrabble is a classic, brain-training activity that every kid should experience. Look up puzzles that are appropriate for your kid’s age and level and host problem-solving nights a couple of times a week.
4. Painting
Do your kids have a creative streak? Create a kid-friendly version of “Paint and Wine” nights at home but with juice boxes and snacks. Set up a mini studio complete with easels, different brushes, and paints, and have your kids paint something new every week. Encourage them to appreciate their work and love art by hanging their paintings on your walls. You can even sell some of them to earn extra cash.
5. Exploring space
Whether with a telescope or via the Internet, exploring space with your kids is a great activity to do during quiet nights, especially during the few hours before bedtime. There is something relaxing about observing stars and watching pictures of galaxies. It’s also good to remind your kids of how big the universe is to give them something to look forward to, as prolonged isolation can cause people to feel detached and small.
6. Writing
Remember how you used to record every single event, thought, or experience in your diary back in the day, then finding it in a box years later and feeling grateful to have kept a journal growing up? Most kids don’t even know the concept of diaries these days. Get your kids writing and developing their written communication skills by encouraging them to keep a journal. Don’t force it, of course. Just walk them through the process and benefits, and get them the tools they need, and let them know that it’s completely up to them to record their lives. The last they need is more homework.
7. Indoor basketball
Basketball is not only a fun workout for kids, it’s also a mentally stimulating activity. It can help improve motor skills and coordination, improve sleeping habits, and reduce stress. Boredom can be bad for your kids’ health and learning, so mix up your daily activities with something physical and engaging.
Keeping your young ones entertained and stimulated can be challenging, even more so if you juggle work, schoolwork, and house chores. But these activities can be part of your routine already, you just need to get your kids to join in the fun.
