What to do in Quarantine Part 1

with kids

Hello, and good morning, as we all know, currently we are going through a hard time, with the New Virus the COVID19, as it has spread rapidly all over the world in the meantime the labs develop a Vaccine, most of us have been sent back home to follow some simple instructions and quarantine.

Beware, being in Quarantine doesn’t mean you Can't Get out of your house, it’s just mean that you need to stay away from other people as possible, avoid large gatherings, or social events, but if your house is big enough to have a patio or a deck, you can still go out, hey even if you live in a gated community.

Well, having that Out of the way, most works have sent people back to their houses for a 14 day period (and some cases even more) like the children, schools have shut down for over 3 weeks, with currently no return date at the moment due to the risk of kids being infected, high School and college have gone online to take their classes, but what happens to Jr High, Middle School, and Preschoolers? We have certain recommendations on what to do while on this forced Vacation, as they are going to get bored really fast.

This can be the best time ever to bond with your kids, I know you might be needed to be online for a couple of hours to do some work, but you will still have plenty of time to share with them, remember from the 24 hour time, they sleep about 9-10 hours (including naps) meals take about an hour and a half, and shower is another half, so that leaves you with 12 hours to plan a day, and we have several options for you to do so:

Homeschool

First thing first, these are not vacations, you should need to explain that to them, and tell them, that you’re going to keep learning things ( Internet will be still up and running ) get in touch with their Teacher, ask them, for the semester program, and work from there on, help them continue with the lessons in the scrapbook, Yes I know it might be hard for you to remember all the things they are seeing now, but you’re not alone, ask for help, get in touch with the teacher, other friends, this activity should take minimum 3 hours of the day.

Board Games

I know, it's overrated, and some kids will think it’s so old school, with technology and all, but this is something you can do as a Group activity, Grownups and kids of all ages! Purchase a couple of games for the local Store, like UNO, monopoly, scrabble, Jenga, it will always have a different outcome, and winner, make sure they read the instructions first as we never do and create our own rules ( yes I’m talking about the UNO and monopoly ones) and the good thing about it, is you can play them at the dining table, the living room, or even one of the kid’s bedrooms. No time limit.

Video Games

We all have a gaming console around the house, doesn’t matter if it's the last version or a classic one, video games, can help the development of motor skills, and problem-solving situations, allow the kids to have one spare hour a day to have fun, with their favorite games, beware if you have more than one kid, they might want to play different games, so put it up for a vote, and change their games every day, this will allow the activity to be fair for all, once over the time, just take the power cord off, and stored it until the next day.

Physical Activity games

Most of you, have a porch or a backyard, and several activities can be done there with the kids if you have a basketball board, or just a plain football, or gloves and baseballs, hey even simple things like Orange cones, so they can do races or other fun activities, the possibilities are endless, and the social distancing still remains, Here's another two extra ideas, have a dodgeball fight, a Water balloon fight, or just put plastic on the grass with soap and water, and let them slide, hours of fun.

Cooking Classes

Isolation is a great time to learn new things, or in this case, teach them, start with the basics to your kids, how to turn on the stove, what heat temperatures cooked which food, how to distinguish the types of knives, and for what purpose are each one, now for the little ones, o something more hands-on, like baking their own cookies, purchase some Dough, chocolate chips, sprinkles, several cookie cutters, and let their imagination run wild, they will love it, just don’t forget to put some aprons on them for the battered mess.

Movies

Nowadays we are blessed with all the online Streaming options we have at our disposal: Netflix, Prime Video, Disney +, Apple TV, Hulu and so on, there is always something available to watch on the TV, from family classics to the favorite TV shows, a recommendation here is make a schedule, where everyone can pick something to watch each day, or else you’ll be all fighting for the remote control, countless hours will be spent here, and better yet you can make them watch inspirational movies or timeless classics.

House Chores

Teach your kids how to be accountable, ask them to help you around the house with the everyday Chores (some might already do) Sweeping, helping set the diner table, taking the dirty clothes to the laundry, washing dishes, and even taking out the garbage are things that must be done daily, and can teach them how to be responsible, remember all this is a lifelong lesson, and not just for the quarantine.

Make them earn their snacks

This is something I stole, from a friend of mine that lives in Canada, Kids will be kids, and being home all day long, can take a toll on your fridge and pantry, as they will look for things to snack down all day long, and you will have to go to the store if not every day, every couple of days, making avoidance of the self encasement, Well, the idea is simple, put a price tag on the common snacks, the chips, the cookies, the crackers, and candies, and as I stated above, with the chores, now let them earn money for each chore they do (the example of my friend, everything was in cents, so not to confuse them with big numbers ) pretty neat right? They will have their own dashboard with earnings and all.

Do a sleepover/picnic

I know, you’re already inside your house, and can’t bring their friends over, but what if you can virtually Do, set up a tent in the living room, or even the backyard, get in touch with the moms of their friends, and set up a video call on the Tablets, so everyone can be inside the tent and watching and chatting with their friends, kids still need to talk to someone else, let them have some snacks, tell spooky stories and all. Now if you want to make it for your family, it can work also, set up a fire pit or bonfire, and cook some Smores, while you sing some campfire music.

Free time

Yes, let them play with their toys, use their imagination, sleep if they want to, just no running inside the house LOL, you don’t need to plan each hour of each day, just make sure you have certain things to entertain them with and keep their bodies and mind busy.

Browse thru old photos

Ask them questions about the pictures, Show them the ones before they were born, trips you might have take them to the beach, or other events, ask them what they liked about the trip, and if they would like to take another one ( of course they will, after being in closed quarters) just avoid pics where they could be sad, like if they lost a puppy or someone they really cared off.

This being said, Let me suggest you, to start planning a couple of days off Vacation, to a cool place like Cancun or Cabo, kids will really appreciate it, and it will be good for everyone’s mental health to be able to travel, and go outside the house, I know it might not be in the next couple of weeks, but how about for summer break, and as the saying goes, the early bird gets the bigger worm, so right now the airline tickets are incredible low, your club Solaris hotels give you the EBB discounts, and you can kickstart the Feelings of a trip.

This list might be incomplete, as many other activities can be done, Let's call this the short version, We are hoping this quarantine ends soon, so we can see you at your Home away from home, in the meantime, Stay safe and follow all the rules from the health Department.