Are you scrambling to find activities to do with your kids at home?

If you are one of these lucky parents that gets to work from home, then you may also be worrying about how you are going to keep your kids engaged while juggling work, and ensuring that your kids keep up with their education.

Can You Really Get Work Done while Working from Home?

Sure. It’s possible. But it does depend on a variety of factors.

  • You have someone else at home to help.

Family member

If you have someone else at home to engage your kids (like another stay-at-home parent), you could get lots of work done. Or if you both work, you could take turns looking after the kids while the other works. I know that some parents will work different shifts on purpose.

Alternatively, some parents have employed a creative balance of working for 2 hours, and then taking a break to look after young kids while the other works for 2 hours.

It is also helpful if you have a dedicated room with a door that you can close to work in. You can then teach your kids not to disturb you when your door is closed.

Paid nanny/tutor

If you are lucky enough to have a nanny or tutor at home, maximize the amount of work that you can get done, while that paid help is around. If you want to save on costs, find out if your neighbor’s college or school-aged kid is interested in doing some nannying/tutoring since they may be stuck at home as well.

Childcare swap

If you have other stay-at-home parents who live close by with similar-aged kids, you could do a childcare swap.

For example, you could look after the kids on Mondays while the other parent does Tuesdays. In this way, you both get some time to yourselves to get work done. Just make sure that everyone agrees to practice social distancing at other times to keep everyone safe.

  • Your kids ages.

The younger the kids, the needier they will be and the less likely that you will be able to get work done without any other help around. Tip: screen time is extremely useful for getting work done. If you schedule screen time wisely, you will be able to get a fair bit done.

Older kids can amuse themselves independently for longer stretches of time. You probably only need to pop in to provide guidance and check in on older kids once every hour or every couple of hours. But always get their buy-in first by seeking their opinions as to how they want their day to look like and what they want to work on. The more they get to participate in the decision-making, the more co-operative they will be.

  • Your kids’ personalities & siblings.

Some young kids crave other’s attention all the time, while others can play by themselves for longer stretches of time (or tend to get into less trouble).

Siblings that play together tend to keep themselves engaged for longer too. If there is an older sibling that is able to help with younger siblings, you can also get them to help out so that you can work.

Teenagers prefer to be left alone. No problem there, as long as you agree on a schedule of what you both want your teen to achieve during the week.

Spending Quality Time Together Is A Must.

Amy McCready has written a book that I found extremely useful for managing kid misbehavior and frequent attention needs.

She talks about the importance of spending at least 10 minutes quality one-on-one time with your kid at the start and end of every day.

I employ this technique in our day by allowing my preschooler (3 years old) to choose the 10 minute activity that she wants us to do together (Play Time) before we spend another 5-15 minutes doing learning activities together (Learning Time). She is much more cooperative in the learning process after she has gotten my undivided attention during Play Time. I also warn her in advance that after Play and Learning Time, she will need to give me some time to get my work done.

After we complete Play and Learning Time, she will normally play by herself for another 15 minutes- 30 minutes while I whip out some work quickly.

What Your Day May Look Like

I am the main person in charge of looking after my young kid while my husband works full-time from home. I work my own hours and I am very much part-time. Currently, my husband works for 2 hour intervals and takes a break from work while looking after our kid for 30 minutes while I power work.

If I were the sole person in charge of looking after my young kid at home and I had a full-time job, it would be ESSENTIAL that I have someone else in the house who is able to manage my kid while I get things done.

For any parent that plans to work from home with kids, the key to achieving success is to have:

  • A schedule
  • But remain extremely FLEXIBLE
  • Have a backup plan.

By this, I mean that you should have a plan of what you want to achieve for the day (for you and your kids) but don’t blow up if things don’t work out to plan (they often don’t).

A backup plan could mean staying up late at night to finish work. If my plan gets completely derailed, I try to make up for it at night (when my kid has gone to sleep) or I just reschedule everything again for the next day if it’s not urgent.

For example, I normally plan to spend two to three different time slots during the day doing learning activities with my 3 year old. Currently, we are working on learning to read, write & STEM topics but I take my child’s lead on what activities we do, and how long each lesson lasts. Sometimes my kid will lose focus after only one minute because she has no interest in the subject matter. Other times, I can keep her engaged for more than 20 minutes.

Currently our daily schedule for my preschooler looks something like this:

Morning
– Activity or exercise outdoors- between 20 mins to 1 hour.
– We do one hour of house chores together or she plays by herself.
– 10 mins of Play Time.
– 5-10 mins of Learning Time.
– 15-30 mins of  independent play while I churn out some work.
– My husband plays with our kid while I church out more work.
– I prepare/cook a quick lunch.

After Lunch
– 10 mins Play Time.
– 5-10 mins of Learning Time.
– 15-30 mins of  independent play while I churn out some work.
– I do more house chores or we both take an afternoon nap/rest.
– My husband plays with our kid while I church out more work.

Before Dinner
– 5-10 mins of Craft/Creative/Story Time.
– Cook dinner together or she plays independently.
– Dinner.
– We may squeeze in a phone call to family if we have extra time.
– Daddy takes over to play with our kid or give her screen time, gives her a shower and puts her to bed while I squeeze in another 2-3 hours of work.

For older kids, you can create a stricter time schedule. But remember, it’s important that they come up with their schedule themselves (subject to your approval).

15 Activities to Do with Your Kids at Home During the Coronavirus

We all need to boost up on ideas for activities to do with our kids while we are stuck at home during the Coronavirus lockdown.

Here are some ideas that I have used myself or gathered from others:

  1. Fun Activity Books & Educational Materials.

I personally really love combining fun and learning together. I don’t think that they need to be separate. For example, I love fun educational activity books; or sensory learning materials that teach useful concepts. The Dollar Stores or $1 Target Spots are fantastic for affordable learning material.

We also create a lot of our own Activity Books to supplement what we get in the shops:

  1. Creative Crafts & Using the Imagination.

When kids are stuck at home, one way to keep them engaged is to explore new crafts or use their imagination to play make-believe.

For younger kids, they will love activities like building a pillow fort or going on a scavenger hunt for hidden things around the house.

For older kids, set them a creative challenge, such as, to create a castle out of cardboard boxes. Our ‘older kid’ (daddy) and 3 year old had a ball of a time making a castle with a drawbridge.

If you have school-aged kids who seem unmotivated or lack direction in their life, a Vision Board is a creative and fun way to help them discover what their dreams are. It will not only bring them more clarity about what they want, but it will also give you insight into what they are passionate about.  A highly recommended activity for both adults and kids.

  1. Cooking, Housework & Life Skills.

I think that one of the biggest bonuses in having the kids at home with you, is the opportunity to teach them valuable life skills like cooking, baking and housework. Regardless of whether they turn out to be the CEO of a Fortune 100 company that has multiple housekeepers or chefs, there is no harm in them acquiring basic life skills.

I love it when my kid does house chores with me. This not only helps me get things done, but she is also learning about hard work and responsibility. I believe that kids that learn to do house chores are less likely to grow up entitled.

Once I started cooking with my 3 year old, I was amazed by how much she loved it (she loves it a lot more than I do as you need a ton of patience when cooking with a young kid). My husband regularly does baking with our 3 year old too.

Some house chores that my 3 year old has done decently, include loading laundry, sweeping leaves, watering the garden, vacuuming, putting away her own clothes and setting the table.

If you have a pet, your kid could also help to walk and look after it.

Older kids will be able to do a lot more house chores. I personally don’t believe in paying your kids to do housework; everyone needs to play their part in maintaining the house if they live in it. However, you should do whatever works well for your family.

  1. Entrepreneurship.

Whether you want your kid to be an entrepreneur or not, we believe that it’s important for every kid to learn some entrepreneurial skills.

Young kids can start with simple things like looking for old toys to sell, or selling handmade crafts on Facebook marketplace, Etsy or Offer Up. For safety reasons, you would need to help younger kids when it comes to liaising with actual buyers.

For us, we trialed starting a small kid business selling fruits from our garden and it turned out to be really successful.

  1. STEM activities.

STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Math) are fast becoming the industries and jobs of the future.

We started a 365 day challenge to find as many STEM activities for young kids as we could. Examples of STEM activities include puzzles, creating with LEGO, pattern recognition with beads and watching the transformation of a caterpillar to a butterfly.

  1. Indoor Exercises.

If your kids are stuck at home, it’s important to include some physical activity into your day when you can.

For younger kids, you could organize indoor games like hopscotch, yoga or obstacle courses.

For older kids that are allowed more screen time, you could allow them to play Wii games that encourage physical exercise like virtual tennis, bowling and archery.

The important thing is to have some activity that allows them to let off some steam. Even better, join in and get some exercise for yourself too!

  1. Screen Time.

Screen time will be your best friend when you absolutely have to make a business call, but your kids won’t leave you alone.

I know that we have all heard that we should limit our kids’ amount of screen time. I agree but it’s not as bad when the screen time is also educational in nature.

There are a ton of online educational apps and games as well as YouTube videos.

Even if your kid only wants to watch cartoons on Netflix, check out if they are available in other languages by changing your profile settings. Languages available include Mandarin, Korean, Spanish, French and Russian. At the very least, your kid will be learning a new language during their screen time.

  1. Audio Options.

The great thing about living in the 21st century is that we have access to so many kinds of free resources now. If your kid enjoys audio lessons, there are many audio books, podcasts, apps and even educational programs on Spotify and Amazon Music.

You can give your kid some guided listening exercises to answer questions like, “What did you learn?” “What surprised you?” and “What do you want to find out more about?”

The best part is that they may be happy to do this activity independently, which frees up time for you to get some work done.

  1. Extending Hobbies.

Use this Coronavirus lockdown period as an opportunity to let your kids pursue the activities and hobbies that they are interested in.

For example, if they love singing, you could get them a microphone or karaoke set; if they love carpentry, you could do a building project together; if they love jewelry, you could do beading projects; if they love electronics, you could work on a simple circuit project together; if they love painting, you could get them paint canvasses or even figurines to paint.

  1. Outdoor Activities.

Most kids won’t be able to stand being stuck at home indoors for too long a time. If you have a garden or space for your kid to play, then activities like chalk art, tag, water play, sand play and bubbles can be especially fun.

For example, using chalk, I created a simple educational game for our 3 year old by drawing different colored shapes on the ground with numbers in the middle. My 3 year old had to jump to the shape, color or number I named. I also repeated the game in two other languages. She really enjoyed it.

For the more active kids, they may enjoy shooting balls into a hoop or kicking a soccer ball into a net.

If you don’t have space to play in, then go for a walk, jog or cycle around the neighborhood together. If you have a park close by, even better. Not only will your kid be growing their gross motor skills, hand-eye-foot coordination and stamina, but they will also be getting exercise.

A long walk in nature is a great opportunity to do an environmental science lesson too.

  1. Board & Card Games.

I find that almost all board and card games have educational value.

For example, Monopoly teaches about choices, money skills and investment. Cluedo can teach logic and deduction. Pictionary increases your linguistic, creativity and drawing skills.

For younger kids, there are also board and card games like Go Fish and Old Maid that teach number recognition and pair-matching.

  1. Book Time.

It’s always a good idea to encourage your kids to read books.

For younger kids who can’t read independently yet, you may have to read the book out loud to them. You can always extend the story time activity with a related activity after the story finishes.

For older kids, you can create a reading list together and discuss what your kid found interesting, scary or useful. Take the opportunity to teach them creativity and values by asking them if they would have done the same thing if they were in the story. Teach them about consequences by asking them what they think might happen after the protagonist does something.

There are a lot of free resources online to find e-books. For example, if you have a library account, you can use Libby or OverDrive to borrow e-books directly from the comfort of your home. For websites that provide free e-books, you can try Free-Ebooks.net or for more contemporary books, try BookBub.

  1. Meeting New Friends.

When kids are stuck at home, one of the biggest things that they will miss are their friends.

However, this is also a great time to introduce them to new ways of making friends. Do you remember the thrill of receiving a letter from a friend in the mail? Why not help your kids find pen pals across the world?

If you are on social media like Facebook, you could ask other parents whether they have similar-aged kids interested in becoming a pen pal. An easy place to find other parents are parent groups.

For example, I easily found 2 pen pals for my 3 year old by responding to another parent who was also looking for pen pals for her kids. The fun part is that they are in different parts of the country. I also have friends with similar-aged kids in other parts of the world and our kids have started corresponding with each other. They exchange handmade cards, crafts, stickers, stories and pictures.

Having a pen pal encourages younger kids to learn how to read and write. For older kids, it may introduce them to another culture and pen pals give them perspective on life in another part of the world.

If you have a big family scattered around the country or around the world, you can also encourage your kids to write snail mail to them. Family members love letters and photos. We have also made bookmarks and beaded jewelry to be sent to family members.

If you want to teach your kid about serving and helping others, encourage them to write to people in senior care homes.

Our local postal service, USPS, will actually do free pickups from your home if you use their website to book a letter or package pickup, 24 hours in advance. This means that you don’t even have to leave your home to post the letters.

  1. Subscription Boxes.

Subscription boxes will come in handy when you run out of ideas to entertain your child.

You pay a monthly fee and companies will send you boxes filled with educational activities for your kid to do. Popular ones I have seen are KiwiCo (STEM), Little Passports and Bitsbox (coding).

The great thing about subscription boxes is that they remove all the planning and thinking that you need to do. They provide all the materials and they often come up with ideas that the average parent doesn’t think about.

  1. Online Learning Platforms & Resources.

There are a huge variety of free online learning platforms and resources that you can use for your kids. Below are just some examples. We have curated a list of more than 100+ resources- just contact us at the beginning or bottom of this article for your copy.

GENERAL SCHOOL TOPICS

STEM/STEAM

HISTORY

FINANCE

KID BUSINESS/ENTREPRENEURSHIP

ART

POETRY

MUSIC

LITERARY WRITING

CODING

COOKING

CULTURE

LANGUAGES

EXERCISE

GARDENING

TEST PREP SAT, ACT

COLLEGE & ADULTS

TODDLERS & KINDERGARTEN

Remember that we have an exhaustive list of more than 100+ online learning platforms & resources. If you are interested in this list, then submit your details below and we will send you a free download of the list.

Being stuck at home with kids during the Coronavirus period is not an easy time for parents. However, we choose to see this time as a blessing because we get to spend more time with our kid and do activities with her that we normally wouldn’t have time to do.

We hope that the above list of activities to do with kids during the Coronavirus will help you too.

Stay safe & stay sane!