Everyone – from children to parents to grandparents – is adjusting to the new normal that includes closed schools and stay at home orders. It’s a scenario which has left parents and caregivers, as well as teachers perplexed.
As teachers work doing all they can to keep education moving forward, here at Sky High Sports, the Home of Active Family Fun, we’d like to help! Safety and health are our top priorities, so as we remain closed due to state and local gathering requirements, the Sky High team has developed these tips to help you and your family stay active, healthy, and learning through it all!
Fun and learning go hand in hand. And though your family’s routine has been disrupted by the coronavirus quarantine, Sky High Sports has some great ideas to keep everyone engaged in learning while having fun together. Let’s go!
Read Interactively
While reading alone should occupy some of the time at home, reading interactively is a great alternative. It benefits both literacy and language, and helps your child’s attention span. While reading from all genres including graphic novels, short stories, and even magazines is a good start, now is the ideal time to pick a big, beloved classic to read together as a family.
As you make your way through the story, ask your children what they think is coming next, how they relate to characters, and what they believe the characters are feeling. Soon, you’ll find the entire family bonding over what may be a favorite from your own childhood.
Travel Virtually
During this time, while everyone is stuck at home, museums, municipalities, and other organizations around the world are offering virtual tours. You and your family can become virtual tourists and visit the world learning about countries, cultures, art, history – you name it! You can also use the time to try recipes from the countries you “visit” as well as read books by native authors, and try your hand at imitating famous works of art. It can also be a great time to build your bucket list for travel when the quarantines are lifted, and the coronavirus is eradicated.
Gaming Inside
Game night wouldn’t be complete without a game of Charades, where youngest to oldest can easily join in the fun! Acting as an exotic creature, celebrity, or an action, such as brushing your teeth, will have the entire family shouting answers. For more indoor fun, play hide and seek with your little ones. This will encourage everyone to stay active around the house, while also engaging in a friendly-competition.
Puzzles are another fun way to bring the family together, choose one, and set it up in a place everyone can join in the challenge. Arts and crafts are also a great indoor option. Turn the artsy project into a challenge in which participants must create a work of art out of “found items” from inside and outside the house. You could even join together to create a memory book of the fun things you do during the quarantine.
Head Outside for More Fun
Though most states have implemented stay-at-home orders, it doesn’t mean you have to stay inside. Take everyone outside for walks (as permitted) or a fun game of I Spy. Grab the sidewalk chalk and create outdoor masterpieces or draw a hopscotch pattern and teach your kids to play.
Have the family all join in to plan and plant a garden – flowers or foods or both! Order plants from your local nursery or home improvement store for curbside pickup and get to planting. Not only will your kids learn a new skill, but you’ll also reap the harvest long after the quarantine has passed.
Reach back in the recesses of your mind and recall the outdoor games you played as a child, which your children (of the digital age) might have missed out on. Encourage outdoor play by joining in the fun. And remember the classic outdoor games you remember can be altered as needed to fit your family – large or small and add to the fun!
Hide and Seek is the ultimate classic, so choose your “IT” and let the fun begin. Tag is another beloved classic, and offers up a number of variations from traditional tag with “no tag-backs” to Freeze Tag. There’s also the classic jump roping and relay races. Then, who can forget the giggles of a timeless game of Red Light, Green Light or Mother May I. Simon Says and Duck, Duck, Goose, also join the lineup of classic games that kids of all ages enjoy.
Let the Fun Begin!
This is a difficult time for all your family members, regardless of their roles. The point here is to maintain as much normalcy as possible, not only for the kids, but for your entire family. Encourage one another by joining together for learning and light-hearted fun. When this “storm” has passed, you and your family will likely have fun memories and new family traditions to cherish!
We hope you enjoyed our fun, healthy, and safe quarantine activities from our team at Sky High Sports!
