Hi Parents!
We get it: working from home while also trying to keep kids active, busy, and safe all day long is quite an adjustment. We’re sure you’ve come up with a lot of ideas to occupy your children and maintain their educational performance as you shelter in place. We’re also fairly sure that, as in our own homes, those ideas only hold your kids’ interest for so long. The struggle to find fresh activities every day is ongoing!
We’d like to take a moment to tell you that you’re doing a fantastic job. This is uncharted territory for all of us, and there is no single right way to navigate it. You know what works for your family, so try to remain confident in that knowledge and keep doing your best. Please remember to take some time for yourself, and to ask for help when you need it.
Even though most of us are confined to our homes for the majority of the time right now, the truth still holds that we’re all in this together. In the interest of maintaining our sense of community (and sanity!) The team at Dr.STITCH thought it might be helpful to share a few of the most engaging and positive activities we’ve enjoyed with our families as of late.
We hope some of these ideas are hits at your house.
Get Moving
With the absence of recess, gym class, and interactions with their friends, kids are bound to get antsy. Physical activity is necessary to keep young bodies healthy, and encouraging children to burn off some energy will also help them stay focused for school time. Some ideas:
- Find “dance-along” videos on the internet and bust a move as a family. GoNoodle has a lot of silly options!
- On slips of paper, write out individual physical activities (think jumping jacks, push-ups, or stair sprints). Put these slips into a bag or hat, then instruct kids to roll a die and pick a slip. They need to do as many repetitions of the activity they’ve chosen as the die tells them to.
- Check out some online workouts for kids, like the ones by The Body Coach.
Tour a Museum (Virtually)
It can be tempting to feel isolated when working and educating from home, but there are many museums that have created virtual tours. Why not expose your kids to some of the world’s amazing art, most incredible natural wonders, or feats of engineering? Here are just a few:
- Metropolitan Museum of Art (MET)
- Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History
- The Louvre
- Getty Museum
- MoMA (The Museum of Modern Art)
- National Museum of the United States Air Force
Say Hi to Teachers
Your child’s teacher is used to seeing him or her every weekday, and we can bet the lack of contact is wearing on them. Teachers are missing their students right now! Have your child write an email, picture, or card to his or her teacher, just saying hello and catching up on what they’ve been up to. This is a great way to practice writing and will mean the world to the teacher who has invested so much in your child. Also consider writing their teacher a note, yourself – we’re sure your respect for what they do every day has increased monumentally, and it’s important to show your appreciation!
Have Fun!
Yes, these are stressful times. But this is also an unprecedented opportunity to spend quality time with your family. So why not shake off your worries for a little while and enjoy some extra laughs, smiles, and fun? Try, for starters, a rousing game of dress-up, funny charades, writing and staging a family play, or even virtual Disney rides.
Stay Safe
We’ve been working with children for years, so we know well that a seemingly-minor misstep can quickly lead to a major boo-boo. Even when you’re working on the other side of the house (or the room), it only takes a second for an accident to happen. We know you do all you can to keep your children safe, but just in case, our experienced surgeons at Long Island Plastic Surgical Group offer 24/7/365 immediate care for facial trauma, hand injuries, lacerations, wounds, and burns. We will make every effort possible to see patients in an office setting. Learn more about how our service works and download our Contact Card to your phone.