How To Keep Your Kids Entertained

With all the school closures, many parents are faced with their children being home all day. Shonda Rhimes shared what so many parents-turned-home-schooling-teachers are feeling right now, saying “Teachers deserve to make a billion dollars a year. Or a week.” Keeping your kids entertained while confined indoors is no mean feat! We’ve created a list of our top resources and ideas, which we hope will make your life a little easier if you’ve got children home from school right now. 

Listen to Audiobooks - Audible is our go-to website for audiobooks and right now, you can listen to hundreds of child-friendly audiobooks for free, without having to sign up for an account. Titles are curated by age group, from tots right up to teenagers, with books available in a number of languages. (If you're looking for a recommendation, you can't go wrong with the first Harry Potter book. Stephen Fry is a fantastic narrator). There are even some literary classics on there, so something for the adults.

Video Chat with Loved Ones - You probably now associate Zoom with team meetings with your co-workers, but your kids will also love it. Use it to schedule some play dates with their friends or to chat with their grandparents or cousins.

Organize a Scavenger Hunt - Make a list of items for your kiddos to find, either around the house or in your yard. If you were stuck for ideas, this website has a great list of items and it can be done in any location.

Cook Together - Almost all children seem to love helping out with cooking or baking, so why not use this time to set them up with a great life skill? UnlockFood has some great tips for cooking with kids of different ages.

Try Science Experiments - Telus Spark is running a series called Science from Home over on their Youtube channel. These short videos show cool DIY science experiments you can do from home, like how to turn milk into plastic. Just be warned that not all of these videos are suitable for trying at home - definitely do not give the fire one a go!

Write a Letter - This is a great way of encouraging your children to keep in touch with friends or family while practising their spelling and handwriting.

Take Online Lessons - Just because the libraries are closed, doesn't mean you can't put your library card to good use (if you don't have one, you can sign up for free here)! The library has lots of fantastic resources online for learning, including Solaro, which offers lessons, reviews and practice tests.

Paint a Rainbow - If you've been for a walk around your neighbourhood recently (while physical distancing, of course), you may have seen a lot of children's paintings stuck on up the windows. Get your kids to paint a rainbow, stick it up in the window then go for a #rainbowtrail walk yourself and see how many you can spot!

Learn to Code - Girls Who Code is an international non-profit organization working to close the gender gap in technology by teaching girls computer science, bravery, and sisterhood. They are releasing computer science educational activities online weekly, free of charge, over the next few months. Ideal for older children, teens and even adults!

Do Kids Yoga Together - Try Cosmic Kids Yoga if you've got smaller kids. They've got loads of themed yoga videos, so whether your children are into Star Wars, Moana or Harry Potter, you're bound to find something they're interested in.

Colouring Pages - Finally, if you need your kids to do a quiet activity for a while, print out a few colouring pages (these ones from Crayola are great)! They even have pages for them to practice writing in cursive.

Parents, we salute you! You're doing a fantastic job. Stay strong (and we will not judge for you having an extra glass of wine in the evening during this stressful time)!