Keeping the kids out of mischief during coronavirus school shutdown

The untimely closure of  schools due to the coronavirus  pandemic has left parents grappling with ways to keep their children occupied at home. 

We all know the little ones can be a handful, and Port Elizabeth mom bloggers  and parents have  shared some of the tricks up their sleeves to make things a little easier.

For mom blogger and JustEllaBella founder Eleanor Douglas-Meyers, the abrupt closure of schools and extended first-term holiday has not caused a major disruption to her family schedule.

“We generally have a schedule for activities and study time to follow throughout the day,” she said.

“Of course, now I’m going to have to adjust it from school days to suit the boys being home all day.

“So I would advise parents who haven’t yet to draw up a timetable to guide their kids throughout the day so that they know when to play outdoors, when tech time is and when they should study or read.

“That way everyone knows what to do and when.”

The working mom of a six-year-old boy, Douglas-Meyers  and her husband relied on the help of her mother, who takes care of their son and two cousins  while they are at work.

Douglas-Meyers shares parenting and DIY craft activities on her blog, which she says she does with her son, Aidan, at home.

She has activity kits for her son and his cousins to keep them busy at their grandmother’s house, she said.

These include a box of Lego with printed-out Lego shapes for them to do, kiddies’ board games, a box of craft supplies and books with school activities.

“I do this in the holidays to help my mom with my son and two nephews who she helps look after,” she said.

Douglas-Meyers also advised moms to research and make use of various educational apps that could  keep their children’s brains active until they go back to school.

Alexandria mother-of-two Sophie Smith urged mothers not to be too anxious about the situation, because children can easily pick up on their parents’ anxiety.

She said now was the time for parents to teach their children the basic human skills they do not learn at school.

“A lot of mothers are panicking about what their kids will do sitting at home, but it really needn’t be anything extravagant — teach your kids simple things like washing dishes or they can help or watch you change a tyre,” Smith said.

She advised parents to encourage their kids to play outside and get fresh air, “but in spaces that aren’t crowded with people as we’re all advised to avoid people at the moment”.

“My kind of general philosophy is that kids need lots of love, time outside and books, so I don’t think we need to be trying to replace school or doing anything drastic.

“Just spend time with your kids and learn what their interests are because I think the best way for kids to learn is if they really enjoy what they are doing,” Smith said.

Smith also shares kid-friendly activities parents can do with their kids on her blog, What Sophie Saw.

Among the simple activities to do at home is making chocolate mud and cleaning up.

“This activity ticks so many boxes — imaginative play, messy sensory play, fine motor skills, it can even be noisy play with all the animal noises.

“It is also great for kids of all ages to get involved. We had two-year-olds and a ten-year-old and they all had fun,” she writes on her blog.

1  Make chocolate mud

This can be chocolate pudding from a box, or for a healthier version, try blitzing cocoa, peanut butter and bananas and even adding a touch of honey if it needs to be sweeter. You could throw anything in really, as long as it is a brown, sloppy mess.

2 Set the scene

This is the fun part. Use a wide, shallow plastic tub, or a big plastic tray, and set up your play scene. You could make a construction scene with diggers and dump trucks, a farmyard with all the different animals, or just let your plastic dolls romp in the mud. We set up a farmyard and put mud on one side and instant oats as the animal food on the other side. You could even put some water in a dish in there as a pond.

3  Let them loose

Once the scene is all set up, it’s time to have fun. The animals can roll in the mud, and eat some food, and have a swim, and soon your kids will also realise that the mud tastes delicious.

4  Cleanup time

Once everyone (toys and children) is filthy, it’s time to clean up.

You can make it really fun with a big bubbly bucket of water (we love the Pure Beginnings bubbles), a scrubbing brush, a rinse bucket and a towel for drying or laying toys out in the sun.

And of course, don’t forget to pop your kids in the bucket and clean them off too.

Crafty mom Eleanor Douglas-Meyers shares DIY face “pebbles” she made with her son, from her blog JustEllaBella.

“This DIY toy is so simple and can be used in a variety of ways — we play tic-tac-toe,  memory and we also do simple addition and subtraction games,” Douglas-Meyers writes.

What you need

Glass pebbles used in pot plants and vases.

Mini round stickers, available at Crazy Stores.

What you do

I made 20 pebbles, 10 matching sets.

You stick the sticker on the bottom of the pebble.

You can modge-podge over it to ensure it doesn’t come off too quickly.

Extra

I was looking for a way to store it, so I grabbed a hessian bag and a fabric marker.

I did lines for tic-tac-toe on there and now the bag serves as storage as well as a playing surface, Douglas-Meyers writes.