7 Practical Tips for Keeping Your Kids Happy and Engaged Indoors
7 Practical Tips for Keeping Your Kids Happy and Engaged Indoors
One of the primary challenges of working from home as a parent is keeping your kids engaged and entertained. The situation can become even more stressful if your child has experienced trauma and you’re searching for activities to ease their worries and provide enjoyment. The good news is you’re not alone. Today, FROG Reviews and Ramblings outlines seven tips to help you out!
1. Consider Your Children’s Traumatic Experiences
Trauma can disrupt children’s normal behavior and their way of approaching situations. It’s essential to choose activities that don’t trigger their traumatic experiences or add stress to their life. If your child has experienced a natural disaster, focus on activities like painting or drawing to help them express their emotions. If they’ve gone through abuse or other forms of harmful behaviors, let them take part in activities that empower them, such as learning self-defense or practicing mindfulness.
2. Find WFH Activities
Being a work-from-home parent has its perks, but it’s anything but easy, particularly during these uncertain times. One thing to consider is engaging your kiddos with educational TV shows or educational games on the tablet. This is an excellent way to keep your children entertained and enhance their knowledge of different subjects. It also gives them something to look forward to and allows you ample time to work without any distractions!
3. Set Up Science Experiments
Science is fun and interactive, meaning it keeps most children engaged and educated. You can set up simple experiments with items you already have at home. For example, try making a homemade volcano by mixing baking soda and vinegar, or challenge your kids to make an egg float in saltwater. You can also use this opportunity to teach your children about scientific concepts like gravity and density.
4. Invest in Board Games
Board games provide an excellent opportunity to connect safely and bond with your family while indoors. Among other benefits, they can improve social interaction, strategic thinking, and reasoning.
Use board games to your advantage by choosing ones that are age-appropriate and fun for everyone. Monopoly, Chess, and Checkers are hard to beat, but here are some other classic and modern board games for passing time and having fun:
● Exploding Kittens
● The Crew: Mission Deep Sea
● MicroMacro: Crime City
● Sorry!
● Kingdomino
● Poetry for Neanderthals
● Ticket to Ride
5. Write and Perform a Play Together
One of the most creative ways to keep your children entertained and engaged is by writing a play with them. You can help them develop a script, choose characters, and come up with costumes — and then you can do the play with them! You might be surprised by how much this enhances your child’s creativity and imagination, which are vital skills they will use throughout their lives!
Also, to avoid the script from being lost, it’s a good idea to use this to scan a document and save it as a PDF. That way, you can share it with friends and family, and make sure you can retain this precious memory forever!
6. Make a Sensory Bin
Another idea is to create a sensory bin for your kiddos to play with at home. Fill a plastic container with materials (e.g., dried beans, rice, sand, etc.) that will let your child engage in sensory exploration for hours on end. You can add various toys or objects, such as plastic animals or small shovels, to create a fun theme that keeps your child engaged. Sensory play helps children develop their senses and improves cognitive development in addition to providing healthy entertainment!
7. Host Your Own Olympics
Lastly, arranging a family Olympics day can go a long way toward getting your kids active and spending quality time together. Start by picking out a few events that everyone can participate in, such as a relay race or a tug-of-war. Set up stations around your home or backyard and award points for each event. At the end of the day, you can crown a champion and celebrate with a special treat (ice cream sundaes, anyone?).
Conclusion
As crucial as it is to keep your children engaged, it’s equally important to focus on activities that bring them joy and happiness. The indoor activities above provide a healthy balance of education and fun, and they can also help minimize the stress and anxiety that come with trauma. Try a few different activities until you find some that meet your children’s needs, and you’ll have a consistent routine that benefits your whole family in no time!
FROG Reviews and Ramblings has all the stories, tips, and reviews you need. Questions? Don’t hesitate to reach out!
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