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March 29, 2024, 01:49:06 PM

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C-19 confinement parenting resources (Mumsnet / DEAD SOON crossover thread)

Started by ZoyzaSorris, March 19, 2020, 12:50:43 PM

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ZoyzaSorris

I know there's quite a few people who are stupid enough to be parents on here, with the imminent indefinite lockdown for god knows how long and lack of formal education in the mean time I thought I'd get ahead of the game and try and get a good plan of positive activities we can get up to that might occasionally be educational too, and thought if anyone has any good ideas or links*, lets pool our knowledge! I haven't got anything yet but thought I'd start a thread anyway. Pretty useless really. But I'll be back... My kid is 5 and in reception, for reference.

Attempts at humour NOT, I repeat NOT WELCOME. This is a serious thread for serious people. This isn't a comedy website. Think of the children. Except Johnathan King.


*Extra points if they don't involve a screen, though I might check out the kids Khan Academy app.

If you can afford it for younger kids, get in some toys, puzzles, even some outdoor toys if you have a garden. You've got to keep kids occupied and stimulated. The one thing that isn't being ransacked in supermarkets is cheap crayons, felt tip pens and colouring books.

massive bereavement

If they've ever shown a remote interest in playing music, decent sized quality keyboards are reasonably cheap.

bgmnts

Quote from: confettiinmyhair on March 19, 2020, 01:07:14 PM
If you can afford it for younger kids, get in some toys, puzzles, even some outdoor toys if you have a garden. You've got to keep kids occupied and stimulated. The one thing that isn't being ransacked in supermarkets is cheap crayons, felt tip pens and colouring books.

Or just get a video game console, all the stimulation with none of the mess.

Emma Raducanu

Our school gave us some material to be getting on with. I plan on just letting the house go full feral. We're just going to be painting, drawing, doing sums, writing, building dens and I'm not going to clear any of it up.

Buelligan

You have a garden, so you have an advantage.  Make a flower press.  Start a nature diary.  Collect and press plant specimens to glue into the diary.  Draw birds and insects that you see.  Put out a bird feeding station, if you don't already have one, and maybe a couple of nest boxes, it's a bit late but you could still try.  Keep daily notes on visitors.  Spend time identifying all the plants and wildlife using books or the internet.  Read stories and textbooks together about wildlife. 

Maybe buy a butterfly larvae kit.  Consider planting bird and insect friendly seeds together to encourage more visitors.  These wildflowers will also be great for pressing and putting in the diary or for making pressed flower pictures or cards to send to grandparents or other hate-figures.  Also, maybe, some veg, you can grow things like cut and come again salad crops even in a pot on the windowsill and if you can keep the pot outside in the sunlight, they'll thrive as long as they've got some sun and get watered regularly.  Growing, preparing and eating their own fresh food gives kids a sense of empowerment.

Emma Raducanu

That's a great post btw. Planting things, all children enjoy. You can even used left over toilet rolls as starting pots for windowsill plants and herbs. And by the sound of it, there's going to be a lot of those about.

H-O-W-L

Something I did when I was a kid was I came up with serialized stories that I'd act out with myself or my mates. Very loose freeform stuff but we'd try to tie it into a semblance of a plot with a clear start and "cliffhanger" or to-be-continued ending when it was time to wind down. Basically like playing cops and robbers but with the structure of a serialized drama. If you're not good at improv or creative structure it can be tricky, but it was always fun when my brothers, forced to look after me, would engage with this sort of concept and roll out a plot with me, acting as characters, etc.

That's all I've got for keeping kids entertained without much available.

Sin Agog

Biba the Alien, who I invented when I was still a little kid, still gets infinite mileage out of all the three-to-ten year olds in my family.  Where Biba comes from everything's done the opposite.  So the kid can think of infinite things to ask Biba.  Like 'Biba, what's sewage?' and then this high-pitched alien tells them that sewage is a delightful shower gel that leaves you looking shiny and smelling lovely.  I know this sounds weird, but Biba is one of the most useful tools I've ever encountered for entertaining children as it requires no effort whatsoever to think of silly opposite things.  Bleed Biba dry!