Keeping The Kids Busy!
Fun and creative activities the whole family can enjoy during lockdown.
Today’s unprecedented times are stressful for everyone, and one of the biggest changes most families are adapting to is schools being closed. This absolutely has its blessings, with increased family time and a chance for parents to work closely with their children and experience their child's lessons at first hand. However, there’s no doubt that adding the new title of teacher to an already busy parents' resume is a Herculean task, especially if you are still working yourself and requires a delicate balance between the roles.
Inevitable melt-downs aside (from us parents as well as the kids!), we have been so inspired seeing the amazing work of parents helping their families through these difficult times by finding new and creative ways to keep learning at home fun. Seeing this, we have brought together a collection of children’s activity books and games to help provide inspiration for fun learning - they cover everything from nature sticker books to seek and find games like 'I Saw It First!' And mindfulness activities like Yoga Pretzels (yoga for kids).
Finding new and interesting ways to teach is the perfect way to not only help your child learn whilst having fun and adapt to their new learning environment, but also help parents feel more comfortable in their teaching roles. If your child loves animals and adventures, then you can join them and play explorers with our great matching games - 'Match a Track' and 'Who Did This Poo?' (which is bound to keep little ones and grownups alike giggling for hours). This fun and educational card game will help learn about different animals as well as improving memory and problem-solving skills in a creative way that makes learning feel like a game and understanding feel like winning. This is great for a rainy day activity, but could definitely be taken out into the garden to see if you can put your new animal matching skills to use, although hopefully the tracks you find only match to the family dog rather than a lion!
Whilst you’re outside exploring the wilderness of the back garden, you can break out our 'Hello Nature' activity card pack and choose one of the cards to find a great nature-themed task waiting for you. Some let you break out your inner artist, and others will let you and your kids earn your green thumbs and learn something new. There are activities you can do inside or outside, as well as small projects where you can work together with your little ones to grow and make new things- learning patience and the importance of caring for nature and the environment.
Of course, sometimes you just need a fun activity to do as a family, and we have a great selection of games that will help everyone unwind and really appreciate the extra time together, regardless of the circumstances. One of our absolute favourites is 'Llamanoes', which is exactly what it sounds like: dominoes with llamas!
We have cat and dinosaur themed bingo and themed playing cards that put hilarious twists on classic games so the whole family can enjoy them together. We also have a pack to help you throw your own music night with lots of different music activities and props that will easily create an entertaining evening for everyone and you may even discover you are the next Von Trapp family…or at least have a lot of fun.
It’s easy to feel overwhelmed right now, and trying to teach from home is a daunting task, but all of these activity packs and games can help you put your own spin on your unorthodox classroom, and keep your children engaged and entertained. We hope you love these books and packs as much as we do, and that they bring a bit of joy and stress-relief into your family.