We’ve been social distancing for 13 days today and I’ll admit, the wheels have fallen off a bit. With a 5, 8 and 14-year-old to entertain, it was never going to be easy!
Two weeks in and today has been the laziest Sunday of them all. We’re bored, I’m tired and I have brand new respect for all educators, this shit is exhausting. That said, we’ve crammed in quite a few fun activities and having a garden and sunshine has played a major factor in our harmonious isolation.
The weather has turned cooler this weekend and being inside the house, rapidly draining the electricity has taken its toll on us all, in just 24 hours. A reminder of how lucky we are, along with the arrival of my first delivered Sunday Times in months, we’ve had a big tidy up, we’ve made some snacks and we’re currently drawing portraits.
Monday brings routine again. We’re back starting our day with PE with Joe Wicks, The Body Coach at 9am. Then it’s breakfast, showers dressed and ready to start home school at 10:30. At 1:30pm we stop for lunch, tidy up and then it’s free time. No Ipads or tech til 4pm. Tea is at 5:30pm, bed at 7:30pm for the little ones. Repeat.
Here are a few activities and tips for getting your hands on crafty/fun stuff without breaking the bank:
Picasso Painting
I found some old wallpaper and wrapping paper and instead of trying to contain the mini artists at the kitchen table (it always ends up being trailed into the living room carpet or flicked up the fridge) I hung the paper over the garden wall and washing line and encouraged the kids to flick and chuck the paint. They loved it! More arty ideas here.
Garden Circuits
I’m definitely loving PE with Joe more than the kids. Making the most of the garden, I set them a circuit challenge including simple things like jumping and skipping, stepping stones and collecting coloured flags (tea towels) from different places. This works on the washing line too, give them a sheet with a colour or pattern sequence on it and peg them out. Fastest wins.
Garden/Kitchen Bingo
I made the kids some Bingo cards for the Garden. They had to find stuff like the slide, a blue peg, a tree stump, a flower, and a spider. Until they actually pointed out a spider (caused a fair bit of drama this one) I refused to declare a winner. Good fun. You can do this in the kitchen too.
Master Chef
Getting the kids involved with cooking is usually a massive ball ache but now that there’s excess time and we’re gonna have to start making our own bread, it’s a great boredom buster. We managed to get our hands on some strong flower and yeast and so we had a crack at making our own pizzas. Ballsed up the dough but it was edible. In or around Liverpool? Get your kit delivered from Baytree Catering here.
Masking Tape Motorways
I set this up for my little boy but it turns out the girls were willing to ‘play cars’ too! Get yourself a roll of tape, doesn’t have to be masking tape, anything will do and mark out a big old spaghetti junction on your floor. Masking tape is super easy to pull back up too. Then all your need is a car or two, or lego or hot wheels or whatever. I taped our roads up over the sofa, under the coffee table, and around a bookcase to mix things up a bit. This tape from Amazon looks ace.
Catwalk Creations
I stocked my little three drawer freezer up the week before last, and to make the most of the space I took everything out of the boxes. This was handy when looking for crafting bits. The kids decided to make robots from all the bits and bobs and then made them catwalk down the garden path making for some fun boomerang videos!
Diva Make Overs
My eldest is a dab hand with a set of makeup brushes and has gotten the kids involved in some brilliant diva makeovers. Face paint, makeup, nail varnish, hair accessories have all helped to break up the monotony this weekend. Convinced my boy will end up on Drag Race!
Hope some of these ideas will prove useful. Please feel free to send me yours too, looks like we’re in this for the long haul! katejamesblogs@gmail.com
Kate Reilly James 