Children’s Health During the Lockdown
Here are some tips that can help to improve your children’s health during the lockdown with opportunities to move, create, and have fun while doing so.
Check the SDA website for more ideas or more information on the subject, and for some fun quizes: trivia for kids
Limiting Screen Time (for children and parents) offer an alternative and get enough movement!!!
- Taking advantage of screens: Look for some physical activity on YouTube. The more family members involved, the better!
- Exercising at home without screens:
- Back garden football: Set up "goals" with sticks and play a game of football.
- Catch the ball
- Jump Rope
- Basketball: Don't have a hoop? That's okay, practice dribbling and passing.
- Race with obstacles
- Etc!
What If I Don’t Have A Back Garden? Modify The Activities And Create!!
- Balloon volleyball: (you won’t break anything).
- Race: Inside or out, see who can get from point A to point B at different levels: one-foot jumping, tied feet, seated, obstacle course: use furniture, tape on the floor, blankets, pillows, etc. to create an obstacle course.
Exploring and Creating (Explore and run around the house)
- Hide and seek: All the family can play!
- The Treasure Hunt: Hold a timed treasure hunt in your back garden or indoors! Give clues on a map.
- Build a fort: Gather all your blankets and sheets and get set to build a giant fort!
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Charades: Create your own game according to your desired topic. Draw them out of a hat and act them out to see who can guess the most correctly.
- Pavement Chalk: Create! And bring colour to your home!
- Gardening:
- Outdoors: Set aside an area of your yard as a garden and allow your children to choose, plant, tend and harvest plants.
- Indoors: You can create new choices. Containers can be designed by your own children. Let them participate in planting and experience God’s love through nature. Paint the containers and have the experience of planting.
Get outside!
Although we are safer at home, we are allowed by the government to go outside for sunlight, fresh air and exercise!
- Ride your bike
- Quick Walk
- Jump around
Main Tips For Safety
(These rules can be hard, but you can present them as part of a game)
- KEEP at least 2m (6 feet) distance from others.
- Just go out with people who live in the same house.
- Go out for physical activity no more than once per day.
- Early hours are safer, due to less people being outside.
- Teach your children about being near to you, to keep their distance and to avoid touching other surfaces.
- Keep hands away from faces.
- Once you return home, wash hands properly and remove outdoor shoes and clothes.
Involve children in household chores
Make them feel useful for the family
- Give them responsibilities according to their age.
- The school age is the best stage to do it.
- Give them little tasks.
- Cook something together.
Remember this is a learning process!
- Avoid complaining.
- Give them time and be patient.
- Instead of seeing this as a must it can be a funny task.
Keep Sharp, visit adventist.org
- Keep it fun when reviewing their skills with them and preparing for homework for school. Here are some examples:
Real life Maths: Plan a lockdown budget and provisions together.
Creative writing: Give them the beginning of a sentence and ask them to finish it. Then, have them keep writing and develop the idea into a short story they can read aloud.
Problem solving skills: Invent a new game or use their imagination to build something new out of common household items.
Reading Skills:
- Find books that relate to your children’s interests.
- Encourage them to share their thoughts about what they are reading.
- You can create an online reading club with their friends.
FINALLY
Learn and teach them to wash their hands properly
- Show them videos
- Teach it to them by songs.
- Technique "Coronavirus | How to wash your hands"
- Song for the little ones "Wash Your Hands Song | Music for Kids | The Singing Walrus"
- Explanation and song: "Germ Smart Kids - How To Wash Your Hands"
How to explain what is going on to the children
- Look for some simple information.
- Be creative in explaining according to their age.
- Motivate prevention but do not panic.
- Avoid showing high stress.
- Teach them with the example that we trust in God’s care.
- Ask your children to pray together, to tell God what is of concern to them.
"But blessed is the man who trusts in the LORD, whose confidence is in him” Jeremiah 17:7
