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This one’s for the kids! And for you too, Mom or Dad.
Are you experiencing cabin fever, trying to manage your day-to-day life while working from home and simultaneity entertaining your kids? Even an experienced juggler would agree you have too many balls to create a synchronized flow.
We don’t need to tell you that maintaining a schedule for your kids is beneficial right now. Daily structure helps keep some normality in our new anything-but-normal lives. Allowing time for learning, playing, fresh air and quiet time can keep the house sound.
Now back to the fun stuff…
How can you keep your kids entertained in quarantine or isolation? Whether you’re a stay-at-home parent or you’re living that WFH life right now, we’ve found some fun ways to help the entire family stay busy:
Digital Storytime
As schools, bookstores and libraries have closed, popular Canadian kid’s authors have been offering online storytimes during these times. While a simple Google search can connect you with tons of virtual readings, here are a few we’ve found:
Toronto author, Catherine Hernandez hosts 20-minute morning storytimes on Facebook Live. Be sure to follow her on Facebook for her schedule.
An annual literary event in Brampton, Ont., the Festival of Literary Diversity (FOLD), is presenting a week of live online readings. Hernandez, as well as fellow kids’ lit authors Jillian Tamaki and Danny Ramadan, are some of the headliners expected to read from their books.
Toronto Public Library offers a daily story time reading over the phone, with its program “Dial-A-Reading.”
Richmond Hill Public Library has a musical playlist where kids can sing songs from their favorite books with librarians. Watch on their youtube channel here.
Detective fiction writer Wendy McLeod MacKnight will be reading chapters from her books geared towards middle schoolers on Instagram.
Virtual Paint Nite
Yaymaker, dubbed the trendy “paint nite” event has gone virtual! They are now offering their events led by experts through their online streaming platform. For a Virtual Paint Nite, you will need acrylic paint, paintbrushes, a 15”x12” canvas, and an easel (optional). For only $15, you can sign up for an upcoming paint night of your choice. There will be parties for adults as well as children.
Make Your Own Pizza Party
Writing this idea as an adult awakens the little kid in me. Who doesn’t love a make your own pizza party!? This creative dinner activity by General Assembly not only helps us on our mission to support local, but makes for a fun night for the whole family. General Assembly is actually offering kits to make their signature Loving Cup ($21) & Mila Margherita ($19) pizzas for delivery through Uber Eats, including their naturally leavened dough.
Break a Sweat
Exercise is important for our mental focus, mood and immune function during these times! We’ve found some kid-friendly workouts online that are perfect to incorporate into your child’s daily routine.
Cosmic Kids Yoga is for kids 3+ with their collection of youtube videos! Their goal is to teach children about the importance of moving their bodies, focusing on their breathing patterns, and incorporating meditation to help manage stress and anxiety levels.
GoNoodle is a free app full of movement and mindfulness games created by child development experts! Children connect through a webcam to enter into these fun games designed to get them moving to complete different challenges and levels.
Netflix Party
Are your kids missing social interaction with their friends? Netflix is offering an interactive experience called Netflix Party, where you can connect with other users to watch a movie at the same time. There is even a chat feature on the side where you can talk about the movie in real-time!
Virtual Field Trips
Thanks to technology, field trips don’t have to be canceled! Here is a list of the best virtual tours you can take:
The Zoo- Every day at 1 pm the Toronto Zoo goes live on Facebook! Panda Cam at Zoo Atlanta.
The Aquarium- Shark Cam at Ripleys Aquarium of Canada, Jellycam at Monterey Bay Aquarium. , Georgia Aquarium’s Ocean Voyager webcam.
The Farm- Canadian farm and food tours at Farm Fresh 360.
A Planetarium- Star Atlas
MARS- Access Mars
Have you found any other great services geared towards children? Let us know in the comments below!