Kids in Quarantine Lockdown Parenting Guide by Plan B

Kids in Quarantine

Posted on By You Got Plan B
In our previous blog on guide to keeping your kids busy in the times of Covid-19, we shared some useful tips to navigate this unchartered territory of quarantining with your little ones. With the lockdown being extended, we thought of digging a little deeper and sharing with you a list of fun and educative things you could do with your child.

As the frequency of dialogues like “Mama, I’m Bored” and “Papa, I want to play outside” increases daily, we are sure this comprehensive list will help your kids to not just get rid of boredom but also learn something useful.

 

Homeschooling

We understand that with schools being shut for an indefinite period and a big question mark on the efficacy of online classes, your child’s education might be a cause of worry.
While we all would love them to learn in school with their teachers and friends, it is important to devise a new solution for times like these. We propose to make the best use of this opportunity to homeschool your kids. You can now go beyond the books and syllabus shared by their respective schools and teach them about history, art and culture from around the world. Wondering how?

You can start by making a daily routine wherein you keep time for both the prescribed school curriculum and for things that might interest your little one. All around the world there are so many renowned museums and zoos that are offering virtual tours. Here are our favorite ones:
  • Google Arts & Culture: Google has created a virtual gallery of more than 2500 museums along with tours to certain touristic spots and high resolution images and videos of artwork from all around the world. You can introduce your child to the world of art, culture and history from the comfort of your home. 
  • Zoos & Aquariums: If your son or daughter is a wildlife and marine life enthusiast then you can now not just teach a thing or two about the behavior and habitats of different wild and marine animals but also take them on a virtual safari and tour respectively. Here’s the list -

    • Cincinnati Zoo: With an aim to make our children’s hiatus from school fun and educational, they offer Facebook Live sessions, videos on their YouTube channel and even at home activities to keep your kids busy.
    • San Diego Zoo: They offer live web cam sessions to watch animals and birds like Pandas, Giraffe, Elephant, tiger, candor, burrowing owl and many more.
    • Montery Bay Aquarium: The aquarium offers an exciting sneak peek into the lives of marine animals and birds. Your child can learn about coral reefs, sharks, penguins, sea otters and even jellyfish.
    • Georgia Aquarium: This aquarium from Atlanta, US offers live cams of whales, sea lions and sea otters among many others.
    • Others: Apart from the ones stated above there are many tourist attractions lik Taj Mahal, Buckingham Palace, Pyramids and the RainForest that are offering virtual tours. 
You can also encourage your child to read. You can refer to books recommended by renowned publications like New York Times.
Do remember to involve your child when you make the routine. As you are making a tailor made routine, it is good to hear their opinion about the things that they want to learn as well.

DIY Cooking

While the adults are busy making Dalgona Coffee, you can get your munchkin to cook simple dishes too. To be honest, It is always fun to cook with your kids. Their excitement surely knows no bounds when they are preparing something. You can make yummy sandwiches, smoothies and a lot more with them. 
We bring to you one such easy recipe with bare minimum ingredients that you can try at home during this lockdown.
  • Chana Chaat: You would require 1 and a half cups of soaked and boiled Kabuli Chana or white chick peas. Along with chana which is the main ingredient, you would require half a cucumber, 1 onion. 2 tbsp of tomato ketchup, coriander leaves, chaat masala and salt. While you can boil the chana and cut the vegetables, you can ask your little masterchef to mix all the ingredients well to make the chaat.

    Times like this when there is restriction in going out, a chaat party at home will surely bring smiles on the faces of everyone. For more such kid friendly recipes, you can refer to the famous Indian Chef Tarla Dalal’s blog.

Movies

From Sound of Music to Madagascar, The Smurfs or Harry Potter series, there is a wide range of movies that your children can enjoy during the lockdown.You can even introduce them to the movies that you watched as a child and relive your childhood memories with them. You can refer to a comprehensive list of kids friendly movies here.
OTT platforms are also taking steps to ensure that they take care of kid’s entertainment as well. For example, Netflix released 21 films from Studio Ghibli which is an Academy Award winning Japanese art house.
Art & Craft

Indulging in some good old art and craft activities can help not just to while away the time but to also enhance creativity. Here are a few craft blogs for kids:
        

We at Plan B, have come up with a fun art contest to not just engage your child but also to give them an opportunity to be on a Plan B apparel. The contest is on till 30th April.


Do let us know in the comments how you are keeping your kids busy in this lockdown.