The COVID-19 pandemic has brought a lot of changes over the past few weeks. As a mom with kids, it can be quite a daunting task trying to figure out some ideas to help keep my kids occupied.

As a family, we have had ideas for a few rainy days, but this isn't the case when kids are expected to be home for the two-week spring break. If you are on the search for the best parenting tips to help keep your children occupied during the COVID-19 pandemic, I have come up with some excellent ideas to consider.

1. Create a Family Schedule

The first idea I have to help you keep your family occupied is having a schedule that you can all use to help you navigate through the days. You can have every person include something that they want done in each day and even provide games that you can play for each day.

Having a well-outlined schedule is essential, and it will significantly help your family look forward to each day. Make sure to include fun activities that you can do at home, which will help to strengthen the family bond.

2. Promote Virtual Interactions with Grandparents

I have come to learn and appreciate that the elderly people in our society are more prone to serious escalations of the coronavirus disease, owing to their weak immunity. I therefore encourage having a physical distance with my kid’s grandparents. It is, however, very easy to take advantage of technological advancement especially on video communication.

My kids can easily converse with their grandparents on video calls. It is incredible how this allows me ample time to finish up on my work responsibilities. My kids can get rid of the boredom of staying at home when they chat with their grandparents. Also, apart from other modified creative activities within their community, this has a positive effect on my elderly parents who are kept busy by my kids.

3. Set Aside One-on-One Time

I have come to realize that every one of my children requires personalized attention. If you have more than one kid, you need to make sure you set aside one-on-one time to spend with each child.

For instance, you can set aside 30 minutes for each child to help them learn different stuff, talk about various things in life, and get to know their progress and everything going on in their life. This can be a great thing to help build a solid between you and each child.

My kids respond very well when I pay attention to their needs and what they got to say. I have seen this grow their confidence in leaps and bounds, and you should definitely try it out with your kids during this COVID era.

4. Keep it Positive

If you have teenagers, like I do, it can be quite hard keeping positive because they are a bit difficult to deal with. However, you need to find the right ways to ensure everything stays positive to help maintain a good atmosphere in the house for you and your kids. Find ways to bring all of you together in a good way and even play games that will help bring joy to everyone.

5. Have an “I’m Bored” List

My husband and I have figured that kids easily get bored by repetitive staff, and this could hinder their creativity. Creating an "I'm bored" list is one of the most effective things you can do in your house. Kids tend to get bored fast when things are repeated twice or more times. Therefore, you can come up with an idea of having a list where they can list down things that bore them, and use that to find ways of avoiding such situations.

If you get to learn things that are boring to your kids, it will help you find other great ideas to keep them happy and occupied. Just like we don’t like to get bored ourselves, our kids too are humans and enjoy the thrill of interesting activities.

6. Consider Online Learning Sites for Homeschooling

I have discovered a host of opportunities for my kids as regards to online learning sites, and they have plenty of offers during this time of COVID–19 pandemic. There are plenty of online learning sites that you can consider using for homeschooling your kids. Majority of them have educational app that you can seamlessly install on their tabs. During the stay-at-home period, your kids still need to be kept learning, and the only way to ensure this is trying to find ways that can help you achieve that.

Make sure you find reliable websites, and you can even ask your friends to recommend for you the best sites that they believe can be of help to your kids. You will agree that there is a lot to be gained during this lockdown period, when we have plenty of time on our hands.

7. Explore History, Art or Foreign Languages

It is interesting how I have found learning new things to be thrilling for us as a family. Learning new stuff is always one of the most interesting things that people can do. Therefore, some of the best things to consider are creating time for your kids to learn history, art, and foreign languages. History is always exciting to learn, while art helps to bring out the creativity in your kids.

Foreign languages, on the other hand, can come in handy for your kids when they visit different places or foreign countries. Therefore, this is something you seriously need to consider. You will be amazed at how much this expands the thought process of your kids such that they are able to absorb much more of school work and life.

8. Create a Contest

I have figured that competitive and fun games at home are the best at passing time and creating connections with my kids. A contest is one of the most thrilling and exciting things to have. You can consider creating a contest between you and your kids with a reward for whoever wins. This can be quite useful and will help your family stay occupied, thanks to the competition brought about by the contest.

Therefore, consider coming up with a good contest idea and see if your kids will be up for it. We hold contests at my house often and I have seen that they improve the relations I have with my kids. They also get a chance to learn from me and the vast knowledge I have garnered about life over the years.

Conclusion

I have put up this article with a lot of love to moms like myself who want nothing but the best for their families during this COVID-19 pandemic. There are plenty of other great parenting tips to consider during the COVID-19 pandemic. However, you need to ensure your kids will be up for them and try to make them as exciting as possible.