Maybe adults have the patience and insight to use our forced confinement during the coronavirus pandemic to do enriching stuff or engage in activities we've been meaning to for a while. However, for kids it’s a different matter. With school shut and it being impossible to go out and enjoy themselves, kids quickly get bored. Inactivity and confinement can be terrible for kids and even worse for their poor parents – particularly if they're trying to get anything of value done.
Make it age-appropriate. For little kids, explain why handwashing is important and make it a bit of a game. Older kids will be able to understand more. Explain simply what the virus is, how it affects people all over the world and why it is important to stay at home and socially distance themselves. Explain for instance how this will help keep grandparents safe (since the virus is more deadly for older people). Kids can grasp the concept and will act responsibly when they are made to understand the situation vis-à-vis just being told what to do.
Maybe you can do this together. Find videos that work for you and for your kids such as this one. At a time when kids may not be getting much physical exercise, this is important.
YouTube has plenty of videos teaching kids to dance such as this one. Choose something age appropriate and then get your kid to simply imitate what they see on the screen.
If you have a yard or potted plants, get your child interested in gardening. Start with a watering can, proceed to planting and transplanting, hoeing, pruning and so on. Maybe the child can also get interested in something like carpentry or other DIY activity at home.
YouTube channels such as 5-minute crafts have a great many terrific ideas for activities that will keep kids absorbed and interested and gainfully engaged. The stuff used is typically available around the house.
There are lots of online sources for age-appropriate kids stories. For instance, there is this YouTube channel for Panchatantra stories. There are many other resources for these as well.
The scholastic classroom magazine is one online resource for ideas for indoor activities, all arranged according to kids’ age. There are lots of projects that promise to keep kids ‘reading, thinking and growing.’
Who says we learn only in school? Use this time to teach kids a few basics about doing the household budget, first aid, some basic cooking, sewing a button etc. Get kids to help out around the house since the household help is probably unavailable right now. Getting kids to do a bit of housework: loading the washing machine, veggie chopping, taking out the garbage, dusting etc. This is the time to get kids to learn basic cooking with age-appropriate supervision. This will not only teach useful skills, but it also gives a kid a sense of purpose.
Maybe suggest making a funny TikTok video. Look for and suggest some kid-friendly shows and movies for your kids to watch on TV, Netflix or Amazon Prime. Play a board game together. It may be a good idea to have a schedule of some sort, with a couple of hours assigned for entertainment, an hour for chores, a hour dedicated to physical activity – dance, yoga or maybe taking a family walk, sometime each day for reading and so on. The confinement may be a blessing in disguise – maybe it’ll help families bond and learn to have fun with each other?
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