If you, like me, are spending time with ABSOLUTELY NOBODY but your child or children right now, the chances are you might be pretty fed up of them. Yes, yes, we love them and this extra time with them is so very special etc etc, but it would be nice to see someone else for a little bit, wouldn’t it? If you have young kids anything like Jack, the chances are they are loving having you around, and expecting you to use all your time playing. That is, when you’re not serving them snacks or fixing technical issues on the iPad. And if nothing fills you with dread quite like the sentence ‘let’s play Pokemon battles’ (replace with relevant least-favourite activity), you will be wanting some alternative activities. I know, there are dozens of online lockdown activities and options, but I don’t know about you, as soon as a screen is involved, we somehow end up back on Danger Mouse or Teen Titans…
So, here are four lockdown activities that I have actually, genuinely, promise-I’m-not-lying enjoyed during the last six weeks. Please feel free to give them a go and please, oh please, let me know if you have anything else worth trying. And before we get started, thank you, teachers. I will never underestimate a single one of you ever again.
Lockdown Activities For Kids (That Aren’t Awful For Grown-Ups)
1: Bowie Disco
David Bowie is Jack’s absolute favourite (good input from his Granny), and nothing can lift a bad mood (or a lockdown slump) like some good music and a dance. Obviously, the artist can be swapped out here for whoever you like, but the preparation is key. There should be face paints. There should be disco lights (or at the very least lights off and some sort of phone app disco light). There should be at least four songs worth of dancing before one of you has had enough. We’ve done this twice so far.
2: TV Time
If your kid is TV-obsessed, this one is for you. (Aside: if your kids isn’t TV-obsessed, please can you let me know and I’ll make sure you’re put forward for the next New Year Honours List.) Tell them it’s time to take a break from the TV because they need to STAR in their very own TV show. They can be Andy Day or Justin Fletcher (we love you CBeebies), they can be any of their favourite nonsensical cartoon heroes, they just need to first craft the television out of a cardboard box or other contents of the recycling bin. We made this in week two and to be fair it has looked a bit sad hanging out in the dining room ever since but my, what a week of broadcasting fun we had.
3: The Floor Is Lava
We have a garden so play this out there, but it works just as well in the living room. I don’t know if this is the traditional method of the floor is lava but in our lava universe, we have to travel between two points without any part of our body touching the ‘lava’ aka, the floor/grass. Enjoy an epic journey down the garden climbing over garden furniture and swinging toddler see-saws over your head to avoid being burned alive. Genuinely fun and pretty decent exercise. Expect grass stains.
4: Puzzles
Oh, it turns out I only had three semi-original ideas.