Kids Ain't Cheap

But They Sure Are Worth It

Free Ways to Keep Kids Occupied If Under a Shelter In Place Order

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If you’re like me, one day you knew that there was a virus circulating the globe.  You knew that there were cases in America, and you were cautious, but not too concerned.  And then, on a Thursday, things started to get intense.  Shops were running low on groceries.  A few days later, kids’ schools were cancelled.  And now, just a few weeks after that, much of the United States is shuttered.  If your kids are bored, here are some free ways to keep kids occupied if under a shelter in place order.

Free Ways to Keep Kids Occupied When Under a Shelter in Place Order

Set a Schedule

The most important thing I would suggest you do with your kids is set a schedule.  It doesn’t have to be rigid, but instead, just a general guide for the way the day will go.  Kids thrive on routine (school is based on routine), and without it, kids can feel bored and lost.

At our house, we already homeschool two kids, and the other one is home from public school.  We do school roughly most of the morning, the kids get a tv break before lunch, then we do more school and creative activities in the afternoon, and the younger ones get TV time or video games before dinner.  After dinner, we have a show we watch together, then we have read alouds, and then bed.

Even though the whole world feels off-centered now, we roughly know what will happen every day.

Encourage Creativity

As I mentioned, we have creativity time.  You can browse Pinterest for craft ideas, or YouTube for art videos.  Or, you can join Mo Willems for Lunch Doodles and get a free art lesson daily.

Require Some Learning Every Day

If your children are home from school, they likely have class work to do.  If their school has stopped all coursework, still have your children do something educational every day, whether that’s doing Khan Academy, or playing a math game online, or reading a book, or watching a documentary on television.  My kids and I are still doing three to four hours of school a day.

Be a Little More Lenient with Media Time

Having said that, we’re all a little bored and stir crazy, so it’s okay to give your kids a little more media time.  I’ve doubled my kids media time (from 1 hr. per day to 2 hours per day).  Just be careful not to let them spend all of their time on media.

Free Ways to Keep Kids Occupied If Under a Shelter in Place Order

Photo by JESHOOTS.COM on Unsplash

For many kids, increased time watching TV and playing video games can lead to increased negative behaviors, so give them more leeway within reason.

Enjoy the Family Time

Lastly, enjoy more time as a family.  Before this pandemic, most of us were too busy every day.  Now we have the gift of time together.  Take that time to play a board game together or watch a movie or have a family discussion.

Final Thoughts

If you’re stuck at home, as so many of us are, try to find the positives of the situation.  We’re all experiencing something we’ll likely never experience again in our lifetimes.  Use these free ways to keep kids occupied if under a shelter in place order to make the time go faster and be more productive for the whole family.

How to Survive Camping With Young Children

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Camping with young children isn't always easy but it can still be fun. Here's what you need to know to survive your next camping trip!We love to camp. Four years ago our daughter was born in June and by August we were camping. Some people thought we were crazy but it’s something we genuinely enjoy and wanted to introduce our kids young. Even though we’re avid campers, camping with young children (under the age of five) isn’t exactly easy. There is definitely more planning required than before.

Infants

Camping with an infant is both super easy and super hard. On one hand they’re pretty easy because they’re small and portable, on the other hand they usually need stuff that we don’t normally bring on a camping trip. At two months old it’s not like we could sit her down on the picnic table or camping chair if we needed a second with free hands.

We didn’t want to lug around a whole pack-and-play or baby chair so instead we opted to hold her or place her on the ground on a blanket when needed. When we were walking around, a stroller wasn’t exactly conducive to the rough terrain of a campground so we carried her in a baby carrier and it worked really well.

Though we don’t always set up a screen tent, when camping with an infant it was a necessity. We needed both shade and bug protection. Since little ones can’t have sunscreen or bug spray on them, the screen tent was a huge help as somewhere to sit without needing to worry about much.

Toddlers and Young Children

The required needs of toddlers and young kids goes down a bit, making it a little easier to camp with them but as the list of needs goes down, the list of safety concerns goes up. They’re now very mobile and curious and there can be a number of safety concerns on a campsite if proper precautions aren’t taken. You now have to be much more careful!

For us, camping in a tent, if a little one has to go to the bathroom in the middle of the night, there’s a good chance we’re not going to want to walk to the bathroom which is why bringing a portable potty is ideal. Even for well potty trained children, a portable potty (lined with coffee filters for easy cleanup) makes those potential overnight bathroom runs much easier to handle.

You can never bring too many clothes either since they get super dirty. Extra socks and sweaters for sure. Make sure you bring pants and long sleeves for them to wear in the evening, even if it’s hot, to prevent bug bites. I don’t like putting bug spray on their skin so I usually spray the exterior of a sweater and socks instead.

We got stuck somewhere once with a kid having an allergic reaction and no meds to give her. The bottle we thought we had was forgotten and there were no open pharmacies. Especially with little ones, come prepared with a well-stocked first aid kit which includes child-safe meds.

Kids love camping. It’s quite a little adventure for them. Unlike us adults, they don’t care if they have an air mattress or a comfy place to sleep. They’ll curl up on the ground in their little sleeping bag and be happy with the day’s adventures (best part about camping is all the fresh air- bedtime is always a breeze!).

Have you taken young children camping? Any tips?