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Are you and/or your kids feeling “done” with CoVid? Who isn’t overwhelmed, disappointed and feeling stressed out? CoVid Fatigue is a new term that aptly describes what many of us are feeling. With the considerations of the coming months, and the ages or interests of your children, here are Tips with a Twist to help you navigate the days ahead.

OUTSIDE

•  Play  Movement Games that are rebranded as “Rocket Launch, Skyboarding, International Space Station Docking, Star Wars, to enhance hand and eye coordination, muscle growth and development, balance and gross motor skills.  Kids can create new games by taking bits and pieces from other games they know.  Don’t forget about scooters, roller blading, roller skating, and skateboarding, always wearing helmets.  Kids like to make up games of action or movement on playgrounds, using imaginative play. Children can alternate ways to move; skipping, hopping, jumping, running and/or walking backwards. All of these games avoid boredom.

•  Go on a Visual Scavenger Hunt..using ipads or smartphones to photograph animals, vegetation, insects, cloud formations, sunrises & sunsets. This helps kids develop an appreciation for nature and their observation skills. Include the Scientific Method to provides kids with outdoor opportunities to drawing conclusions.Teens can photograph geometric patterns and designs in nature or they can plan a visual scavenger hunt for friends and siblings.  Magnifiying Glass activities aka Up Close and Personal, can be done seedlings, plants, weeds, insects, and water sources. “Geocaching” gets kids outside looking for clues, using their phones for navigational directions. Nature albums can be posted on teen social media sites or just be shared posted on safe sites for families. An online photo album could be created and shared with friends or relatives who live in another region, city or country.

• Design and play outdoor games like table tennis, 4 Square , “times table”  Hopscotch or mini-golf shuffle board.  Use colored tapes or objects to create boundaries or borders. Older kids like mini-tennis courts, wall ball, stick ball or handball. Kids can design the game for solo competition or for pairs. Children love to run and can set up short track runs/races. Walking backwards lanes can be drawn on any blacktop or dirt surface. Jump roping, adding tricks or double dutch jumping keeps this high eneregy cardio-vascular sport from getting repetitive.  Children can be creative with the design or decorations. Activities like these promote: visual-spatial skills, hand-eye coordination, fine and gross motor skills, cardio-vascular exercise, midline brain crossover, and a sense of self/balance in motion. 

• Search YouTube with your child and learn to play chess.  Chess involves analytical thinking and strategizing to increase brain development and connections for children. Learn about the history of chess and its origins, and the current tournaments. Research the various chess sets that are collector’s items. This game has no language barriers. Check out Judit Polgar, a Hungarian female Chess Grandmaster who began playing at age 5. Chinese checkers can be substituted for reticent players, as it involves a different strategy than standard checkers.
   
• Research and create Optical Illusions. All ages enjoy the “trickery” behind optical illusions and trying to determine what they are actually seeing. The science behind optical illusions will spike an interest in the senses and how the brain interprets information. Kids can make their own optical illusions to share via Zoom with friends and family. This promotes higher level thinking skills of interpretation, analysis, synthesis and evaluation, and breaks up “ brain boredom”. Jigsaw puzzles add problem solving and spatial skills.
   
• Make healthy treats/snacks, with a 4 - 5 ingredient No Bake Recipe. Do a quick google search. This activity develops use of chemistry and mathematics, reading and following directions as well as sequecing skills.. No Bake snacks can be organic or use common ingredients.These kid-made treats are easy to make, may only need use of the microwave, and can be shared with family, friends and essential workers. This will encourage thoughtfulness, gratitude, and an appreciation for the people who are in the nuclear and extended family, as well as the larger community and those who serve us.                     

If you have some of your own experiences that you’d like to share, or if you would be interested in talking further about your own goals and need for support, you can reach out to me at [email protected]