With plans for phased re-opening of the country in place, people are becoming more antsy and I would imagine that it will soon be impossible to find a parking spot at Walmart again. Soon, we will no longer need lists of things to do with your kids before quarantine ends. And while these are all good things, this time has taught me many things about my family, myself, our need for people, and more importantly, our need for freedom.
Seeing a light at the end of the tunnel has also made me wonder, “Did I make the BEST of this time?” The good that has come from this, for our family, is that we have pulled back from the never-ending activities and though most of those activities are good, valuable uses of our time, there are a few that I’m re-evaluating. We don’t need to be as busy as we have been. It has been so good not to have to make a ridiculous number of trips to the school each day!
Even though I’ve tried to make this time fun and meaningful, there are still things on our list that we haven’t gotten to do. Mainly because it’s still quite cold where we live. (I’m talking 4 degrees this week!) But there are warmer days coming soon according to the forecast, and I am ready for them! I’m ready to check off all the items on every list of things to do with your kids during quarantine that I have made. And I’m ready to complete this next list too: Things to do with your kids before quarantine ends! (We’re getting close now!)
Here are Five Things To Do With Your Kids Before Quarantine Ends:
- Pick up your already-bagged school lunch and have a picnic—It doesn’t get easier than this! If you don’t have pre-bagged school lunches available to you, make your own picnic lunch. If you don’t have warm weather, have a picnic inside. My kids still laugh about the times when the dining room has been in the process of being painted/redecorated and we have a picnic on the kitchen floor!
We live in a rural area, with lots of woods around. Our parks are closed so our original plan was to drive out to the woods for a picnic, but the end of hibernation season has me re-thinking that! How about a backyard picnic on the trampoline? Or in the treehouse? If you don’t have a backyard, you could call your church and ask if you can have a picnic on the grounds there. One church in our small town invited people to grab some take-out, or pack a lunch and picnic on their tailgates with each other. Invite a friend! Open up the back of that mini-van and have a picnic together!
- Make S’mores—Ideally, you will have a bonfire to go with this, but that may not work for some of you. You can make s’mores in the oven; you can roast them over the stovetop; we have even used a blow torch to make s’mores when our kids were looking forward to a bonfire and rain thwarted our plans!
You can get fancy by using peanut butter cups instead of Hershey bars; or adding bacon to your s’mores. I’m sure there are a hundred variations on s’mores. I think banana slices sound like a good thing to add too! In any case, find a way to make s’mores with your kids before this is over! It will give them a taste of summer and summer’s not even officially here yet!
- Have a Nerf War—This has been on my things to do with my kids during quarantine list for awhile and we still haven’t had warm enough weather for it—I need to make this happen this week! Some of my best memories have come from the Nerf wars we have had…so, why don’t I do this more often? Oh yeah. Because for the last four years, my health would never have handled it…but this Mom is back!
I have gained a lot of ground health-wise so I need to bring this Nerf war back. Making it a surprise is even better. Get yourself armed, leave a gun, ammo, and eye protection out with a note saying, “You’re officially under attack.” My son loves this so much that he has shared this memory with other families for whom he babysits. One mom shared with me, “Your son is the BEST babysitter for my son! I came home and there was a Nerf gun sitting on the garage step. And I wondered, ‘was that there when I left’? Then, I opened the door and my son was barricaded with [my son] and they just started nailing me! It was the most fun I’ve had in a while! And how thoughtful of him to arm me too!”
That was a sweet moment for me!
- Paint a masterpiece outside—We tack up a long roll of butcher paper, or use the backside of ugly wrapping paper, onto our fence and have an unofficial easel. Use washable kids’ paint and you won’t have to worry about clean-up or accidentally going off the paper. This activity is especially good for toddlers to tens, but I can sometimes convince our boys to participate too.
If you’re feeling especially brave and you have older kids—balloon/dart painting is a tried and true, super cool activity! It took a lot of set-up, but I did this for a county-fair-themed birthday party a couple of years ago with boys and they did have an awful lot of fun!
I used acrylic paint—the kind that come in squirt bottles; squirted a little paint into the balloon and added a little water. Then, I entered the danger zone and blew the balloons up with my mouth because I didn’t have a pump that worked. If you’re careful, you’ll only end up with a little paint everywhere when you accidentally let the balloon go. (Definitely fill these outside!) Also, if you’re doing this, you must have metal tips for the darts or they bounce right off. It’s worth doing at least once—EPIC fun! (Moms have told me their sons still talk about that birthday party!)
- Make a Time Capsule—Before long, the memories of the good, the bad and the ugly of this time will fade and we will move on. Make a time capsule with your kids filled with items that will make them say, “Hey! Remember that time when we were forced to spend time together?” (And it was very good) Don’t forget to include a newspaper! For ideas on what to include—throw in a face mask if you have an extra; a project that you made while in quarantine; etc.
For extra fun—you can ask your kids what they would like to include and make items specific to the time capsule. For example, maybe you can sew a face mask with your child and add that to the box; maybe your child wants to make something that reminds her of the activities you have done. Items don’t have to be specific to the COVID-19 pandemic either! They can be representative of the stage and age your child was in at the time of all of this just as easily.
This list excites me! I still have time to have more fun and create lasting memories with these kids that I have the privilege of sharing life with! I’d love to hear your ideas! What do you hope to do with your kids before quarantine ends? What items are still on your list of things to do? (And for more ideas that you may have missed, check this out!)