Is Lockdown more bearable when the weather is warm
and sunny, or like today in Waitakere, when rain is being bowled down my road in great
clouds, by wild and shouting Antarctic winds?
The 30 minute walk (if you’ve been lucky enough to
take one) , the bike ride or kickabout in the street, is impossible in bad
weather.
If you are confined with bored, energetic children,
weather which keeps you all indoors can be even more of a challenge than usual.
Those adults who have previously limited screen
time in favour of more worthy pursuits, may now be blessing the fact that their
child can get so absorbed in a screen that s/he doesn’t even recognise their
own name!
There are many things online which can interest
children of all age.
YouTube is
a positive cornucopia of entertainment and learning.
Decide what subject you want to explore: animals, plants,
crafts, cooking, birds, science, planets, history, maths, music or film and search it.
There’s
something for everyone.
For children who love animals, try searching ‘David
Attenborough’; ‘BBC Earth; ‘Animal
programmes’ or ‘National Geographic Kids.’
Be aware
though, that some videos can include ‘nature raw in tooth and claw’ which might not be suitable for younger children.
My grandson likes to change the play speed to 2,
which makes everything faster and funnier!
Discover
Morph: this wonderful stop-motion animation has delighted multi-millions of
children since 1977 when Peter Lord of Aardman
Animations (now famous for Wallace
& Gromit) created him for the Tony Hart programme.
Morph is now a classic and still so popular that
when Peter appealed for £75,000 from crowd-funding, to
make 12 new episodes, he gained and
surpassed the total in just 9 days.
Here’s a 1-hour animation to introduce you:
Other subjects to explore which may keep restless
children happy include: optical illusions, puzzles, riddles, rebus; party games, guessing games, quizzes and jokes; making, composing and playing music and
instruments - even from household objects.
Screen time doesn’t have to be mindless.
If the
weather in your part of the world means you or your children are finding confinement
a challenge, these ideas should springboard you to an interesting day or two.
Hi Zola,
ReplyDeleteHaving 4 dogs, we need the weather for to take them out. Here in the UK we have 1 hour of exercise allowed. We can also play in the garden on a nice sunny day. However, I do tink when it's terrible weather and we can stay in, it doesn't make me feel guilty not having to go out. Lying on the couch all day is a blessing, lol.
Also, I've always loved little Morph. When he gets thigs wrong, I want to give him a very gentle hug :-) (linda122)