Indoor Games for In Home-Shelter during a Pandemic

[CoM]

Not to try to cause panic but....I spoke with someone tonight that knows people that work on a state level with the CDC. This person was told to get ready to isolate yourself for a few weeks because that will be the only way to avoid it if it is in your area. He was told to get supplied this week!

 

I was told I could share this info so here is part of the email he sent.

 

 

Indoor Activities for Children

 

The Swine flu reported is spreading quickly. We counsel parents to listen to the CDC news and be prepared with activities for their children, should the schools and day care centers in the US close during the Pandemic.

 

We are praying for the safety of all of you and hoping that this flu will be controlled quickly and soon dissipate.

 

It is important to stay calm, to explain to children what is going on and how to protect themselves, but not to scare them, at the same time. However, it is important to let them know that this is one of those times that strict obedience to the instructions of parents will need to be carried out.

 

Below, I am giving some ideas for indoor activities to keep your children, at least partly occupied and entertained during this time.

 

Please be advised that the CDC has issued advice for parents that if schools close, children should stay indoors. This means that children who are off school should not be going to stores, nor to the movies, nor to playgrounds, nor to the Malls. Avoid large crowds as much as possible. And if advised to do so, wear a mask.

 

Adults and children should wear masks when going out in public where the flu has been confirmed or where there is high potential for it to occur.

 

107 ideas for your children to use as entertainment

 

Indoor Games for In Home-Shelter during the Pandemic:

 

1. Walk your dog in the garage or play games with the dog in the garage or around the house.

2. Make paper kites or paper airplanes to fly indoors. Color your kites, to add more time to the activity.

3. Make cookies—with the help of an adult.

4. Learn about an interesting place. com/nature_walks-cascia-rita-roccaporena. html

5. Ride your bike in the basement—if mom lets you!

6. Skate in the basement –if mom allows!

7. Watch clouds shapes through the windows –draw them and name them, and make a chart, to see how many new ones you see each day, and how many of the same shape you see again, in what days of the week?

8. Visit Discovery Education and make a goal to learn at least two new things from there each day, make a note of what you learned so you can tell your teacher what you learned while at home, during the Pandemic

9. Draw a story picture of your Day, every day, and color it. When the Pandemic is over, you will have a great picture story book with the history of each day.

10. Write in your journal, each day, about the experiences you are having during the Pandemic, how you felt, how others felt about it, what you heard about it, what you learned about it, you may want to draw a map, showing where the flu out bread was at each day.

11. Play tag indoors.

12. Recycle used boxes and old magazines and make new toys to play with.

13. If you have a big box, make a fort out of it, use crayons to draw on it and color it. Ask and adult to make windows on it for you.

14. Play charades.

15. Write, rehearse and perform a play for your family. Involve your siblings in the writing of the plot, help them rehearse and learn their part, build the stage together, choose the costumes together, and perform it together.

16. Learn to sing or play a new song each day.

17. Play Secret Friend, and write each other notes—but, make it fun, choose a theme for this and write your notes around that theme. A mystery theme would be very fun. Don't do scary themes.

18. Do a hula hoop contest.

19. Call your fiends and find out what they are doing for fun, and share one of your activities and do one of their activities, then call back to find out how they liked it? --But, please don't keep calling your friends all the time. One or two calls a week should be plenty.

20. Learn to juggle—be careful not to hurt smaller siblings when juggling.

21. Jump rope in the garage, if you have a garage.

22. Wash dishes for your parents.

23. Clean the house for your parents.

24. Offer to clean and organize their drawers.

25. Clean your room.

26. Rearrange the furniture in your room.

27. Wear a pedometer, and find out how many steps you took in the house during the day. Share the pedometer if you have siblings, and make a chart to see how many steps each sibling took during the week.

28. If you have a dart game—shoot some darts.

29. Play board games.

30. Have a balloon tennis games in your living room, if mom lets you.

31. Make a lemonade, put on your swimming suit, then place an umbrella on the floor over a beach towel, and a pillow and pretend you are at the beach in Hawaii, catching some rays!

32. Give the dog a bath in the bathtub, if mom lets you!

33. Pop popcorn and watch a movie at the end of the day.

34. Do some push-ups or tune in to an Aerobics channel or video and do some work out

35. Go for a ride on your treadmill, If you have one.

36. Put on some exciting music and dance, or have a dance contest with your siblings.

37. Play dress up—pretend you are a glamorous movie star for a day.

38. Put on make up.

39. Do your nails!

40. Do your siblings nails (if they are girls).

41. Play Sheriff and arrest someone! --Make sure that person agreed to play it with you!

42. Play knock-knock, who is there game.

43. Learn new dance steps, or practice the ones you already know. If you have siblings do a dance choreography, practice it for a couple of days, then put on a show for your family!

44. Do an indoor golf tournament—improvise--use anything in the house as tools for this.

45. Practice some gymnastics.

46. Play cowboys and Indians—dress up for this.

47. Surprise your parents by picking up the toys and cleaning the house for them.

48. Play hide and seek.

49. Go to a room. Find everything that is not put away. Put it in the center of the room. Divide it into equal piles with your siblings and then race to put all of it away (correctly, with Mom or Dad being the judge). Our family loves it.

50. Vacuum the house.

51. Go through your old school stuff to see how much your writing has improved. Then organize them in order of date.

52. Wash your bedroom windows—why not all the windows in the house?!

53. Learn some new yoga exercise or Pilates.

54. Have a contest for who can race in place the longest.

55. Practice ballroom dancing with your siblings of with your Mom or Dad.

56. If you have enough space in your home and if noise is allowed, practice cartwheels.

57. Go through old magazines and collect some favorite recipes, and put them in a folder.

58. Go through old magazines and make a picture book to send to your children's shelter--when the Pandemic is over.

59. Draw and staple together a picture book to give to your children's shelter—when the Pandemic is over.

60. Set up an maze with chairs in your family room, practice going through it really fast.

61. Draw and paint or color a large castle.

62. Do spider walks.

63. Ask your parents or an adult to help do a science experiment. Ask the adult in charge or your parents to take the idea from one of Bill Nye the Science Guy in YouTube.

64. Call your grandmother every day (if she doesn't mind) and talk to her for 5 minutes!

65. Organize your collections, if you have them. If you don't have them, make a list of things you want to start collecting when the Pandemic is over.

66. Learn how to do the wash your own clothes. Then do a load of wash when your clothes are dirty.

67. If you are old enough ask and adult to teach you how to thread a needle and to sew a button.

68. Ask your parents questions about their life, then secretly write their life story for each of them, and present it to them, as a gift.

69. You are now very creative. . . create some of your own games to help pass the time.

70. Ty not to watch too much TV, and when you do choose the Discovery channel and the history channel to learn something while you are being entertained. Draw a picture or write what you learned in a notebook or journal.

71. Practice being really kind to your parents and to your siblings for one day.

72. Write Thank You notes to your mom and Dad.

73. Make a list of things you are thankful for—Think hard and write everything down. Then, go back and count how many things you are thankful for.

74. Practice braiding your sister's hair.

75. Shine your shoes and your Dad's shoes.

76. Clean the fridge for your mom.

77. Sweep the floor when it is dirty.

78. Make get well cards to friends of family who may be sick and give to your parents to put in the mail.

79. Make a list of things you want to do when the Pandemic is over.

80. Practice learning how to type fast for 10 minutes everyday.

81. Play pin the tail on the donkey

82. Play Hot and Cold

83. Hide a few things and have a treasure hunt. Those who find the most, get a prize. Those who lost get a treat.

84. Build a menu for the week for Mom. Consult with your siblings to include what they would like to eat in the menu also.

85. If you have an indoor trampoline, jump on it a few minutes.

86. If you are a teenager, play spa and give each other facials or do make up.

87. Look at family picture albums

88. Organize your family pictures.

89. If you do scrap booking, do some scrap booking. Make your own designs out of old magazines pictures and construction paper.

90. Play pretend with your stuffed animals.

91. Play Duck Duck Goose.

92. Play Freeze Tag.

93. Play with swords, or life savers or toy guns.

94. Play Pictionary.

95. Play Still – who can lie still the longest.

96. Play Pose or Statues—take a person and have them act what you tell them.

97. Play Simon Says.

98. Play Man on Mars

99. Play Pick up Sticks –if you don't have sticks, use forks or other things.

100. If you have a pet, play with your pet.

101. Play Guess what I am thinking.

102. Tell riddles or jokes to each other.

103. Have a contest of who can build the tallest tower using their toys and things around the house.

104. Build something fun, like a ship, or a building with your toy blocks.

105. Play Guess What is Under the Towel—put several items on a table, let everyone look at them for 5 minutes, then cover it with a towel, and have them write down what they remember.

106. Play What is Missing—like Guess What is Under the Towel. Put several items on a table. Let everyone look for 1 minute. Then take one item away. Have everyone write down what was removed. Then compare the list. Keep removing one item at a time.

107. Help Mom make a cake and decorate it.

 

 

[Mt_Rider]

One point to consider when planning play time during any crisis. Back in the old days of winter storms on our farm, my parents always cautioned us against any roughhouse playing because...."if you break an arm, we can't get out of the driveway to get you to the hospital." In the case of pandemic quarantine, the LAST place anyone would want to have to take their injured child would be the ER.

 

 

Quiet, no-risk games....... well, with children "no-risk" is an oxymoron, isn't it.

 

 

MtRider [thinking of such things now, having acquired a child for a while... ]

[Cat]

More links... LOTS of things to make and do, and even though some say "preschooler", many things can be done with and for older children.

 

OR *by* the older children FOR the younger ones!

 

http://mrssurvival.com/forums/index.php?sh...mp;hl=playdough

 

http://mrssurvival.com/forums/index.php?sh...mp;hl=playdough

 

http://mrssurvival.com/forums/index.php?sh...mp;hl=playdough

 

 

[Amishway Homesteaders]

One point to consider when planning play time during any crisis. Back in the old days of winter storms on our farm, my parents always cautioned us against any roughhouse playing because...."if you break an arm, we can't get out of the driveway to get you to the hospital." In the case of pandemic quarantine, the LAST place anyone would want to have to take their injured child would be the ER.

 

 

Quiet, no-risk games....... well, with children "no-risk" is an oxymoron, isn't it.

 

 

MtRider [thinking of such things now, having acquired a child for a while... ]

 

Very good point !

 

even I didn't think of that one?

 

Yes, you are so right the LAST place you want to have to go is the FIRST place everyone will be going.

 

putting this one at the top of the list for getting ready.