I’ve mentioned before that the coronavirus has had a great impact on my youngest. It’s almost as if my youngest has been trapped indoors and at the start of the year when we went into lockdown, my DH and I had a fear of going outside in case we caught the virus and passed it onto the kids. It was a constant feeling of not being able to do anything. I’ve had to get my youngest used to being at home and that has been easy due to the lockdown, but it’s also been important to familiarise her with the outdoors.
I think like most of us, we thought that the coronavirus was going to go away in a month or so. It went from the UK being locked down for a few weeks to having this pandemic consume the whole of 2020. As coronavirus became a reality, it was so important for me to organise things for my family to do OUTDOORS. Due to my anxiety over the pandemic, I found a range of activities that suited my family.
It was so great to take walks near where we live. It was and is so important to make sure that we changed the route of our walks to keep the kids entertained and excited.
We rediscovered local parks around us and when the travel bans were not so strict we were able to travel to parks outwith our area and explore them too. My brood enjoyed this excitement as they didn’t know where we would go next and what would we find in the next park.
My kids really enjoy going to Herne Bay Memorial Park. Not only does it have a duck pond, but it also has ample space to kick a football. If you give boys a football they’re going to keep themselves busy for a while. Lol!!
I’ve used the outdoors for sensory play as well. Armed with paper and crayons, the kids have made pictures of tree rubbings and leaf rubbings. We have collected different flowers from the park and looked at the differences between them and noted the texture on each one.
I have been very vocal with my youngest making sure I’m emphasising what we are doing and what we can see around us and that has allowed me to interact in a positive way about our surroundings.
We haven’t only had fun in the park as we have a back garden and I have utilised that to the fullest too.
We invested in a sandbox for the garden and found different objects that can be filled with sand.
The kids have had messy play in the garden with paint. It doesn’t matter if they make a mess because it’s washable paint and it’s outside. I’ve just made sure that they’ve had their aprons on and that they are wearing clothes that I don’t mind getting a bit grubby.
It won’t be as relevant now, but back when the weather was good, we did have plenty of fun with water. Along with the garden hose we used different objects to fill up with water and my youngest especially loved loved loved playing with the water. I always made sure the kids were wearing their wellies and waterproof jackets. Of course for each of these activities mentioned, I dressed the kids according to the weather keeping them safe and warm.
We also really enjoyed having a picnic in our back garden on the grass using a picnic blanket big enough for all of us to sit on and preparing a small lunch for everyone. We managed to enjoy yourselves and have lunch in a different setting. This was just something that was different yet convenient. I did find that it was more relaxing than having a picnic in the park.
Another outdoor activity that the kids absolutely enjoyed was when we hired our bouncy castle for the back garden. The kids thoroughly enjoyed jumping up and down all day and tiring themselves out. It was an easy day for me.
Lastly, I feel it’s been so important to explore the weather outside with the kids, therefore I have taken the kids out whether it has been sunny or rainy or frosty. I’m not crazy! I do this so that they have the chance to explore different kinds of weather. I’ve made sure they have been dressed appropriately for the weather that day
So this is what I did and am still doing during this pandemic. What did you try to do differently during lockdown with your kids? I would love to hear from you!
By Mandeep Rai Canterbury
Mandeep Rai Canterbury 