Fun Ways to Keep Kids Busy During Corona Outbreak

March 12, 2020

If you have been watching the news at all lately you know that coming in at the tail end of flu season is now the Coronavirus. The virus is in America and everyone including the schools are taking serious precautions.

So what can we do to get through this mad season of sickness?

Please keep diligently washing your hands
If you are sick, stay home.
Keep those coughs and sneezes covered.
Keep eating healthy and stay up with your vitamins.

What to do if school gets closed or you end up home with sick kiddos?

Here are a few fun fairly inexpensive ideas to keep you and the kids from extreme boredom while being cooped up..

Movie marathons:

If you have DISNEY+ you are in luck because they have got some oldies but goodies in that vault of theirs. Pop some popcorn, make a blanket fort and hunker down for some good family movie time.

If Disney isn’t your thing here is my must see with your kids movie list:

The Muppet Movie (1979)
Babe (yes, the pig)
Mary Poppins
The Red Balloon (1956)
Pinocchio (1940)
Annie (1982)
The Kid (1921)
The Sound of Music
The Wizard of Oz
Singin’ in the Rain (1952)
Miracle on 34th Street (1947)
E.T
The Chronicles of Narnia
Flight of the Navigator
The Indian in the Cupboard
The Goonies
The Princess Bride
Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory (1971)
Yellow Submarine (1968)

My favorites for marathons are:

The Harry Potter Series
Back to the Future
Home Alone
Star Wars
Lord of the Rings

Some fun DIY ideas include:

Homemade Play-Dough

2 cups all purpose flour
3/4 cup salt
4 tsp cream of tartar
2 cups warm water
2 tbsp olive or coconut oil
food coloring(optional)
10 drops essential oil of your choice
Stir together flour, salt and cream of tartar in a large pot
Add water and oil
add color

Cook over medium heat stirring constantly, stir until dough has thickened and starts to form a ball.

Remove from heat, let cool add drops of essential oils and knead until smooth. Store in gallon sized bags. The dough should last for a few months of play.

Next is my scratch off activity board:

For this project all you need is:

Cardboard or poster-board
1 tbsp dish soap
2 tbsp acrylic paint
Contact paper or clear shipping tape
A sharpie
Ac mason jar

At the top of your board write what the board is for.

I have a few so one is indoor screen-free activities, another is for outside activities.

Use the mason jar and sharpie to draw circles under the heading and write activities inside the circles.

Next cover the circles with contact paper or tape, I usually just cover the entire bottom half. After that mix the dish soap and paint together and paint over the circles well, usually 2 to 3 coats does the trick.

Let dry and then let the kids enjoy taking turns scratching the different activities off. I like to make a few different boards to alternate out since they can be used over a few times.

Burn Off Some Energy:

Turn on some lively music and have a DANCE PARTY!
Built a giant pile of pillows and blankets by the couch and encourage your kids to jump off the couch onto the big pile of pillow and blankets.
Invite your kids to build an obstcle course using your furniture and household items (non-breakable 🙂 ) How fast can you go through?!
Build a fort!
Bowling with Empty Soda Cans or water bottles.

Make Homemade Snacks:

2. Make a healthy snack board: Carrots, celery, nuts, bananas, cheese, grapes, fruit, bell peppers, try to make it as colorful as you can!
3. GF Chocolate Chip Cookies: Recipe
4. Smores Snack Mix: Recipe