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How many times in the past months have you heard, “I’m bored”? And no doubt you’ll be hearing it a lot more now that the holidays have rolled around. Especially if you’re planning to be cautious, as experts are advising us to be. After all, this is a festive season like we’ve never experienced before and with new Covid-19 cases still on the rise, it’s best to limit social activities.
But what do you do when you have kids who are in need of stimulation and social interaction and you’re all badly in need of a break after this crazy year with all its challenges? With a bit of creative planning you can keep them occupied while you have a glass or two of something to unwind.
Pre-empt the kids’ whining about there being nothing to do by creating an activity timetable of sorts, with the promise of something new every day. It may sound like a lot of effort to come up with safe activities during a pandemic, but don’t worry: we’ve done the work for you. The activities don’t need to take a lot of time – some can take three hours, while others take just 30 minutes.
Try to come up with interesting names. For example, you can mark a couple of days on your calendar as Willy Wonka Day, when you make sweet treats with the kids; or Homebound Explorers’ Day, when you have some kind of adventure in your backyard or even inside the house.
Don’t explain too much ahead of time – anticipation is all part of the fun.
You can also get the whole family involved in the planning, brainstorming ideas over supper so everyone has a chance to add fun activities to the family holiday calendar.
For the little ones
Homebound explorers' day
Take your kids on a little adventure in their own backyard. Send them on a mission to collect a list of things outside, for example something green, something with a pattern, something that grows and so on. Then let them create an artwork with the items.
Or get them to identify plants and bugs in the garden that they know the names of and see who can create the longest list.
Cloud-gazing tales
This one depends on the weather, so check the sky and juggle things around on the calendar if necessary. Find a comfortable spot somewhere outside where you can lie on your backs and gaze up at the sky.
Get the kids to slow their breathing by taking a few deep breaths, inhaling and exhaling to the count of three. Then tell them to quietly watch the clouds move across the sky for a while and when they spot a shape that resembles something they recognise, they should point it out?and describe it.
The first one to spot something starts the story by saying, “Once upon a time . . .” Then they incorporate the shape into the first part of the tale. Every new shape gets included in the storyline, and time will pass before you know it.
You could add to this activity by drawing or filming the shapes you see and recording the story.
Don’t explain too much ahead of time – anticipation is all part of the fun
For the whole family
Willy Wonka cupcake day
Whether you get the kids involved in baking homemade cupcakes or buy plain ones to decorate, the bottom line is for everyone to have fun making their own creations. You could even start the day off watching the movie Charlie and the Chocolate Factory for inspiration before you head to the kitchen.
Fill several bowls with a variety of coloured icing and toppings ranging from vermicelli and silver balls to sour worms and little marshmallows. Let the kids go wild – just like Willy Wonka with his marvellous inventive treats. You can pick a theme or make it a competition to see who can create the craziest cupcake.?
Christmas lights night drive
Is there anything quite as festive as lights strung up on trees and in windows or along the streets? And you can enjoy it without even getting out of your car.
Some neighbourhoods have residents who always make a huge effort to decorate their homes, so ask about those on your neighbourhood Facebook page.
If your kids have friends they haven’t seen or can’t see due to Covid, you could arrange with their parents to drive in convoy and set up a WhatsApp group call for the kids on the drive so they can chat about what they’re seeing.
Surprise sloth day
Make allowances for days when you simply don’t want to do anything and announce a surprise Sloth Day. Prepare everyone the evening before by telling them that everyone in the household must pretend to be a sloth the next day. That means they don’t have to get out of their pyjamas and can move slowly from bed to couch as you all settle in for a day of lounging around, reading, watching TV, drawing or whatever they prefer.
Watch a family-friendly movie together – and take some sloth family selfies to commemorate your day of doing nothing.
Lip-sync zoom
For those feeling creatively stifled, challenge friends and family to a lip-sync battle on Zoom.
Since group singing is a super-spreader of the coronavirus, this is a great alternative. You stay in your own safe bubble at home while enjoying the company of your competitors online. So get into character (and costume if you like) and bring the house down.
For the grown-ups
Armchair travels
You don’t have to leave your house to see interesting parts of the world these days. Simply go to the Wanderlust Travel channel on YouTube and take a virtual walk through sites such as the Louvre in Paris or Amsterdam’s Museum Quarter, or take an elevator ride to the top of the Eiffel Tower.
You might even come across a walk you’d been hoping to take abroad before the pandemic hit.
Wanderlust Travel’s?playlists cover several themes, including urban environments, nature and parks, attractions and events.
Their videos are filmed using mobile devices such as phones and GoPro cameras and can be anything from 10 minutes to three hours long. So open a bottle of wine, sit back and journey together to your hearts’ content.
Romantic restaurant replay
Think of your favourite dining experience with your partner and recreate it. One of you does the cooking and the other sets up the “restaurant”, creating the mood by laying the table beautifully and compiling a music playlist. Bon appétit!
