With COVID-19 cases on the increase, we must continue to take precautions to protect ourselves and our children from the virus, while still encouraging our children to move more and be sociable.
There is no replacement for face-to-face socialisation. Kids are social creatures. Regular physical activity and time around their friends can improve your child’s physical and mental health but has to be done in a safe and healthy way during this pandemic. Parents need to ensure their children exercise safe distances and maintain hygiene practices as much as possible during the containment period. And, of course, that all children are wearing face masks when interacting.
Here’s a roundup of a few great games your children can play this weekend while practicing social distancing with their friends.
Noodle tag
This game is perfect if there are more than three players. Give each child a pool noodle, and whoever is ‘it’ has to tag their friends using the noodle. Pool noodles are soft and bendy, so no one will get hurt and it prevents the kids from getting too close to each other.
Freeze dance
Play a fun song and let them dance it out on the lawn, and when the music stops, they have to freeze in the position they are in. Go on like this for the whole song. They’ll love showing off their dance moves.
Treasure hunt
If you have a nice big garden, hide some toys or treats for the kids to find. You can make it really fun and draw a map for them (if you have time), or otherwise just randomly hide things in the garden and let them find it. It will keep them busy for hours (and a safe distance apart from each other).
Cookie decorating
Bake a batch of cookies or cupcakes and set up a station outside where the kids can decorate their own cookies or cupcakes. Give each one their own bowls with decorations to limit the spread of germs.
Detective
This game is great for a large group of friends. Get everyone to stand in a big circle, and nominate a detective who then needs to leave the circle and go stand somewhere where he can’t see or hear the rest of the group. Then pick a child to start doing something fun like jumping jacks, making as if they’re brushing their teeth, etc, and get the other kids to imitate him. The ‘detective’ then returns back to the middle of the circle and they then have to figure out who the leader is giving the instructions for the moves. The detective has 3 guesses. In the next game, the leader becomes the detective and so it continues.
