GUIDE: Things to do with the kids to keep them busy during school closures

At the best of times most parents wonder what to do to keep kids entertained during the school holidays.

Going to the movies, a park or setting up playdates is often the answer, but under coronavirus circumstances it’s best to keep kids at home and away from public spaces.

So most parents are asking, what now? There’s only so much TV your children can watch before the dreaded “Mom, I ‘m bored!” comes around.

First, break up the day into segments so that they have designated times for TV, playing, reading and learning.

Here are some interesting ways to keep them busy:

Let them learn at home:

Here are a few tools to explore:

• Khan Academy,
• National Geographic Kids,
• ST Math
• BrainPop
• Skype a Scientist 
• Extramarks

Go back to basics with play time:

Don’t let them sit online learning all day; children will get bored, so let them play just like you did as a child. Look at some indigenous games such as:

• dibeke (a running ball game)
• diketo (a coordination game)
• kgati (a rope jumping game)
• ncuva (a board game)
• morabaraba (a board game);
• jukskei (a throwing and target game)
• kho-kho (a running game)
• Iintonga (a stick fighting game)
• arigogo (similar to rounders)
• drie stokkies (running and jumping game)

Not only are they fun to play but it’s a great way to connect with your children about your childhood.

Turn your home into a playground:

Another option is to set up your home to keep kids busy by using regular household items like in the video below:

Reading:

Go back to the classics and look for books you’ve always wanted to read with your kids; sometimes getting an audio book to the do the work for you, especially if you are working from home, might help too.

Try the following sources for audio books:

• Librivox
• Spotify
• Loyal Books 
• Storynory
• Storyline Online

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