How to Keep your Child(ren) Happy, Productive and Engaged during "Stay at Home"

Three weeks into staying at home, children running across a Zoom conference call or dogs barking has become “normal.” As we all prepare for the possibility of another month of working from home, it seems as if homeschooling has become somewhat more manageable. However, parents are still voicing concerns over a sedentary lifestyle and too much screen time.

As an Occupational Therapist, I want to first note that note that screen time is perfectly ok, but it’s okay as long as it’s supervised. While they are on a laptop, computer, phone, or tablet, they can still build and engage muscle groups. We will get into that shortly.

Secondly, let’s talk about the how important it is to manage the more sedentary lifestyle. As school age children are still developing, it’s important to pay attention to posture and muscle building.

Adding a couple of postural changes may help their bodies maintain a level of strength, it could be as simple as having them play on the device on their stomachs on the floor. This position will help them strengthen and elicit core muscles that aren’t engaed if they were laying on their back. If you happen to have an exercise ball or a low ottoman, this could also add a balance challenging aspect to it by having them lay on their stomachs (on the ball or on the furniture) so that weight is distributed to their arms for support during screen time. If your child finds this difficult, you can allot for a certain amount of time in the position with a timer on your phone.

 Here are some tips for integrating muscle building while at home or doing schoolwork:

• Having your child complete writing or drawing activities with paper propped up by an easel or taped up on wall. This increases strength in supporting muscles important for improved posture.

• Make obstacle courses to complete activities or games. Adding bunny hops and frog jumps as a prerequisite to make a move for Jenga or completing a puzzle adds input into joints that may help them relax and stay calm for the activity.

• Make chores fun! Make a game out of normal household chores, such as folding and sorting laundry. A few ways to make laundry fun:

  • Challenge them on how quick they can match socks – this could help with visual skills and cognitive identification.

  • Button shirts or folding clothes (if age appropriate) - this works on the small muscles of the hand and coordination

  • Identifying all the colors, how many colors are there?

  • Sorting into categorical piles

Laundry isn’t the only way to turn household chores into developmental games. This can be done with cooking or cleaning. Creating an opportunity for them to assist you around the house will keep children active and it will also prepare them for independently doing household tasks once it’s age appropriate.

To close this blog, I want to circle back to my previous blog of addressing picky eating. Because you are spending more time at home with your child(ren), you have an opportunity to address some of the picky eating behaviors. This is a wonderful chance to incorporate different textures and flavors and increasing their exposure to new foods. Asking your child to assist in food preparation is a way to get your child to interact with the food, understand the texture, and incorporate different smells. This adds to their repertoire of familiar foods, increases the likelihood of trying new foods, and keeps them busy!

You can also make cooking fun but having them helping with stirring - this gives good input into joints for relaxation while also working on coordination and strength of upper body. They may also help with washing vegetables, retrieve items from the fridge or for a recipe- this works on coordination, motor planning, visual scanning, and cognitive skills. 

If you are unsure whether your child(ren) are age appropriate to start chores. Here are some basic guidelines for age specific milestones for household management tasks:

• 13 months - Imitates household work

• 2 years - Picks up and puts away toys with parental reminders, copies parents domestic activities

• 3 years - Carries things without dropping them, dusts with help, dries dishes (with parental supervision), gardens (with parental supervision), puts toys away with reminders, wipes up spills

• 4 years - Fixes dry cereal and snacks, helps with sorting laundry

• 5 years - Puts toys away neatly, makes sandwiches, takes out trash, makes bed, puts dirty clothes in hamper, answers telephone correctly

• 6 year old - Simple errands, household chores without redoing, cleans sink, washes dishes with help, crosses street safely

• 7-9 years - Begins to cook simple meals, puts clean clothes away, hangs up clothes, manages small amounts of money

• 10-12 years - Cooks simple meals with supervision, does simple repairs with appropriate tools, begins to do laundry, sets table, washes dishes, cares for pet with reminders

• 13-14 years - Laundry, cooks meals

If you have any questions, please reach out to Kristin at smplytherapy@gmail.com or book a consultation with me!