We’ve been at this stay at home thing for awhile now, so this is a good refresher if you are falling into the mundane on a few ways to create family memories. No matter their age, this can be a great time to bond with your kids.
Make a Daily Schedule – Children thrive with stability and when they know what to expect. To provide this, have your children help you make a daily schedule with specific activities laid out for your family to follow. Decide on as much as you can together, and then write it down and post it on your refrigerator or another prominent spot. If you’ve fallen out of a schedule, this is a great time to implement a new one!
An example of what your daily schedule may look like:
- 8 a.m. – breakfast
- 9 a.m. – schoolwork and working from home
- Noon – lunch
- 1 – 3 p.m. – schoolwork (depending on the ages of your kids and what is required of them) OR time outside taking a walk together or playing in the backyard or something else that allows you to get fresh air
- 3 p.m. relax and do whatever you want to do
- 5 p.m. dinner
- 6 p.m. family time
- 10 p.m. bedtime
Build a Fort – Even if your kids are teenagers! Pull together tables and chairs and drape blankets over them to create your own hiding place(s). Then sit inside and do your work (and their schoolwork) together on laptops, with flashlights, or from ambient light through the blankets.
Have a Cook Off – Challenge yourself and your kids to use whatever ingredients they can find in your pantry and refrigerator to come up with a meal together. Let everyone choose the part they want to make and go for it.
Dust off those board games and play them, allowing every person to choose their favorite. Put a puzzle out on your dining room table and put it together as a family.
Have your child teach you their favorite video game and play it with them. Become an expert—or at least learn enough to hold your own—so you can really compete.
Read a book together, taking turns reading it aloud to each other.
Have a movie-a-thon or watch a TV series online together.
Explore your child’s interests and give her or him time to share them with you. If they’re into music, listen to their favorites with them (and then share yours). If they like art or doing crafts, join them and let them lead.
Make movies together with your mobile phones – explore slow-motion and other features – then enjoy watching them together and laughing.
Get out the legos and create a city on your living room floor.
What are some ways you’ve found to enhance your time at home? Share your ideas!
About the Author:
Elizabeth Griffin is a senior writer at CRISTA Ministries. Her journey as a mom of a child with autism can be followed on her blog “Follow the Dots” at elizabethgriffin.com.
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