We know this is an uncertain time for families across Alberta. With schools temporarily closed, you might be wondering how to fill these unexpected days. While our incredible teachers advocate for the future of education, we can work together to keep our children’s minds engaged and their routines positive.
Think of this as a unique opportunity to explore different kinds of learning with your kids. Your goal isn’t to perfectly replicate the classroom but to keep them engaged while fostering curiosity, creativity, and a love for learning in its many forms.
Here are some practical, low-stress activities to keep your kids busy and learning (that you can do at home!).
Weave Core Skills Into Their Daily Life
Kitchen Mathematics: For dinner everyday, you can invite the kids to be your sous-chef. Cooking and baking are full of practical math lessons. You can ask them to double a recipe to practice fractions or count and sort measuring cups. For younger children, ask them to set the table and count out the correct number of forks and plates.
A Family Reading Challenge: Set a collective goal, like reading for 200 minutes as a family. They have to share their story in a summary with the rest of the family later. You can also create a cozy reading nook and have them take turns reading their favorite part for the day aloud. Even 20 minutes of reading a day dramatically helps maintain literacy skills. Let your child choose books they love – comics and illustrated books absolutely count!
Have Them Write for a Real Audience: Encourage your child to write a letter or an email to a grandparent, cousin, or pen pal. It will give writing a real purpose and also build their communication skills. Younger kids can draw a picture and dictate a sentence for you to write down.
2. Have Unstructured Creative Time-Outs
The “Maker Station”: Dedicate a section of the house to creative supplies. Include empty cardboard boxes, tape, string, markers, recyclables, and anything you think would challenge their creativity. Challenge your child to build a new invention – something they wished existed for their toys, their classroom, or their room. The process of designing and building is where the real learning happens.
Dramatic Play, Puppet Shows, and Speeches: Encourage kids to write, rehearse, and perform a short play or puppet show. This will help to build their confidence in communicating their ideas and speaking to a crowd. It’s a fantastic activity for siblings to collaborate on.
Indoor Fort Building: All it takes is some blankets, pillows, and chairs. A fort becomes a reading castle, a secret headquarters, or a quiet den. This activity teaches engineering and spatial reasoning in the most fun way possible.
3. Engage In Well-Being Exercises
“Backyard Olympics” or Living Room Obstacle Course: Get them moving with simple challenges. Time them as they hop from one couch cushion to the next, do ten jumping jacks, and crawl under a table. This burns energy and develops gross motor skills.
Daily “Quiet Time”: This is as important for you as it is for them. Set a timer for 30-60 minutes where everyone in the house engages in a calm, independent activity. This could be puzzles, listening to an audiobook, drawing, or building with LEGO. You could do this twice in a day to help maintain a routine and prevent overwhelm.
4. Connect With A-Star Learning
For targeted support or general academic engagement, A-Star Learning is only a call away (587-333-5580). You can engage our services to keep their academic prowess at its best. We provide one-on-one student-focused assistance to build academic confidence and evoke a love for lifelong learning.
This pause is a temporary one. Be kind to yourself. You do not need to be a full-time entertainer or a substitute teacher — that’s something for us to help you figure out. The most valuable thing you can offer is your presence and patience. A simple walk outside, a conversation over a puzzle, or reading together on the couch are profound learning experiences in themselves.
We are all in this together, supporting our children and our dedicated educators. Let’s use this time to nurture resilient, curious, and happy kids.