Let’s use this time hunkered down together to connect as families and get back to basics. Here are a few ideas of things you can do together to pass the time and enjoy this quiet time together as a family: Play a board game. Monopoly teaches dice counting, currency adding and subtracting, negotiation, strategy and even simplifies some basic concepts of banking. Scrabble expands the vocabulary. Card games are full of strategy and teach the importance of following a set of rules. It is also important for our kids to become good winners and losers and playing games regularly helps practice this important skill. Prepare a meal and eat it together. Try something new as a family. One idea is to make your own pasta with no more that flour, eggs and a rolling pin. And nothing tastes better than homemade noodles in butter. Or try this recipe for “pasta bar” that lets you customize with whatever you have on hand! If you like shrimp, use shrimp. If you prefer chicken or something else, that’s cool too. Sauté in whatever vegetables you like or have on hand. You can’t go wrong with ingredients you like. Or try making your own pizza dough and let each family member customize their own! Write to a pen pal. Done’t have one? Parents, ask a Facebook friend from your childhood who has kids similar ages to be your pen pal family! What a fun way for kids to connect and learn about what it is like to live in another area of the country or world while practicing their penmanship. Call family and friends. Many of the younger generations don’t have great telephone skills and are more comfortable texting then making a phone call. This is a great time to practice our phone skills and teach our kids how to have a phone conversation. Let them call their friends that they are missing from school and have them ask questions and answer each other about how they are spending their days. Have them learn how to answer the phone politely and how to carry the conversation. It may seem simple, but this is an important skill to build and this is a great time to practice. Bake something! Baking teaches measurements, fractions, physics concepts like volume and matter (liquid/solid/gas), food science (use yeast!) and the importance of process in following a recipe. Don’t be afraid to try baking your own bread or a recipe that requires you to learn a new technique. I’m thinking we will try making our own bagels, donuts, naan and tortillas over the next couple of weeks. If you need a place the start, try these easy peach scones. They can be made with canned peaches too, or berries or whatever you have on hand (or skip the fruit and add chocolate chips and nuts!). Or if cookies are more your thing, these ones use oatmeal in place of flour! Let your kids find, plan, and execute an art project. It doesn’t have to mean special supplies or a big mess. There are so many creative websites with great ideas for paper collages and learn to draw instructions. Show your kids how to search for kids art projects on Pinterest and ask them to select one they agree on and read it through together all of the required elements before they start. You can supervise From afar, but letting them take a leadership role in the planning and execution will teach them great lessons! Here is one fun one you can do with all your TP rolls 😂 Our kids can sense our worry, anxiety, and stress. Let’s try to view the silver lining and enjoy this time together with your family. Our kids could be impacted by this as a generation, and I am hopeful that as a family we will come out the other side stronger and more capable.
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Author: KellyI love to cook and care for the people I love! Categories
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November 2020
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