As schools close across the country in an attempt to slow the spread of COVID-19, parents are left to figure out how to keep kids entertained and engaged. Although many schools are providing home study options, this is also an opportunity for your child to incorporate some wellness practices into their lives. In this article we’ll share three activities to do with kids who are home from school.
Learn a New Yoga Pose Every Day
A wonderful activity for your kids while they’re home from school is a daily yoga practice. A regular yoga practice has been shown to improve overall well-being in adults. Yoga benefits for kids are much the same as for adults; relieving stress, calming the mind and improving focus. One great way to incorporate yoga into your child’s life is to set a goal for them to learn one new yoga pose daily. If you already do yoga you can teach them yourself, or turn to our app Ninja Focus to teach them in a fun, interactive way. If you can do yoga with your kids it becomes a great way to share some healthy family time. Ninja Focus has an entire section devoted to yoga for kids; making it simple and easy for them to learn poses and then putting the poses together in yoga flows. Learning yoga poses like pigeon, down dog, and warrior are not only fun for your child to learn, but will also benefit them physically and emotionally.
Practice Mindfulness
Now that you have the time to breathe, literally, teach your kids to stop, slow down and breathe!
- You have the time to play some peaceful meditation music and learn Mindful Eating using the Ninja Focus app.
- You can now break down growth mindset and teach it to your kids.
- This is perfect to help ease any anxiety or stress in your kids, especially surrounding COVID-19 fear.
- In stressful times like these, especially with social distancing, it’s also important to focus on gratitude and creating your own happiness and fun!
- Make it a part of their daily routine to meditate 10 minutes per day!
Learn Two New Words per Day
When kids are home from school it’s a great opportunity to expand on their vocabulary. If your child is very young, you can choose the new words – write them on index cards with the definitions on the other side. If your child is school-age, have them find two new words in the dictionary (online works, too). Next, challenge your child to use the two new words throughout the day. You can even set a goal of using the word or words ten times that day; keeping track of each one with tick marks. Your kids will love the challenge and get the added benefit of expanding their vocabulary a little more each day. If you’d like to expand on this vocabulary challenge you can have them find a synonym and antonym for each word, write a short story incorporating both new words or draw a picture that signifies that word.
While this is a great time to challenge your child with various activities, it’s just as important for them to enjoy time just playing so be sure there’s plenty of time for that!
