Managing a household and working from home is already a challenge for any mom and dad. Taking care of kids, who also have to stay home during this tumultuous period, is even tougher.
When you have to have a meeting with your boss, or you are in the process of looking for a mortgage broker, you need the house to be quiet and free from any distractions. However, how can you have a peaceful surrounding when your kids are bored out of their minds at home?
Here are a few activities that will keep them entertained while you do your own thing.
Make a Game Out of Being Quiet
Kids are easily bribed. If you promise to give them a treat at the end of the day, as long as they can keep quiet while you work, then you probably have several minutes to a few hours without someone yelling for you to attend to them.
You can incorporate a round of hide-and-seek. Theoretically, children who are trying to remain unseen will keep quiet. However, be prepared for squeals of laughter when they do find each other. Before then, you can have a few minutes of quiet to make a quick call to a client.
Designate an Area for Playing
Create a dedicated space where your kids can be as loud as they can and play whatever game they want. Store all their toys, books, and other items into the room. Tell your kids that they are only allowed to play there.
Having a toy area will allow you to be able to use the rest of the house for whatever purpose you intended. Because all of their stuff is in one place, naturally, your kids would want to spend their time in there. You can be assured that, when you have a video call, the surroundings will not have clutter and your children will be out of the camera’s field of view.
Let Them Be Creative
Leaving a child unsupervised with art and crafting supplies sounds like the beginning of a disaster. However, you would not have to scrub the paint off of walls and pieces of furniture if you set up a special space with a huge paper tacked on the floor and wall.
It will spark their creativity and use their imagination. Maybe this will even raise them to become artists in the future.
You can also get your kids’ crayons that you can wipe off with a wet rag in case of incidents and stickers which you can easily peel off.
A less destructive medium for your budding artist is Play-Doh. It can be quite messy to clean, but you would not have to worry about it being in your carpet forever.
Play Pretend
If, despite your good efforts, your children just cannot sit in a room without you, then let them sit with you. Give them office supplies that they can use while they pretend to be working with you.
However, make sure only to give them items that would not hurt them nor would be expensive to replace once they break it. A calculator can be fun for all ages. A pad of paper and colorful pens can keep them engaged for a while.
Ask them to work quietly nearby. This way, you can have peace and keep an eye on them at the same time.
Likely, a variety of activities are needed to keep them busy throughout the day. A lot of kids have short attention spans. However, implementing one of these activities will give you a few minutes to hours of quiet so you can concentrate on your tasks.
