Well, to say this is a new experience for all of us would be pretty accurate I think. I can not get over how quickly things have escalated. I am so happy we, as a province, are doing so much to try and flatten the curve of COVID-19. In this effort we are going to have a lot of work to do with our children. They are home with us for two weeks now. Hopefully this length of time sees a decrease in spreading or at least a control on the virus.
 What do we do with our children? If you are lucky enough to be home with your children this is a time where you can actually just enjoy each other’s company. Everything around us is cancelled. There are no after school activities, no school, no lessons, nothing. Time to cash in on some quality time.
 I’ve seen some really interesting things online on how to fill your time during this outbreak. Depending on what you feel is best for your children, here are some fun ideas on breaking the boredom:
 Put on a play — Depending on the age of your children they can write the play, dress up for the play, practice their lines and then perform it. Alter this to whatever age they are.
Bake or cook — This is a great time to teach some basic cooking skills to your school aged children. With younger children they can still help with cooking and baking by adding ingredients and stirring. Older children can help come up with the weekly menu and write it out for the kitchen wall.
 Art — With Easter around the corner get crafting. Decorate the house (you’ll be spending so much time in) to the max! Get out the paint, construction paper and go egg crazy.
 Dice — Play games. If you’re anything like me and you’ve collected board games at yard sales you have a ton on hand. Get them going, make lists of your favourites and least favourites. There are millions of fun dice games to play with all ages of children. Look them up online. Children love playing with dice.
 Go outside — We can still play outside. It is recommended to ensure social distancing if you are near others. The pavement is peaking and kids are eager to get on their bikes or to just go for walks. Watch the snow melting and see how it creates rivers. Find puddles to jump in, shovel snow to make the piles smaller, drive trucks and make tracks in the mud. Whatever you choose to do get some fresh air.
 Write — If you have children who are school age, get them writing. It could be a recipe, a short story, a list of groceries, a letter to a friend from school they miss, a letter to the Easter Bunny, the ideas are endless and all they need are pencils and paper (and maybe you and a dictionary).
 Build — Saving those LEGO kits? Now might be the best time to crack them open. With nothing but time on our hands they can bury themselves with steps to follow. If you have little ones pull out the MEGA blocks and have them build castles or roads or anything else they can think of.
 Science experiments — Kids love science. They love trying new things and making a mess. Google up some simple experiments and watch with amazement how involved they will be with the process.
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 Read — Parents who are concerned their children are missing school, read with them and have them read to you. It can be basic sight words or books. Find out what they are capable of and go from there.
 The online community has been amazing, so many great websites and programs are allowing people to access them for free with the school shut down happening. Simply type in reading program in your google search and many great ones will come up. We love raz-kids over here and it offers leveled books in both English and French with tons of titles to choose from. It’s free right now so check it out! Along with that there are tons others to find and peruse.
 I hope some of these ideas give you hours of fun with your little ones over the next couple of weeks. Try to stay home and isolate yourselves as much as possible. Stay healthy and safe.
By Shelley Heaphy