2020 will be a year we will all remember. With the coronavirus, we are asked to stay in our homes so we don’t spread the virus. This can be super hard when you have kids. What can you do at home ALL day long? There are so many resources out there that I almost get overwhelmed. So, I’ll start out with just 10. These 10 activities are ones we have already done and the kids have enjoyed. Score!

Make a terrarium. Grab a mason jar or see through container for each child. Head outside and first find some small rocks or pebbles. Put those on the bottom of your jar. Then find leaves or grass and make a soft bed on top of the rocks. Next you can add some soil to put on top of the greenery. Then let the kids run free. Let them find whatever they want to add to their jars. They may even find a worm or other small insect. At the end have each kid tell you about their jars and what they have in it.

Deck of Card Work Out. We did this today for our P.E. time. The kids…and I were exhausted when we were done! It’s super easy and fun. Directions: Grab a deck of cards and pull out all of the Aces, Kings, Queens, Jacks and Jokers.
Here is your guide.
Hearts= push ups
Clovers= squats
Spades=crunches or sit ups
Diamonds= jumping jacks
Jokers= run (you could run around your house or your block)
Draw a card and do the number of reps called:
Jacks= 11
Queens=12
Kings = 13
Aces= 14

Make Play-doh. This is super fun if you have little kids. Even my 8 and 10 year olds will play with it if I make it into some sort of competition. Who can build a big fort? Who can build 10 blocks and stack them on top of each other? I found a good recipe here.

Make a dessert together. Has anyone else been stress cooking? Take this extra time we have at home to teach your kids how to make a favorite dessert. My kids absolutely love baking. I have to remind myself to calm down and relax as we are doing it. But you end up with a yummy treat at the end! Win-win!

Paper airplane competition. This is so fun, especially because my boys LOVE making airplanes. Grab some paper, make your plane and set up a run way. See how far each one can go.

Play the game of spoons. If you guys haven’t played this then you’re missing out. This is a hit! Even my 5 year old learned it and loves it. Grab a deck of cards- you can even use Old Maid type of cards. You just need one full match set for each person that is playing. For example if I have 5 people playing I would grab out all of the Kings, Queens, Jacks, and 10s and 9s. So there are 4 cards of each, total of 20. You put in one LESS spoon on the table. So I would put 4 spoons on my table in the middle. Then you shuffle the cards and pass them out. Each person has 4 cards. You are trying to get a set of 4 of the same NUMBER. So you grab one card from your stack and pass it to the person to the left, everyone does that at the same time and you pick up the card from the person at your right. You pick up the card, look at it, keep it if you want, and then pass another card to the person to the left. You keep doing this until someone- or yourself, get 4 of the same NUMBER, then you grab a spoon. The last person won’t have a spoon and then has to have a letter. You can spell the word PIG or whatever you want. So that person then has a P. You shuffle the cards and start again. Now once you have mastered this, you can put the spoons in another room! This is a bit dangerous, but oh so fun. Give it a try.

Write letters and send them to grandparents. Now that we are staying away from our grandparents, we decided it would be fun to write them a letter. They look forward to getting the mail every day, since they can’t get out much. Think of others you could write a letter to.

Science experiments. You can use this site called Mystery Science to give some fun informational lessons as well as fun experiments for the kids to learn. It’s one of my 8 year olds favorite times of the day.

YouTube Art for Kids Hub is one of our favorite times to stop the school work and get a little creative. This site teaches you how to make a variety of animals, cartoons, characters and so much more. It’s great for all ages.

Watch the Cincinnati Zoo Home Safari every day at 1:00 pm MST. It’s on their Facebook page here. You just go to their videos and you’ll see a “live” come up when they are starting. So many fun animals. My kids have really enjoyed watching these.

This Coronavirus is getting real here in the United States. I know it’s on all of our minds right now. I’ve been reading the updates from different states and it looks like a lot of our normal every day routines will be changing. Schools are going to be cancelled which makes me re-think what I need to do or get. I thought I would share with you a few things that are not your typical toilet paper and water that I’m buying.

The first thing I’m buying is a outdoor play set/swing set for my kiddos. Since we are trying to stay away from large gatherings, a new outdoor toy should keep them moving around and outside. With a lot of schools closing, this would be super helpful. You can see some great Lifetime playsets on Amazon here.  If you’re not a fan of playsets, you could grab a trampoline. That could get on my list too!

The second thing that I’m buying are some new family card games and crafts for the family. I’ve heard great things about these two games- Skill King and Cover Your Assets by Grandpa Beck. I actually just bought Cover your Asset today. It’s a good one that younger kids can even play. Take your mind off of the craziness that is going on and have a family game night. Make a fun craft together with the kiddos. I bought some of this air dry clay with instruments. I thought it would be a fun thing for all of my boys. We aren’t super crafty around here.

The third thing that we are more doing than buying is updating and organizing our home. When you are home bound it can definitely get depressing. We had a few trips planned this month that have been cancelled. It’s definitely a bummer, but to be safe we are waiting this out and hopefully helping with not spreading any sickness. With that said, we got out our list of house jobs that we’ve wanted done. We start on that tonight! I would encourage you to do the same. Make a list of things you could do to your home or yard to update and fix. You could also go room by room and organize and declutter. Just by putting some positive energy into my house will help me take my mind off of the anxiety that is in the world right now. A fresh coat of paint can do wonders.

The fourth thing that we are doing is trying to be more aware of those around us. I’m sure you have all seen long lines at grocery stores. It’s pretty crazy how shelves are bare and items are out of stock. Instead of hoarding for ourselves, can we look around us or even ask others what they need? In times of crisis we tend to want to fed for ourselves. However, we could do a lot more good if we check up on others. Even a phone call or text could help.

The final thing we are doing is taking time to be still. With all of the updates that come every few hours, it can be overwhelming and down right exhausting, even my kids can feel it. Take some time off your research and updates. Go take a walk with the family and relieve some stress or just sit in the sun and be still. Pray, meditate, do what you can to make you feel calm. We can survive this.