Europe is almost at a standstill because of the COVID-19 outbreak. It’s a very difficult time for all of us. Schools are shut and people are working from home so the situation is less than ideal. Here are a few activities that you can do at home with your kids. Obviously depending on where you live some of those activities might not even be possible. Please check your government’s guidelines, stay safe and let me know how you are doing and share your ideas !
Grow an avocado tree
Use the stone of the avocado to make a new avocado tree. It’s remarkably easy and you will have a beautiful little tree by the end of this crisis !
Step 1
Eat an avocado. Yummy
Step 2
Remove and clean the stone
Step 3
With a sharp knife make small cuts in a cross shape
Step 4
Add 3 tooth picks to the stone
Step 5
Put it on top of a glass jar. Change the water every day.
It requires a lot of patience but time is something that we have these days so be patient and watch it grow. We brought back avocado stones from our December trip in Argentina from your friend’s garden. They started to open up again and a new avocado tree is growing ! It will work !
Land Art
This is one of my favorite activities in the Jura Kids Camp and it also is one of the kids’ favourite. Land art is a great game to play as family. What is it? Create art with objects that you find in nature. Your artwork can be anything you want ! Use leaves, branches, flowers, grass, stones to make the most beautiful drawing.
The other day we made a tree and a snail. Over the years I have see amazing drawings from galaxies to boats, bicycles, tents, volcanos and so many more! Let the kids be creative and don’t help them too much otherwise you end up doing the activity for them. It requires patience and attention to detail but this activity will boost their creativity.
Grow plants in egg shells
Please don’t throw your egg shells ! They can be really useful for many activities and are also loaded with calcium so it’s a great product that you can put in your compost or directly on your plants after you ground them.
How to make mini pots from egg shells? Simply take off the top of the shell and put soil or compost into the egg shell. Plant a little seed and water daily but with very little water.
Make pancakes !
My kids love pancakes and could probably eat them everyday. Now that we have more time in the morning there is no excuse to get them involved in the breakfast preparation and they will feel rewarded to have cooked breakfast and they understand how long it takes to actually prepare food.
Here is our recipe for a family of 4 with hungry stomachs :
- Put 120g flour in a pot
- Put 2 eggs and mix well (use egg replacement for vegan options)
- Insert gradually 400ml soya milk (or any other vegetable milk or regular milk) and mix well until there are no lumps
- Heat up a pan with a little coconut oil (or olive oil) to medium heat (I use 6 out of 9)
- Fill out a big spoon or ladle and add to the pan, make sure it’s evenly spread.
- Cook on both sides, it will cook very quickly and should not stick to the pan.
- Enjoy !
Drawing
Drawing is a very simple activity but kids love it and it is a very relaxing activity. To make the atmosphere even more calm you can add classical music in the background. Let your kids be creative and use all sorts of pens and crayons. You can print drawings online that your kids simply have to colour. Join them in this activity and they will love it even more.
Writing
Most children have to do home schooling. My girls are 4 and 5 so the level is very basic but to keep a little rhythm we do a little bit of writing, maths and creative drawings every day. Obviously if you have older kids then the level is a lot more complicated. One of the activities my girl actually created themselves is to write random letters on a page and I have to read them out loud. They find it hilarious !
Write a letter
During our winter skiing holidays our daughters made friends with two children from Zurich. We exchanged numbers and are determined to keep in touch and one day seeing them again even though they live 3 hours away. The kids still talk about their new friends and one way to let them know they still think of them is a good old fashioned letter ! This will not only help your children with their writing, but they can also draw and the whole process will be much more meaningful than a video via WhatsApp.
You can write letters to the older generations who might not have access to new technologies and will be delighted to receive news from their loved ones. Remember how you felt as a child when you opened letters that were destined to you? As the world slows down a little perhaps it’s a sign that we should all slow down a little and go back to basics !