With COVID-19 spread now exponential in every region of the state, our statewide positivity rate at record highs and hospitalizations already surpassing our Spring peak, all 11 regions will move into Tier 3 effective November 20, 2020 at 12:01am. The new mitigation requirements to combat the surge of COVID-19 across Illinois can be found here, https://coronavirus.illinois.gov/s/restore-illinois-mitigation-plan.
It’s important for everyone to stay balanced with activities, fresh air and finding new ways to manage all of the kids being at home at once, parents working from home, supplies being limited and our dining options being pushed to drive-through, carry out, delivery and eating at home.
Let’s continue to look out for each other and share best practices and check in with each other virtually and on the phone.
Several readers have shared some of their best practices for keeping busy at home!
- Salt dough ornaments (not edible but super cute for décor) are an inexpensive way to make memorable gifts for others and plan ahead for holiday gifts too! Access the Recipe link for regular or cinnamon salt dough ornaments. Local mom Lori and her daughter Addison jumped right in during the stay at home quarantine to make their own.
- Free Coloring Pages from Local Artist Ken Pease.
- Book Nook Recommendations for Kids and Adults
- Headphone Harmony – see our favorite podcasts and YouTube channels for kids
- Our Organizing 101 resource motivates you to de-clutter and fill a donation box or two! It’s also time to organize closets and drawers of clothes and “stuff” and make your piles for donation giveaways. Kids should be involved in this process. Set a goal and a timeline, then you can come back and review their progress.
- Once you’ve decluttered, do a donation drop off and then store anything you want to sell for our Neighborhood Garage SaleGuide.If you know the 2021 dates of your neighborhood garage sale please send to us for our free online guide!
- Crafts for Kids Will the slime creation craze make a comeback? Homemade play dough is a personal favorite for all ages.
- Spend Time in the Kitchen: Kids can help prepare meals, stir recipes, set the table, etc. Get the cookbooks out and let them try something new. Some of our favorite recipes to start with:
- Heart Chicken and Noodle Soup
- Rainbow pancakes (for those who don’t mind extra food coloring!)
- Easy Dutch Apple Pie
- Healthy Recipes for Teens to Make
- Easy at-home activities for Toddlers using supplies we have around the house (oatmeal containers, cards, markers, paper, etc.)
Community Virtual/Online Experiences
- Thank you to HSHS St. John’s Children’s Hospital for creating the COVID-19 Time Capsule for adults and kids to complete together and stash in the memory box!
- SIU Center for Family Medicine developed a kit full of fun ideas at home and a recipe for bleach wipes for sanitizing. Access the COVID Family Survival Kit.
- LLCC Community Education has a variety of 6-week classes online that can work for adults and kids of many ages.
- Illinois State Museum has online resources and events that are fun and educational. Plus, check out their butterfly & moth collection.
- Kidzeum has activity ideas and other online resources.
- Abraham Lincoln Presidential Library and Museum has coloring pages you can download.
- United Way of Central Illinois offers 15 simple activity ideas for kids ages 3-5
Virtual/Online Experiences
- Girl Scouts Goes Virtual! Activities, challenges and all sorts of FUN!
- A 3D tour of Frank Lloyd Wright’s “Fallingwater” plus a 30-minute documentary.
- Readers in the family? Try a literary virtual scavenger hunt from Book Riot.
- Have kids who love tractors? Check out the coloring sheets and videos on this web page of activities from John Deere.
- Education companies offering Free Subscriptions and activities due to school closings.
- The International Photography Hall of Fame in St. Louis has podcasts and a new 360-degree virtual tour for $5.
- Story Time from Space books read by astronauts in orbit
- Interested in art? The Museum of Modern Art offers free online courses!
- storylineonline.net Online storytellers and featured videos
- ABC Mouse is having deals right now….they have a lot of learning activities for the younger kids. Free access for some of their products
- The James Dyson Foundation offers challenge cards – activities and experiments to teach your child engineering lessons at home!
- Magnatiles
- Butterfly Garden w/ Live Caterpillars
- The Neon Museum in Las Vegas has virtual tours that let you wander around their famous “boneyard” – Password = Neon. neonmuseum.app/guide
- From Angelica at DealHack: Browse through her huge list of websites, educational institutions, and other businesses that offer free services and programs not just for home-based learning but also for your general well-being throughout the COVID-19 pandemic.Here it is: https://dealhack.com/blog/list-of-free-resources-during-the-covid-19-pandemic
More Fun at Home
- We transformed our dining room table to a “make your own” creative station with crafts, paints, photos and scrapbooks. Uploading photos to apps (i.e. Walgreens) and ordering them to be delivered at home to update our albums and scrapbooks.
- Window markers, sidewalk chalk or sidewalk paint
- Squigz, Kinetic sand, LCD tablets and dry erase boards
- Sensory bins (filled with rice or pasta, and searching for small items, magnets, etc….kind of like a scavenger hunt)
- Cosmic Kids Yoga on YouTube
- iPad Apps – Playhome and Toca Boca
- Paint, markers or crayons and have them decorate boxes or build their own forts.
Have a birthday?
Birthday drive-by’s, zoom gatherings and driveway socially distanced celebrations. We’ve all had to rethink our birthday traditions. Check out a fun birthday option from a Springfield family.
Teens
Trying to keep teens to limit their screen time, you’ll have to build in some routine or tasks to help out with things around the house. It’s time to clean out one closet and one drawer at a time! Or you can suggest these “course” ideas.
- AP Laundry: advanced techniques like stain removal, proper folding and what to hang dry
- Honors Biology (pet care, feeding, cleaning, exercising)
- Art: make cards for area senior centers and family members.
- Home Economics: Kids can make their own lunch and set a meal plan for dinner for a few nights. Look in the cabinets what do we have available and ready to make?
Share or post your best online resources and tips for things to do with us! springfieldmoms.org@gmail.com
- Fresh air is helpful for everyone! Just keep your social distance from others and respect the rules and closures of certain parts of our local parks. Tips for Park and Trail Visits During COVID-19.
