Here we go again NZ! Stay positive. Remember, the worst part of a 7 day lockdown is the first 3 weeks! (Oh I do so hope not).
The hardest part of lockdown is keeping your kids busy so they don’t kill each other. Or eat the entire contents of the fridge in one day! I don’t think I have heard the words ‘I’m hungry’ so many times. And as for the house, don’t worry about it ….. no one is coming over anyway!
Sanity is important. So do what you need to maintain a relatively healthy state of mind. Bribery and corruption are always effective techniques. So too are coffee and wine. And if you can be bothered, espresso martinis are even better.
But just a reminder, everything is temporary, so although chaos, boredom and mess might be a common theme in your house over the next few days, you can choose to make it fun, knowing that it wont last forever!
Fingers crossed that this lockdown isn’t going to be for too long, but here’s some ideas to keep your kids busy and you sane just in case!
#1 #Sibling Dare and Adventure Challenge (Free download below)
If your kids are bored and don’t know what to do with themselves just print these out and hand them over. There’s a few fun, funny and challenging tasks on each card. I’ve totally bribed the crap out of my kids on this one. I handed them the sheets, told them to do it together, and for every card they complete they get a point. Then, we came up a 4 tier point system, and they chose a reward for each. Download it FREE below!
10 points= A cupcake each
20 points= A yes hour with Mummy and daddy (Oh F*#K)
30 Points = A sleep over in the lounge with a movie and ice-cream
40 points= A lunch order with chocolate brownie when they go back to school
Some of the activities and challenges include:
- Sumo wrestling- Wear your dad’s t-shirt- shove a pillow down the front and back of the shirt and wrestle each other
- Set up an obstacle course outside
- Make breakfast blindfolded while your sibling gives you instructions
- Make your own restaurant and cook a meal and dessert for Mum and Dad
- Make your way from one end of the house to the other without touching the floor
- Wear underpants on your head for half an hour
- Eat your breakfast with no hands
#2 The One Hour Bedroom Lock-In Challenge
My daughter came up with this one and they did it yesterday. All 3 of them wanted to be locked in her bedroom. They had 5 minutes before the hour timer started to run around and gather everything they needed for inside the room. When the timer went off, I started it again for an hour and they were not allowed out for the whole hour! (Except for the toilet).
Some well deserved quiet time for the adults.
Every 10 mins, we slipped a piece of paper under the door with a challenge written on it. eg. first to win 3 games of paper scissors rock, first to do 40 push ups, or we slipped one of the cards of courage under the door.
The winner of each challenge got to leave the room for 30 seconds and run out and get anything they had forgotten to take into the room. Food was the most common object that they went for of course.
They loved it, and they ended up staying in for an hour and a half! That was until my overcompetitive daughter lost the last challenge and threw her regular hissy fit about losing.
No TV, Ipads or technology was allowed!
For other, easier and lazier ideas …
#3 Dress ups in your clothes
I just loved walking around in my Mums high heals when I was little. Either put out the box of dress ups or get out some of your clothes and your husbands clothes, shoes and accessories (that you wont be too fussed if they get ruined), and let them dress up like adults!
#4 Let them loose with shaving Cream in the bath
My kids will do this for sooooo long!
#5 Create an outdoor mud kitchen set up with old expired food
Not to upset the hungry and poor but this is so fun. Go through the pantry and fridge and any old or expired food can be put outside and they can mix it all together into a gross feast of whatever they want to make it into!
#6 Learn to draw on you tube
My son loves doing these. You can literally look up “How to draw …..’ on youtube and there are a million videos on how to draw anything!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7SWvlUd2at8
#7 Set up a craft table for them to make art that you will just throw away
Put toilet rolls, shells, leaves, paper, colouring pens, paints and whatever you can find for them to create masterpieces that you will just end up throwing away when they are not around. But at least they were quiet for a while.
#8 Get them to choose one of their old t-shirts and re-design it with craft stuff
#9 Cover the floor of a room with mattresses, pillows, cushions and anything soft and have wresting matches
#10 Get them to set up an indoor or outdoor obstacle course and play the floor is lava
if it’s not raining this gets them outside- for pretty much all day!
#11 Make an outfit out of toilet paper and do a fashion show
Of course, they can only do this one if the people in your area didn’t panic buy again!
#12 Build an epic cardboard box fort
Just type in epic cardboard box forts, show them the pics and get them to build their own.
#13 Give them a balloon
Who needs fancy and expensive toys? Give a kid a balloon and suddenly there’s a volley ball competition happening in the living room. Or they’ve drawn a face on theirs and they have a new friend to play with.
If all else fails, just keep feeding them, let them watch some TV and order more wine!
That’s all got for now! And fingers crossed it’s all we will need!
Good luck! Stay safe and sane and happy 🙂