What do you do with your children during a pandemic?

[Vasha]

My heart is breaking for my daughter and her children (2 years-8 years) because of all the things they aren't doing/can't do because of the pandemic and limiting exposure and risk. She mourns the loss of things like movies, zoos, museums, and even church.

What do you do? Do you go about life as normal? Do you stay home? Masks?

If you do anything recreational and fun, please share your ideas.

Thank you for helping!

[Katy]

We’re stuck at home too. Our two youngest can’t get vaccinated and the youngest is high risk. We play at home. If the weather is nice we spend a lot of time outside. They have more toys and more screen time than usual. 

We go for walks, drives, and curbside pickup with n-95 masks. We watch a lot of movies, YouTube, and PBS Kids. We read a lot of books.

[Insertcreativenamehere]

I have a high-risk 3rd grader who goes to school which is 100% masked. That is basically all he does outside the home except for play outside. He is homebody, though, so he doesn't mind it. 

My middle schooler is homeschooled and we go to a co-op that requires masks. During 2020-2021, we spent a lot of time doing activities outdoors -- hikes, nature center classes, downhill skiing, etc. We've started going back to museums and such, obviously masked. We are also back at church.

My two high schoolers are in school and their lives are basically back to normal. All our kids are fully vaccinated and while that may not provide complete protection, we do hope that it will reduce severity. 

 

[Mrs Tiggywinkle]

We never stopped doing things. My kids are in school which is 100% masked and for most of the last two years indoor things have required masking. We’ve still done zoos, movies, church and museums.  But none of my kids are high risk and now all of them are vaccinated. 

However—I was realizing today, after spending 45 minutes googling for something to take my bored and stir crazy children to go do—there’s nothing left.  There’s only two kid friendly movies in our theater; one they’ve seen and one they don’t want to see.  The video gaming place, the play center, and the giant inflatable bounce place have all closed. There are no bowling alleys open during the day anymore and the roller skating rink is only open for two hours twice this week and none of that is today.   The libraries have removed all of the fun stuff. My kids are so bored being off school this week, but everything we used to enjoy doing has closed.(we live in the northeast where it is cold and my kids don’t like winter activities, or really any activities when it’s below 50 degrees)

Edited December 29, 2021 by Mrs Tiggywinkle

[HomeAgain]

We shifted focus.  Instead of going out, we planned monthly adventures at home: escape rooms, games, building things together.. Instead of going to high traffic places, we go hiking, to museums early on a weekday, outside displays...ds's activities switched to three options: Zoom, outside/spaced, and heavily masked.  We downloaded Messenger Kids so he could have fun with his friends still (and extra bonus, he's getting a chance to know far away cousins)

This pandemic sucks, and I'm tired of finding alternatives.  Right now, this is what we've got. I'm not letting ds11 know that, but truth is he's gotten much more screen time than he would have gotten because that is what is left for us.

[Hilltopmom]

We have never been big into going places so it hasn’t been a big change- our rural area doesn’t have museums and what not. We never did things like bowling, movie theaters, bounce houses.

We have a home with lots of things to do for them- games, so many games, puzzles, art supplies, toys, books, sports equipment… supplemented during covid. New bikes, scooters, etc Key thing- we are willing to do the things WITH them.. play the games, do the scienve experiments, etc

We do get out in nature- hiking, canoeing, snow shoeing, bike rides, etc as often as possible.

The youngest kids are going to my school this year with required masking, that’s our big risk. No play dates, trips, indoor activities like dance. Masks are required in our state for everyone inside at all times. 

No one is complaining- it’s just the way it is.

Its actually rather nice, imo, not to have overscheduled kids.

As for mourning the loss of zoos, etc- I dunno, people have lived without those things and survived for a long time. None of my kids have ever been to a zoo- the closest is 6 hours away.

Edited December 29, 2021 by Hilltopmom

[Magical_mommy]

DS is a first grader who started ballet class in September and loves that. Dancing is so much fun for him and we are lucky the classes have all been in person so far.  Some boys at his church and in the neighborhood think that ballet is just for girls but DS has been shrugging off those comments, so far. The uniform for boys at this age is a white t-shirt and black biker shorts so it's not like he has to wear tights or anything too girly at this point. 

He has been happy and maybe some little boys were just born to dance. Right? 

 

[73349]

DS is 13. We go to parks (masked, sometimes meeting a friend to walk with). Walks in our neighborhood. Church is online. One in-person class and one mostly outdoor activity with a tight mask requirement. (He's double vaxed but not eligible for a booster.) The library is offering curbside pick-up & we read a lot. We've never been big on movie theaters, and we've seen the local museums.

Places like farmers' markets are open here, and farm tours might be (we're past that stage). I think the zoo here is open. So with younger kids, I'd get anybody 5+ vaccinated and we'd mask and do outdoor things, as long as everybody was old enough to keep a mask on properly for an hour or so.

Edited December 29, 2021 by Carolina Wren

[JustEm]

For movies, my sil bought us a projector and we have a blast having movie nights once new movies are streaming.  We have gone to the movies once during the pandemic. The ability to choose seats and see how crowded the theater will be when we go was great.  We aren't big on zoos so we don't miss them. 

Museums are things that we love but haven't missed in the last 2 years because we've spent so much time finding other passions.  The only regular out of the house activity is ballet for two of the kids.  Everyone is masked and it is 4 days a week so they get to socialize with their friends there.  The other kids have neighborhood kids and cousins they see daily.  

We go on hikes, fish, do kung fu (dh is a martial arts instructor,) read a lot. They play in the woods and have started baking and candy making.  I actually love how the pandemic has forced us to slow down and focus more on our passions than just having us fill our calendar with things to do.

[Elizabeth86]

We really aren’t doing anything indoors and we don’t really miss it. We did a LOT this summer when things looked good. The thing we have been doing is visiting as many state parks as we can. We love hiking!

[Jean in Newcastle]

We went to an aquarium yesterday. Masks were mandatory for everyone age 2 and up. I saw absolutely no one flaunting that rule. 

[Spryte]

We do outdoor things when we have to get out of the house. Hiking, exploring. We go to quiet playgrounds.

We do a lot in the house, though, and I know we are fortunate to be able to do that. We use the funds we might have otherwise used for activities and travel (and we used to do a lot, a whole lot!).

We set up an outdoor ninja line and play area. We have outdoor hangout areas for friends, and we bought a heater. 

We have space to make a woodworking shop and maker’s area in the garage. We watch YouTube videos and learn what projects we want to try, and do them. DS is a cosplayer — started at 11 — and he and DH and learning to install electronics in the costumes. We made a music recording studio in the basement. This meant we pulled out all of DH’s old equipment and actually set it up. I know we are fortunate to have that stuff on hand, but you can do a lot with just a computer. We have a small potter’s wheel, and play with that. We are learning to use the CriCut, and to sew.

DD is learning coding. She likes CodaKids. She plays Minecraft on zoom, and dolls, and she and her BFF have crafting days and play board games.

DD is obsessed with learning languages. We’re all using Duolingo and Babel.

Lots of games, projects, crafting, baking. Lots and lots of art.

DH has taken some zoom cooking classes through his company, and we might do something like that with the kids.

It’s not perfect. But it’s something.

 

[Magical_mommy]

7 hours ago, hjffkj said:

"we've spent so much time finding other passions.  The only regular out of the house activity is ballet for two of the kids."  

DS is in first grade and proud to be a dancer and I wanted to reach out.  Are there any boys at your daughters' ballet class? Was wondering how they were treated. 

He is happy to talk about ballet with new friends or anyone who seems nice. However, you just never know when a mean kid at church or a neighborhood party will start making fun and ask him if he wears tights. 

 

[TexasProud]

7 hours ago, Elizabeth86 said:

We really aren’t doing anything indoors and we don’t really miss it. We did a LOT this summer when things looked good. The thing we have been doing is visiting as many state parks as we can. We love hiking!

My daughter would have died. She HATES hiking, though she has done it a ton on vacation. She literally was away from home every single night in high school and most of the weekends between volleyball, theater practice, youth group. I do not know what we would have done if this hit then. Thankfully, she is at college where she gets to do all of that...well, not volleyball anymore.

OP, it is really, really tough. Especially for extroverted or kids who do sports or music. It just sucks.

[Elizabeth86]

16 minutes ago, TexasProud said:

My daughter would have died. She HATES hiking, though she has done it a ton on vacation. She literally was away from home every single night in high school and most of the weekends between volleyball, theater practice, youth group. I do not know what we would have done if this hit then. Thankfully, she is at college where she gets to do all of that...well, not volleyball anymore.

OP, it is really, really tough. Especially for extroverted or kids who do sports or music. It just sucks.

Yeah high school age, that sucks. Mine are 10, 8, 6 and 3. Super thankful for the timing of this pandemic.

[TexasProud]

4 minutes ago, Elizabeth86 said:

Yeah high school age, that sucks. Mine are 10, 8, 6 and 3. Super thankful for the timing of this pandemic.

Yes, that would be easier. That is another factor. She was happy when all three were there. So yeah, at that age no big deal. But when she was 13 and both of her brothers were in college and it was just her.  Nope. She wasn't staying home. We also chose not to home school anymore so we didn't kill each other. LOL. 

[prairiewindmomma]

Eh. The first year of the pandemic wasn't that bad with our high schoolers. My kids were fine.  We were not socializing at all that first year because we have so many high risk people under our roof. We were really active physically, we did a lot of cool huge projects at home because we could lean into them with long breaks of uninterrupted time, and we upgraded our internet so we could run 5 video streams at once so everyone could zoom and do what they need to.  My college kid knocked out his first degree because he could take heavy course loads with nothing else to do. 

My older three headed back into the world this fall once they finished their vax series and once we worked out how we would handle ds's asthma at school. (They can't get nebulizer treatments at school anymore, and we needed to do some advanced planning with the district.)

My elementary kid has actually been the one who struggled because she finds it harder to structure her time.  She learned how to cook, is working on learning to code, and found a few niche interests. She spent a lot of time drawing, and she had a sibling assigned to play with her for an hour at a time back to back to occupy her mornings when I needed to get stuff done homeschooling her older siblings. Now that her siblings are back in school, we have a blast.  We can paint for a few hours, or pull out a telescope and go get samples, or do all kinds of stuff once the bookwork is done.

If we still had a toddler we could have converted half of our garage to a tumble room. As it is, we still have a mini-gym going out there so we can be active physically even if we can't be with others.

You can mourn what you miss AND find a beautiful place where you are.  That's life, right?!! We all have things and people we grieve, but we can move forward and find a new happy and healthy.

 

[Ausmumof3]

We live on a farm.  We have been so lucky here up till now but I’m currently finding it hard when many people are continuing on as normal and my kids are missing out.  They understand (and oldest asked to please stay home from the planned NYE get together).  But once youngest is vaxed we will probably be done with hunkering down I think.

[DreamerGirl]

We were a very outward facing, travel family. We basically spent time equipping our home to make it nice for a staycation.

We have a tennis/volleyball/badminton "court", just a cheap thing at the beginning of the pandemic that is way more costlier now.

Soccer goal

Previously had only a basketball hoop.

Convertible Table Tennis/pool table

Upgraded video games, music system and projector (both in and out)

Upgraded telescope.

Bought binoculars for bird watching (new activity)

Virtual classes for dance, music instruments, martial arts and language (Kids for all, parents depending on interest)

Both kids learned to cook.

We spend money on good ingredients and have been cooking around the world.

Read a lot

Listen to music a lot

DH and DS do a lot of robotics/rasperberry Pi stuff

Take drives

FaceTime with family

Go biking

kayaking (new)

Slowly into hiking

Camp in the backyard

We took two small holidays when the numbers were better locally.

DS goes to PS, DD is homeschooled. But we stay most of the time inside.

Just try to build memories as a family

[JustEm]

1 hour ago, Magical_mommy said:

DS is in first grade and proud to be a dancer and I wanted to reach out.  Are there any boys at your daughters' ballet class? Was wondering how they were treated. 

He is happy to talk about ballet with new friends or anyone who seems nice. However, you just never know when a mean kid at church or a neighborhood party will start making fun and ask him if he wears tights. 

 

Yes, there are a good amount of boys at our dance school. My 11 year old daughter has 3 boys in her class. Most of the levels have at least one or two boys. They are all treated well. And the boys in my family who take ballet have never been teased by other kids.

[bookbard]

We live rurally so it's all outdoor play here. We are starting outdoor swimming class soon, and I will dress them in the car so no indoor change room time. We were lucky to have a window of time with very low numbers so used that to do the museums and movies and so on - in fact we were out every spare day during that precious month and a half. In short - lots of outdoors, which isn't a bad thing. 

[Magical_mommy]

3 hours ago, hjffkj said:

Yes, there are a good amount of boys at our dance school. My 11 year old daughter has 3 boys in her class. Most of the levels have at least one or two boys. They are all treated well. And the boys in my family who take ballet have never been teased by other kids.

Thanks for responding! Many male dancers have to deal with stereotypes...  when I first suggested to my son that he try ballet, he was very nervous about being laughed at. DS is somewhat girly and got teased about being a wimp throughout kindergarten. Still, he eventually decided to give it a try and put on the white ballet slippers…

[JustEm]

1 hour ago, Magical_mommy said:

Thanks for responding! Many male dancers have to deal with stereotypes...  when I first suggested to my son that he try ballet, he was very nervous about being laughed at. DS is somewhat girly and got teased about being a wimp throughout kindergarten. Still, he eventually decided to give it a try and put on the white ballet slippers…

Well I hope he doesn't have to deal with teasing as a male dancer.  

[alysee]

We live in a small town so we don't normally have regular access to museums or zoo's. 4 of 5 of my children have only had 1 vaccine dose. The littlest one isn't eligible yet. We have had to stop extracurriculars. Instead, we do the park, we have weekly at home movie nights, outside play, board game night, read a lot, ride bikes(in the good weather), they all have their personal interests: knitting, coding, lego, crafting.