We hope you’re enjoying family time and are getting a bit more chill out time too around the home schooling! We’re on the final leg of the school year. We’ve either gotten in to a routine or it’s all going a bit pear shaped. Some children have gone back, some haven’t so it’s adapting to new circumstances.
Here is the second of Arty Annie’s guest blogs with some ideas of things to do to help you get through this period. Hope they’re helpful!
Read the first Arty Annie blog here .
Annie is a local Mum who has been home-schooling her 5 year old son Rueben.
Every Sunday night I take half an hour to work out what Roo and I will be doing for the week ahead – much like a teacher does for their class. I write it in a diary or on a piece of paper, so that I can refer back to it at any time. This could be crafts, games, activities that we want to do or our aims for home learning.
There are so many gorgeous ones on google, just find one that works for you and your family that you don’t mind having up on the kitchen wall. I fill in a meal planner every time I get a home delivery and I try to stick to it so that we know which meals we are having each day. It makes such a difference being organised.
Are your kids showing signs of anxiety? At the start of lockdown, I think my son Reuben cottoned on to the fact that I was worried and he started having nightmares about werewolves coming to attack us. Roo actually made me take a video of him because he wanted to ask our friends and family what we could do to relieve his worries as he was struggling to sleep every night.
There were some amazing responses and these were some of the things we did, so perhaps they can help you if your kids are having nightmares too:
If you need more professsional help there are places such as Childline or Bridge The Gap that can help
We took some professional advice from a friend and they suggested this, which we found to be the most successful, along with all of the above!!
Draw the worry or nightmare, leave the worry in a jar and look at it during a time in the day when you can have “worry time”
We looked into where wolves lived – and luckily nowhere near us! Mainly Canada, Russia, Iceland and deserts. Talking about it really helped.
We made jokes about what the wolf would have to do to get to our house e.g.
He would have to get on a boat, rowing through the ocean!…. Or on a plane with his suitcase! We couldn’t stop laughing about imagining that.
When Roo said he was still worried the wolf would get into our house, I said that I would bop it on the head with a saucepan and Roo found this hilarious!!
He looked at his drawing during the daytime and then put it back in the jar and was able to leave the worry there.
Within a week he had forgotten all about his worries of the wolf. He will bring up the wolf every now and again but has no problem going to sleep now so I hope this helps anyone with the same problem.
Do some arts and crafts and create Lockdown memories! It’s all learning!
Here are a couple of things to make.
Salt Dough Lockdown Handprints
I have never done this before but everyone was posting amazing Lockdown Handprints, so I just had to try this and you should too! It was so easy to do and kept me and my little one occupied for hours!
Make sure you do one so you have a memory of this special time forever.
We also made some other shapes – Reuben made rainbows that he could give to his friends and we made some hearts for the grandparents and loved ones to let them know we are thinking of them and missing them.
For Salt Dough, You will need:
How to do it:
1. 1. Preheat the oven to the lowest setting. Line a baking tray with baking paper.
2. 2. Mix flour and salt in a mixing bowl, then add some water and stir. This is the fun bit! Get your hands right in there and wait for it to start coming together!
3. 3. We have a vinyl table cover, so we spread some flour down and then put the dough onto it and rolled it with a rolling pin. Then cut or shape into whatever you like. We made some heart and rainbows (just circles, cut them in half)
4. 4. Put your finished items on the baking paper and bake for 3-5 hrs or until solid.
5. 5. We waited until the next day but you just have to wait til they are cool to paint or colour them with pens.
Personalised Bookmarks
You will need:
These are so easy to make with any type of clear plastic packaging! This one is made from sliced ham packages!
1. Cut the packaging into a long, thin, rectangle the size you would like your bookmark to be
2. Round off the corners so that they aren’t sharp
3. Think of who you are giving it to and write a meaningful or inspirational message on it that they will appreciate or draw something that they like.
4. Punch a hole in one end
5. Add any colour ribbon through the hole and tie a knot and a bow
6. Give as a gift for a birthday, to someone who loves reading, or to anyone who would appreciate a thoughtful little gift at this time. A little love goes a long way!
Make sure that you get out in the fresh air every day. Not only in the garden, but go for a walk or a jog if you can!
Roo has started scooting along with me on my jog! The fresh air makes such a difference and you will feel revitalised.
I found that Vitamin D and Calcium really help to elevate my mood during this time.
If you need a giggle to get through your day, I have a page called the Phunny Book, where I post things that i’ve found funny or things Reuben says and does. Please feel free to post on there and share any ‘Phunny’ experiences you are having at this time.
Visit my Arty Annie facebook page for lots more crafty ideas too!
Take care, stay safe and keep laughing! Arty Annie x
