If your kids aren’t bored, frustrated and lonely...

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please tell your tricks??

My 8 year old & 11 year old in particular are so bored, frustrated and lonely. My 4 year old is a bit obvious, bless him. I feel like I need to get them some projects on the go but I am devoid of ideas. All they’ve been doing for what feels like weeks now is schoolwork, dog walk, and Lego while listening to audiobooks & they really need me to pull them out of the rut.

The 4yo is oblivious, not obvious! Although he does lack subtlety...

I think some people need more stimulation and social interaction than others. Some are more suited to this than others. Some find virtual communication a good substitute and others don't. There is only so much you can do.

My 2 boys are s bit older 9 & 11 they have been fine but they do have alot of tech they communicate with there friends on plus alot of outdoor toys for the garden .

Have they FaceTimed friends? That really cheered my 6 and 8 year old up.
Other lockdown highlights have been climbing trees and learning to roller skate 🤷‍♀️

Oh, and camping the back garden was a big hit too.

Mine are only 2 and 3 so I don't feel I can contribute. I'm just sort of place marking for interest incase others with young ones.come along

DD(7) does miss her friends, but has been OK.

Video call playdate with friends can be good, although inexplicably work better with some friends than others. They draw pictures and show each other, make a den each then hide inside chatting, write stories and read them to each other etc. Lego building together also works well. Kids this age connect by doing stuff together rather than talking, so it's a case of figuring out a way to do that on a video call.

Lots of time outside in the garden. We planted some veg and she waters it with me every day.

Cycling up and down the street (we live in a cul de sac). I suddenly realised that this is the perfect time to teach her how to cycle safely on roads, so we've been out in the local area a few times, and she's been practicing cycling one-handed to do signals.

We do crafts, baking, they okay together 9&12 although 23 year isn’t thrilled at the playmobil lol.

Walks, bike rides, painting, write letters to friends, made little crafts for friends to post. Face time, board games, time capsule, movies, switch, garden. I’ve printed out lots of colouring, activity booklets from twinkl.

12 not 23

DS has SN. He couldn't really care less. Getting to. Back to normality after will be a shock to the system

My 7 yo doesn't give a stuff and finds it odd that people and children would struggle with staying home. She is very much a homebody already tho.

Could the 11 year old help to construct something for the house or garden (if applocable)? I.e a bird house. Massive jigsaws, work together to cook a meal, go fit bike rides, play tennis, help with basic DIY, e.g. painting/upholstering?

I’ve got similar ages - 9 and 11. Schoolwork, beefed up music practice and zoom lessons, zoom versions of their usual clubs, bike rides, cuddly documentary watching time (Secret Life of Four Year Olds was a surprise hit), tennis, reading and finding them chores to do each time they moan have worked here! But they are still sad sometimes, which I think is fair enough.

We’ve been doing paw print badges they come with challenges to complete to earn the badge and are great for filling time we have a blanket to sew them on.

I think both my children (10 & 6) are quite home bodies as they seem ok. My son chats to friends every day online and plays in the garden on the trampoline or kicking a ball about.
My daughter FaceTimes friends and family a lot.
We've done friends and family quiz's.
We've made a big fuss of events, birthdays, Easter to break things up.
We've kept up to date with school work and followed the school week, Friday half day, skills morning and weekends off.
We've went for small walks, big walks, drive in the car.
We've done door stop drop off for birthdays.
I'm exhausted but so far kids seem ok.

DD 12 is fine. Does her school work with a friend all day via WhatsApp video. On her phone far too much looking at crap. Video calls friends. Driveway meet-ups to socially distance and do Tik Tok. She's been great really, so very lucky.

My 10yo is very happy at home.

He does baking, play doh, Lego, crafting, reading, playing out on his bike, skateboard, made himself a little daily workout schedule (he just runs and jumps a lot! ), minecraft, roblox and talks to friends on those games. He learning to knit and crochet too. He will have a tidy up of his room unprompted, he even did my room on Friday!

both still going to school which helps (as we're key workers) around 10 kids still going to the school in total, various ages.

my dds are 8 and 10 and have each other which helps, facetime their friends, and exdp and i live separately so they get to split their times in 2 houses, this helps as they bike ride and go on the trampoline at his and we have dogs so we dog walk at home.

i have let them make you tube videos which they make and edit this has really got them working together and being creative.

every meal i make i see if they want to cook with me etc

their sports club has moved to on line lessons

an extended family quiz once a week also

Mine are 10 and 12. I am giving them loads more screen time than usual especially during half term as it allows them to interact with their friends. The deal is they can have unlimited screen time as long as they also spend some time outside, exercise, do a chore, read, do something creative and do their music practice every day.
Like ohcorona we have also made a big deal of events - birthdays, May Day, VE Day etc. We go on walks and bike rides but the kids have to be inveigled and don’t always come. We have done baking, and we watch the Show Must Go On musicals every week, although we gave By Jeeves a miss. Sound of Music yesterday!

DS aged 10 (only child) is doing really well at the moment, although he would love to get back to school. Things that help are having a routine, and making sure he's dressed by 9am every morning (would live in pajamas if allowed).

We are keeping going through half term doing 3 x45 minute school sessions per day Mon-Fri. His choice, as he recognises he would be bored otherwise. We're doing mainly Oak National Academy online, and some BBC Bitesize. We kept going through Easter too, but have a fairly relaxed schedule, so he's not as tired as he'd usually be by the end of term.

He reads for a couple of hours per day, and has a shared Minecraft realm with his cousins that he plays on whilst FaceTiming them for 2-2.5 hours per day most days. He also watches other TV (likes nature documentaries and Race Across the World on BBC), and we've done some baking and gardening together too.

We have a daily dog walk, and sometimes go out for a run or cycle, sometimes do Joe Wicks PE session, or he goes on DH's Sufferfest indoor cycling thingy.

We've tried FaceTime to chat with friends, but it doesn't work as well without a joint game to focus on like the MineCraft. I know a lot of his friends are communicating through Xbox, but we don't have a gaming console.

Since the restrictions were altered on 13th May, DH has been arranging meet ups where he walks with DS to a friend's house, then takes DS and DS's friend on a dog walk for a couple of hours. He's done this with three friends so far, and is really good at staying >2m apart whilst walking and chatting. It's done him the world of good, as before that he hadn't seen another child in 8 weeks!

We have the odd day where he's whiny and fed up, usually when he hasn't had any proper exercise for a couple of days. He misses school and his team sports, but generally he's doing better than I had expected. Dh and I are both working still (both NHS staff), but have arranged to work opposite days whilst the schools are off.

My 9 year old really liked the program can’t think of the proper name the truth about food, has parts about factories, production etc, thinks it’s CH4

Screen time....