Mumsnet users share how they're keeping children entertained during lockdown with Equazen

[JustineBMumsnet]

Keeping children entertained and keeping their minds active can be difficult, particularly when you’re limited to your home. Spring often signals it's time to get out and about to explore, and Equazen would like to hear your tips for keeping your children entertained with home activities while we're in lockdown.

Here’s what Equazen has to say: “Keeping the mind active helps us to maintain a healthy brain.
Did you know our brains are made up of 60% Fat? These fatty acids are ‘essential’ because they cannot be made by the body and must be obtained through the diet.
Equazen offer clinically researched high-quality fish oil supplements. Unique and specific formulations of essential fatty acids Omega-3 EPA and DHA with Omega-6 GLA to help support brain function*. Perfect for those active days with the family!
Buy now on the Equazen website and receive a free puzzle cube with every purchase.
^Also look out for Equazen brain games, coming soon!
*DHA contributes to the maintenance of normal brain function. The beneficial effect is obtained with a daily intake of 250mg of DHA.”

How are you planning on keeping your children entertained from home? Will you be digging out the board games to help keep their minds active? Perhaps you’re lucky enough to have a garden you’re able to get out and play in? Or do you have a child who is more than happy to activate their imagination with a good book?

However you’re keeping your children entertained, share on the thread below to be entered into a prize draw where one MNer will win a £200 voucher for the store of their choice (from a list).

Thanks and good luck!

MNHQ

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The garden is my lifeline for entertaining my kids. We have plenty of toys, slide, sandpit and little pool... there's enough for days of entertainment and I don't know what I'd do without it!

Garden and bikes. The only exercise they're getting at the moment 😔

Walks around the neighbourhood, painting/colouring, baking and copious CBeebies

Playing in the garden, its been such nice weather that they've been out there most of the time. Plus some baking, drawing, reading, crafting and of course TV. :)

Definitely the garden. With the lockdown and not being able to go out the garden is a lifesaver

Homework, reading, one can knit and is making a top, I'm helping the other one who wants to learn how to. They've got laptops, Netflix, Spotify and switch for indoors, and we've got a back garden.

Ages-12-16 :Making an Easter tree,baking various random things ,entertaining the pets(!), painting rocks and canvases,Joe Wicks' work out,watching films,walking the dog once a day,various lego challenges;and of course-putting them all to work! This includes -washing the car, gardening and mowing the lawn.We are trying to teach them to cook and encouraging them to cook us a meal maybe once a week each.This is hard work! Nb-payment is given for chores!

I think it has to be led by your children and their interests...in our house we will put on some music and have a dance around, have an Easter egg hunt in the garden, bounce on the trampoline, go for a walk, practice throwing and catching....basically anything to tire them out!

Then quieter activities would be baking, painting, reading, colouring, play dough, board games, watering the garden.

We have put a tent in the garden and it is providing endless entertainment - though all the beers from the bedrooms seem to have been brought down to the new den

Getting out the archery kit for use in a nearby little used park will be the extent of it.

Lots of crafts, paper plates are the most useful resource. We've used them in do many different ways, from bunny ears to rainbow mobiles.
And garden fun, shelter building, water play and making our own crazy golf course.

we are in a flat, so I have to keep them entertained without a garden,

the best thing so far has been making our own version of the game guess who using family members photos.

We’ve been playing board games, teaching each other card games, ‘what am I thinking of’ games, trying not to laugh. Lots of silliness! Getting in the garden and getting messy has helped too!

DD has been doing school work most days although is having Easter weekend off. Now she is 12, she doesn't really want to play in the garden, so she plays games on the wii, or does wii fit or just dance for her exercise daily.

We go for a short walk every day too. She has some screen time after "school" and also we have been playing board games, card games and wii games together after work, as I have to work full time at home so no free time for me.

Each other. There are 3 of them and they're pretty good at playing in various combinations.
I schedule school work around them so once they seem tired with playing I will do some sort of activity. They're all lumped in together, very little differentiation happening here!
I've tried to find some surprise things that I can pull out when they are really irritable or arguing. Things like a tent or a new game or all sleeping in the same room and watching a film etc.
The garden, like other people, is a lifeline. Ours is huge and they can explore and disappear in it. We bought this house largely for the garden but had no idea how much we would need it. If this had happened a few months earlier we would have been in a small 2 bed terrace in a busy city with a perpetually shaded 2m square patio - 5 of us. Can't believe how lucky we are we moved when we did.

We play a lot of board games anyway so we’re playing board games. Most evenings we are playing online board games with friends that we’d normally visit. As I’m still working I have set DS a challenge in the morning to complete. Yesterday was typing skills lessons, other days it’s been to create a scene using teddies, read x amount of pages of a book, practise a piece on his instrument to then perform to me, practise reading a story and then perform it.

We are spending lots of time in the garden ans doing lots of reading. I incorporate other learning I to our daily tasks eg. numbers and colours.

Cooking is always good. The garden. Reading Eggs. And trying to rotate which toys are out on any given day.

We are attempting to mix it up to keep them entertained. So a mix of garden play (and have bought some new toys), board and card games, arts and crafts, as well as school learning.

They get bored quickly so mixing things up and rotating activities is the key. I bought a stash of new arts and crafts kits etc but only pull out one at a time to keep it new and exciting for the kids.

I try lots of things to entertain all three. The older two do a fair amount of lessons plus independent schoolwork during the week. I try to promote independent play as well. I rely a lot on technology to keep them busy.
I find rotating activities benefits me. Once a day we do reading and spelling too. At night we like to play games as a family or watch a film together. I have also had the kids help me do some baking in the kitchen once a week.
Also we go for nature walks and they help me do their chores.

We are so lucky to have a good sized garden. Last year intend of birthday presents we used birthday money for buying a trampoline and sandpit so both of those are getting loads of use at the moment.
We're keeping busy with baking, school work, playing and watching Frozen II on repeat...

Board games, playing in the garden, long walks in the woods, learning about what we find in nature - different bird songs, leaves, flowers, butterflies etc, learning computer programming in Scratch, science experiment kits, junk modelling...

Trying to use some stuff up in the house to make activities. We used masking tape and made a tuff tray into a target for throwing games/archery (already had the bow and sticky arrows) and used old tin cans to do bowling etc.

I’ve made some matching games for my toddler by taking photos from her books and laminating them, and I’m going to draw some pictures on a cereal box and punch holes round the edge to make lacing cards. It’s got the added bonus of also keeping me busy.

We have an exercise bike so I want the older two and I to go on that and do distance challenges. Also have a trampette which I am so glad I bought from a friend just before the pandemic hit - DS has ADHD and it’s an extra way for him to use up energy.

The older two love Kpop so they are enjoying more time to learn routines on YouTube, and I’m going to download Just Dance on switch too.

Mine are 3 and 5 and have been building a mini mountain bike track in the garden, through my flower beds, complete with hills, bends, dips and dangers galore! They've been doing a fair bit of the digging and soil shifting too, though I'm the one with the calluses.. have incorporated a bit of maths, drawing plans, writing (signs for the track), big identification (relocating a wood pile.. so many creepy crawlies) so that's like homework, right?
Dreading the next project they come up with.

We made a (miniature) cardboard skate ramp!