Simple Tool Kit for Social Distancing with Kids {While Keeping Everyone’s Sanity Intact}
Today we received news that our schools are being closed for at least two weeks (at least). I think we are one of the last remaining school districts open, so it didn’t come as a huge surprise. Social distancing it is!
My goal is to take each new development seriously without panicking. I feel really strongly that we can all do our part to help flatten the curve of this virus. We have to!
On FaceTime tonight my sweet, wise mom shared this advice: “Mel, try to make this experience one that helps your kids look back on this time with positive, pleasant, and even fun memories rather than remembering it as a time of fear and worry and panic.”
Good advice mom. Good advice.
My friend, Mel B., who lives in Washington state (where they’ve been under lockdown for several weeks already) sent me the most amazing social distancing tool kit resource this weekend after she read my post on Friday about food storage and how to cook and what to buy during this emergency.
It was a reminder that although this Covid-19 emergency and panic seems unfamiliar and scary, many of us have been through this before with SARS and H1N1 (admittedly on a much smaller scare, and for me, when I was a lot younger and without kids).
The social distancing tool kit Mel sent me was written up 10 years ago by a group of concerned and intelligent mommas during the H1N1 emergency in 2009. It was full of fantastic and practical tips on how to arm yourself with the resources you need to survive social distancing without feeling like you are a prisoner in your own home.
I took the document, added my own spin on it (and updated it a bit since a lot of details have changed in the last decade), and I wanted to share it today.
I know it is a departure from my normal food blogging content.
I know it might seem like overkill to some people.
I know many of you probably already have ideas like this already or your own system in place.
And I know others of you may be thinking “why do you even need a plan?” (love you free range, relaxed mommas!)
We are all in different circumstances. Different number of kids. Different ages of kids. Different home and living circumstances. Big yards. Small yards. No yards.
Some of us work from home or work outside of the home (which poses some interesting and difficult challenges right now with kids out of school – lots of love and prayers for those of you in that situation).
Others of us have well stocked craft bins while the rest of us are looking at each other wondering if we have even one crayon laying around that hasn’t been broken in half.
No matter our circumstances, I’m hopeful this tool kit can be a helpful starting point for anyone who finds themselves looking at the next weeks or even months with kids at home plus the additional recommended restrictions to avoid many public places.
The social distancing tool kit walks through putting a daily plan in place with the help of your kids’ input! And then ideas on actually executing it…and even a tip or two on a back up plan for when everyone is ready to explode and possibly do bodily damage to each other.
It also includes a general list of items to keep on hand and basic sanitation protocols for keeping your home as germ-free as possible.
Word Format
Pages Format
Google Doc Format
Additional Resources
- I use this handy printout of Boredom Busters all summer long with my kids. It’s tailored specific to our family (as in, it has our dog’s name on it and references our cute, elderly neighbors), but you could pick and choose from this list and make your own Boredom Busters list.
- This post on Surviving Summer has TONS and TONS of ideas in the post and in the comments about creative ideas to do with your kids at home.
- This recent gift guide for teens/kids and this game gift guide are a treasure trove of tried-and-true favorites to keep teens/kids occupied if you are still able to get online delivery to your area (lots of other game and toy guides here).
- Here are some free learning websites for kids (with some learning games included, too):
I already have a feeling the comment thread of this post is also going to be golden with helpful info.
Are the schools in your area in lock down mode? Are you social distancing with your family? What are you doing to manage and survive and maybe even enjoy the experience?
Please share any resources or ideas you have below!
Love your guts. Hope you are hanging in there. As miserable as this emergency feels sometimes, there’s also a strange and unifying sense of solidarity knowing every single one of us is affected somehow.
I love your website! Your recipes are delicious EVERY SINGLE TIME. Thank you for sharing your tips and helping struggling cooks, like me, in the kitchen. This was an awesome post with wonderful ideas. I teach 4th grade and wondered if I could share your “Boredom Busters” list with my students and their parents. I look forward to hearing from you. Thank you again for this amazing website!
Thanks for being fabulous and oh so helpful! We just bought the game Skulls you recommended at Christmas and it is now my in my top 3 favorite games ever. We are loving it! Adults and kids. Plus 90% of the games we own have come from your recommendations. Thanks again!
Thanks, Mel! We will be cooking treats from your blog basically every single day and also playing all the games you’ve ever recommended. 🙂 I don’t have great advice, but we did buy a new trampoline! Good luck to you and your family and thanks for this great blog. Everyone stay safe and healthy.
Great ideas! A friend of ours is a PE teacher in TN and is posting to Youtube a different PE workout to do with him each day. He’s lots of fun and kids all over the world are loving it! It’s called PE with Coach Wood.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pDTpdOEsqAc&t=0s
Thank you for sharing this! I’m so excited to use some of these ideas! I came across this school schedule for elementary to high school students plus non screen and specialty class ideas. I’ve also found some of our specialty teachers like music and art teachers ar going to do free online lessons for the kids which helps. http://burntapple.com/2020/03/15/covid-19-daily-at-home-school-schedule/
This is wonderful. Thank you for sharing this and the additional website links!
I love this so much! You are the best!
Praying for you and your family and hoping that you are far away from the earthquake.
Hi Mel –
I shared this link on my neighborhood facebook page but got a message from FB that is was removed – sorry! I didn’t mean to cause any trouble – I just wanted to share your wonderful and thoughtful social distancing tips for families. I thought since it was the direct link it was ok.
Thanks again for sharing
Well…I now have a very enhanced appreciation for first grade teachers who answer questions ALL DAY LONG for 20+ kids…my first grader is killing me on Day 1 of online school. Plus, we started school at 9:30am and are still going 4hr 15 min later with at least an hour of work left…they are not kidding here about school still being in session! (We did take a 45 min break to run laps in the yard and eat lunch.) Thank you for sanity savers.
I’m in WA state, so I’ve seen it ramping up over the last couple weeks. I don’t have kids, just the hubs and dog. My husband went to work today and as of today will mostly be working from home. He’s a lab rat, so there’s some mandatory work stuff. But it will be minimal and so he’ll be home most of it. It should be interesting. To cope- I’m doing audio books, baking, cleaning. Trying to meal plan since fresh veggies are in short supply when I went yesterday. I’m trying to count my blessings that I have a corn beef but no cabbage and potatoes. OH THE HUMANITY! I joke, but only to keep my sanity. I’m assured that the supply chain is there, it just can’t flow fast enough to meet the needs. lol I can’t complain. The empty shelves do stress me out a bit. Not for myself per say, but those who can’t or weren’t able to stock up.
This morning my mom said just about the same thing as yours! Smart ladies. 🙂 My family still talks about the time (30 years ago!) when we all had a stomach bug and watched Anne of Green Gables on PBS.
My kids were excited about having “school” at home today, but we will see how tomorrow goes when it’s not so new and exciting. A friend pointed out that we really are experiencing the desert this Lent. Hang in there, everyone!
In an unrelated subject, I just discovered a new game called Blank Slate. EASY to play, great for groups and all ages. Buy it today, you won’t be disappointed, we love it!
I’ve been thinking this for a few days, Mel, and I’m sure you can probably relate: this whole social distancing, Corona lockdown business is an introverted homebody’s dream come true! We can’t go anywhere, and no one can come see us. Why does this feel like paradise?
HAHA Ha! I had to laugh at this. As an introvert myself- I sorta welcome it. Aside from the you know… cabin fever and boredom and seeing empty store shelves and trying to rationalize current reality with my post 9/11 flashbacks and shortages). I like that people aren’t up in my business in the grocery line. lol I’m not being crowded out when I punch in my PIN at the checkout. I always joke more people need to observe a Hula hoop of personal space. This is that and more.
Mel, once again you save the day. Thank you, thank you, thank you for all these great ideas and websites.
We bought several of the games you suggested at Christmas-Time, and haven’t played them much. So thankful for having some exciting things to do as we just started our school closures today and don’t have assignments yet.
This is such an amazing post. Thank you for taking the time to share this Mel. You’re doing an amazing service!
What game are your boys playing?
My kids are home from school indefinitely – no return date has been announced. I’m trying to take it one day at a time – staying positive, keeping as active as we can, and enjoying our time together. Weirdly, I have found that I seem to feel like I accomplish more these days when I’m stuck at home with nothing really on my agenda, as opposed to most days when I have a big to-do list staring at me. We’re having some fun with creative LEGO building, science experiments, and LOTS of family movie watching. Some great ideas here: https://www.upparent.com/lists/indoor-activities-for-kids
I just want to say how delighted I am to see a Longhorn shirt on this post.
My friend publishes this great kids’ magazine called Mighty Kind, about having an open worldview and spreading kindness and understanding. They are offering a free digital bundle right now, could be awesome!
https://mightykindkids.com/
Your dog is lovely!
Cincinnati zoo is doing Home Safari Facebook Live each weekday at 3pm where they highlight amazing animals and include an activity you can do from home.
School here is closed for the next 2 weeks and then spring break follows, so my children are home until April 6. My children are in elementary and Jr high and it is interesting to see the difference in how they are reacting to this situation. My Elem kiddos are excited for no school and seem to have little grasp on the situation, and my 7th grader is almost obsessive in bringing it up. I can see the anxiety in him. But overall things are calm here. We have what we need, and there are so many amazing resources available for us for both school and church at home. This morning we will sit and figure out a flexible schedule for the next few weeks. Our schools starts digital learning on Wednesday and I hope to use some other resources as well. I am a little worried about how the younger kids will take school as home, especially since they keep thinking of this as a break. But my mother in law said something similar to what your mom said (which I loved!), and said what a great opportunity to play games, watch movies, and work on projects that you wouldn’t get otherwise. I think it is just important to keep a safe, calm atmosphere in the home. Keep them sanctuaries for our families. As for things we are doing, I am going to make my kids have writing time today, and their writing assignment is going to be to write in their journals about what’s happening right now. This is a time unlike any other and I want them to remember what they are experiencing, thinking. Also, my grandpa lives in an assisted living center, which of course isn’t allowing any visitors in the building. So we are going to draw pictures and write notes and bake cookies for him (after my broken oven gets fixed tomorrow…) and drop them off at the door for them to take up to him. That has got to be lonely! Loved your post as always!
I’ve been working on a list of sites as I find them so I can keep what’s left of my sanity. Happy to share with anyone who may need it. Expect to see many of what you have above in the next little bit. This is a live list, so bookmark it somewhere if its helpful to you. I’ve not checked the quality of the sites, just that I can open them up and they don’t look sketchy.
https://drive.google.com/open?id=1sP-OgbP1YprqUuYX01macuBf_cieBU5UM_xWFKTQ-5c
Thank you for sharing your list!
Quite a few homeschool bloggers have posted resources to help families who suddenly find themselves at home for several weeks. They can be easily found via an internet search.
My twin daughters love to play Prodigy! Also, I love this blog. I come here for countless occasions and love how wholesome it is. Definitely relate to the chocolate-chip-pantry scenario. My girls, however, have all six of their middle school period teachers each posting an assignment every weekday. They have projects in two classes, two electives, and the other two classes are really big assigners. Do you think that they will have time during the ‘school week’ to do these awesome, fun activities?
Signed, Wondering Momma
Hi Mel, thanks for your post! My dad lives in China, so we’ve been having this conversation since early January. It’s been really crazy. Unfortunately, he had a non-coronavirus medical emergency that went untreated for a month because the system was overloaded. I share this to encourage everyone to not panic! It will be ok! But if we panic, then the systems break down and then there are additional consequences.
RaisingWonder.com is offering free creative activities for kids on their website. They are a fabulous resource!
Thanks Mel for your thoughts. Our charter school in Meridian is still in session this week, but then we have a two week spring break. Not sure if we will be in school all week…seems like changes are happening daily sometimes hourly! BTW, yesterday I made roll-up pancakes for breakfast to start off our first Sunday at home together….they were a hit!! And that hook ‘em shirt…love.
My kids are doing home school for at least the next two weeks. After having a family meeting we came up with a structured schedule for the week days. Every morning we will start with family breakfast and scripture study. Then we blocked out time for school work, instrument practice and reading. Every day we will also have a specific cleaning job we will do together. Then we have a big chunk of unstructured time with plans to incorporate physical activity, learn new hobbies, craft, play games and whatever else comes up along the way. We plan to evaluate and adjust as needed. I am sorry that a pandemic is what brought me to this point, but in all honesty I feel that it’s a unique opportunity to slow down and really live in each moment instead of rushing around from one thing to another. It’s a great time to reflect on priorities and determine what is most important to me and my family. I read through the toolkit and I think it has lots of great ideas. For parents with younger kids, they can go on PBS and sign up for a daily newsletter that has a lot of educational and fun ideas for ways to spend time with your kids. I’m grateful for all the amazing resources that will help us through. Thanks for adding these resources and your other post on food storage.
Our kids are off for two weeks at least as well. It’s been rainy and supposed to be that way for a few more days! We’ve still been going outside to play during dry periods but we do feel couped up!
We found these step by step drawing videos on YouTube (I think kids art hub?) And we’ve been each drawing pictures and sending photos of the finished product to relatives to see who’s was liked best. It’s been fun and adds a little competition to the day.
My kids also have a lot of school websites they can access with different learning activities and stuff which I’m having them do regularly.
Thanks, Mel! My girls are out until April 13th! I’m hoping that the school gives us worksheets or access to something on line! Fingers crossed!
Yesterday I started reading the first Chronicles of Narnia book out loud, while they color free coloring pages of pictures from the book! We’ll watch the movie for each of the first 3 books after we finish them! Even though they aren’t little and can read independently, they love a read aloud, so I’ll keep that up as long as I can!
Lots of reading, hiking and a mix of all scheduled ideas. We do similar things in summer so I think it will be ok. I think!
Scholastic is offering free online courses for kids who are stuck at home while schools are closed. There’s five days of learning content (approx. 3 hours a day) right now, with another 15 days’ worth coming. It’s free and no sign up is required! Sounds pretty cool with research topics, writing projects, virtual field trips, etc.
For some creative/art time, enjoy lunch time doodles with author and illustrator Mo Willems. My younger kids love his pigeon and Elephant and Piggie books.
https://www.kennedy-center.org/education/mo-willems/
So many comments! First, the man-child in the Hook Em shirt is precious! My niece goes to UT and loves it! Second, the face masks! Love, love, love!! They are both cute, but there is something about the turquoise shirt boy that steals my heart! Today for our Forced Family Fun time, we baked 10 loaves of Darcy’s sandwich bread and delivered to our neighbors, wishing them “Happy Conoavirus!” We were met with belly laughs that did my heart good. My teens didn’t think it was fun, so tomorrow is another day to find something they enjoy. Thank you for your ideas and encouragement! My daughter is babysitting for free tomorrow and has to go to our community college for a bit, so I’m covering for her – hoping to cook with the kids!
Thank you for all your help and ideas! This whole experience is surreal.