As we all know, this is a very difficult time for most of us because we are obliged to stay indoors to keep us safe from the virus. Even though it is one of the effective ways to protect ourselves from getting infected, it still has a massive impact on our social and psychological well-being.
Children, in particular, are not habitual to staying indoors. They eventually start to miss the interaction and fun with their friends, and they get bored after a certain point in time.
Now, as parents, what can we do to tackle this issue to make sure that our children are comfortable and happy staying indoors?
Conducting fun games and activities on your own could be quite challenging, but it is definitely worthwhile. Pick and choose games that could stretch the minds of your children and also keep them physically active. In other words, it is important to find a balance between both.
Chess and other board games like Monopoly and quizzes are generally favourites to play at home and also aid in children using their intellectual abilities. Video games are also widely preferred, but considering their time on computers for online education, their time on screen must be managed appropriately. Below are a few activities and games to help your child stay physically active:
Football is one of the best games to make sure that your child has fun and also stays active. There are several activities that you could do with just a ball while being creative and making it more relevant to the context that you are in.
For instance, if you have a larger space, have small goals at the ends, and challenge your child to score. These goals can be created with objects found at home. If he/she does not score, they need to sprint and recover the ball. If they do score, then reward them with points, or even with a chocolate. If your space is limited, then you might have to adapt and use just one goal.
Another activity could be “Keepy Ups/Juggling”, where your child will have to try and keep the ball from dropping to the floor. This can improve their ball control and also their balance. You can add different objectives to make it more competitive. For example, every 20 seconds that they keep the ball up would be worth 10 points, and so the longer they juggle, the higher the points would be.
There are many ball mastery, reaction, and balance skills that your child can work on by just watching videos from various online resources. Keeping our children healthy and active is vital, and the considerations above could help to keep them motivated during these challenging times.
South United has also started Online Football Training Programmes to keep children engaged and stimulated. For more details, call 08296193556.
