Another family we know made their own dance video to a song they liked, shared it with us, and challenged us to make our own video within the week. This task created a sense of purpose for my four kids, and gave them a creative project for the week. They used problem solving, communication, negotiation and perseverance and created a cool wee video that I will treasure for years to come! We then challenged another family and enjoyed watching the video they created.
My cousin’s son made a Kahoot quiz and invited family members to join a Zoom call to participate. This then prompted my daughter to create her own Kahoot and we will be sharing it with family members when it is complete.
In Level 3 (contactless delivery!) my kids wrote letters for their friends and walked or cycled around the neighbourhood delivering notes to their letterboxes. They then spent the following days checking our own letterbox 50 million times to see if their friends had reciprocated. They also wrote letters to friends and family overseas that we waited until level 2 to post.
All that to say, there are lots of ways to encourage our kids to stay in touch during lockdown – and with some out-of-the-box thinking, you can come up with ideas that suit individual children. Be it a good-old-fashioned letter in an envelope or a high-tech international Zoom call with the competitive edge of a ‘friendly’ Kahoot, connection can still be embraced in moments when we’re physically distanced.