Ordinary weekdays are over for a while, we have to adjust to a new lifestyle. Parents (in lucky
cases) work from home, kids spend their days at home instead of the preschools or schools.
Changes can make a hard time for the family, there might be more conflicts than usual, there
are more tasks to do around the household, and the new unknown situation can cause anxiety
in case of the children.

What can we do to help adjust and succeed in our daily tasks as a family?
It is important not to let the days fly by and to follow a schedule that is similar to our regular
one. You don’t have to insist on early wake-ups, this time is great to let the children wake up
freshly, in their own time. Of course it is also good to be productive in the mornings, if you
have the energy to do it. It is good to know everyone’s daily schedule and tasks in advance, to
set a day for doing the laundry, one for planting flowers, etc. Make sure that the children
understand that this period is not a long vacation, everyone has to follow their tasks. Parents
have to continue working, school-age kids have to study, and you can also find out chores for
the smaller ones.

Try to stay consequent when planning the schedule, if the children are used to resting after
every 45 minutes, you can set resting periods as well to give the opportunity for some free
activities. You can give them responsibility to decide in which order they want to finish their
tasks showing that they are an important part of the family and they can make their own
decisions. Since anyone can require some alone-time sometime, marking a special room in the
apartment can be a good idea where family members can spend some time showing the will to
not be disturbed for a while. It is also helpful to draw a clock with the times of the tasks to
make the schedule transparent which is easy to follow.

This period can be really challenging for the parents with all the chores, cooking and helping
the kids in their studies. We would like to share some ideas and advice to make this time
easier by embracing kids to take part in the tasks.

Family chores can be fun!

It is common to see chores as big trouble that lies only on your shoulders. This period is a
good opportunity to involve the children in the tasks, believe us, they can even enjoy them.
Getting involved, they learn and acknowledge at a young age that there are always tasks to do
around the household. Also, different tasks make them become more patient and organized,
while their coordination, fine motor skills and movement skills can develop.
There are some aspects to consider while involving children. Do not forget to show a good
example at doing chores. In case you have more kids, try to differentiate when you give out
the tasks of your hands. Give easier tasks for the smaller ones and give them your support,
embrace them while they are working. Be consequent, don’t correct their every move without
a good reason. Don’t expect perfection from the involved preschoolers, the important thing is
that they are willing to help. Bigger kids can be more independent, you can let them decide
what they want to help with. When they are done, talk to them about how they succeeded, or
in which area they can still improve. Giving tasks help them on the way to become more
independent, more able to live together with others.
Children can prepare the dining table, placing the utensils in the right place and folding
napkins improve their eye-hand coordination and fine motor movements. Bigger ones can also
fill up the glasses with water or help do the dishes. These tasks support their self-control and
their logical thinking. Smaller ones can crease the napkins and place them in the bin. We find
it a good opportunity to talk about separate waste collection and recycling. You can collect
ideas together about how to reuse an object.

You can also involve children in the cleaning. Even the smallest ones can get busy with their
small brooms and dustpans, while the bigger ones can use the vacuum cleaner or the mop.
These chores also contribute to their sensation of space or recognition of situations.
Children can also give a hand with the laundry, you can surprise them with creative tasks that
make them feel competent. Small kids can take in and out the clothes of the washing machine,
they can learn to separate clothes by colours or by owners. You can contribute to the
development of their perceptibility if they help to make pairs of socks. These tasks improve
seriality, their sensation of colours and shapes. Hanging clothes with clothespins improve
their fine movements. It is also a good opportunity to learn the order of the dressing up, which
clothes goes first and which ones to the top.
By time everyone learns to be responsible for their objects and room, if you make chores a
common activity this time, they will be better to take care of their property later.
Kitchen is also a good place to improve the children’s skills. Under these circumstances,
people spend more time at home, and usually it takes more time to prepare the food as well.
Children are often happy to be helpful, don’t be afraid to ask for their participation. They can
flavour the food, mix the ingredients, school-age kids can help peel or cut vegetables –
according to their skills.

Finally, we have also brought you some fun activities to do with food:

• Colourful pancakes: You can colour the batter with food colourings. It is fun to make several colours in different bowls and try to make shaped or just colourful pancakes.  
  
• Salt paint: Have a thicker, coloured paper and let the kids draw on it with a glue stick. For example they can draw what they want to eat at the moment. Then let them pour salt on the paper – bigger ones can follow only the glue lines. When ready, remove the unwanted salt, and pour some water drops on the lines with a pipette or a wet brush. Look how the salt is getting coloured by the paper. You can explain the happenings to the bigger kids.
• Games with dry pasta: If you have piled up some dry pasta, you can mix different types in a big bowl and let the children sort them on a tray by shape or colour. Bigger children can try to make patterns in an order or the children who can already read, can have fun playing with letter-pasta as well. If they are ready with this, they can build a city using the pasta. Let their creativity fly.

All in all, let the children ease you from the hard tasks, give space to their creativity and do
not forget: there is no strength without unity! 🙂
Forest Tale Daycare