How to Entertain Your Young Children During a Quarantine
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In areas that have been most affected by the coronavirus outbreak, schools and day cares have been closed, and small children have been sent home. Even though our kids’ lives rotate around social gatherings—birthday parties, playgrounds, public libraries, zoos—we have to keep them isolated from other humans, large and small, in the interest of public health.
So what can you do with a toddler if you can't bring them to a playground and let them lick all the available surfaces? We consulted Victor Carrion, Stanford’s vice chair of psychiatry and director of the Stanford pediatric anxiety program, and parents living through quarantines for their advice on how to educate your kids about the current situation, and how to keep them intellectually stimulated while they're stuck at home.
Takeaways? Confront the topic head on, reassure your young children that someone will always be there to take care of them, and get creative. Looking for more kid ideas? Check out our favorite kid podcasts and the best strollers.
Updated January 2021: We replaced the sold-out Echo Dot for Kids, 3rd-Gen with the new Echo Dot for Kids, 4th-Gen.
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How to Talk About Covid-19
Photograph: Getty ImagesAdvice from a Pediatric Anxiety Specialist
Carrion emphasized that you should only talk about Covid-19 if your child asks. Otherwise, he said, “they won’t listen to you anyway.” For small children, being separated from their parents is scarier than abstract concepts like sickness or death. Emphasize that adults are here to protect them and that you, their adult, also know how to protect yourself. Find fun ways to teach them good habits and give them a sense of control.
For example, you could turn hand-washing into a game. For an illustration of how to broach the subject with a child who has just overhead a potentially scary Covid-19 fact, he suggested this sample script: “There’s an illness going around and everyone’s being careful, and so are we. When we get home, let’s talk about what we’re going to do to be helpful.”
Keep a Schedule
Carrion notes that it’s important to maintain your child’s usual routine. While it’s tempting to declare a quarantine a holiday and park yourself in front of the television, drastically changing your child’s schedule can also be a source of stress.
I spoke to Cindy Marie Jenkins, a parent who was quarantined with her young children in China, who wrote out the day’s schedule on a whiteboard every morning. You might not be able to be that detailed, but it’s important for your child to have clear expectations of what will be happening that day—when you’ll have play time, reading time, and rest time.
Keep in Contact
Jenkins also noted that, for her children, it was important to keep in touch with their school friends. You might also want to explore remote options for staying in contact with vulnerable family members that you want to protect from Covid-19.
FaceTime is a popular option, but you can also use videochat services from Zoom, Skype, Google Hangouts, or WhatsApp. Whatever your thoughts on Facebook’s policies, Facebook’s Portal is still my two kids’ favorite way to stay in touch with my parents. We may have canceled our flight to visit them over spring break, but they can still put on an augmented-reality pirate hat for Grandpa.
Play Outside
Depending on your comfort level, play dates can still continue. If you have access to outdoor space, letting the kids running around can burn off their excess energy, but Carrion notes that you might want to consider creative ways to reduce touching. “Instead of tag, try a game that’s the opposite of tag,” he said, like Flashlight Tag or hide-and-seek.
Hiking is a fun, contact-free activity. You can also try looking for birds. I have also buried small toys in the backyard and made a map for my child to have a pirate treasure hunt. You can also plan a scavenger hunt for “things that are smaller than a hand” or “things that make noise.”
Have a Dance Party
If the weather is still too cold to go out, or if you don’t have access to a safe space, other parents suggested indoor dance parties. My then-3-year-old liked the Freeze Dancers game when I tested the older Amazon Echo Dot for kids. Other contact-free games might include Limbo or musical chairs.
For finding music, you probably know that most online streaming services offer their own kid-friendly playlists if you’d prefer to not have to personally vet every Katy Perry song. You can also draw out the fun by enlisting help to make decorations, like streamers or posters, while you select festive lighting on your smart bulb's mobile app.
Use Screens Judiciously
Like many parents, I’m leery about giving my small children too much screen time. But I’ve been testing a new iPod Touch for a week now with my 5-year-old, and it’s proven a useful device for keeping track of her own apps and games while keeping them off my own phone.
For example, I moved the Moshi Twilight app that I use to put her to sleep during naps, so that I can play the soothing stories over a Bluetooth speaker without using my phone. I also use the iPod Touch to play her kids' podcasts (her favorites are But Why and Circle Round). We find educational shows she likes on PBS Kids, Noggin, or Netflix (like Brainchild), and one favorite on YouTube is Cosmic Kids Yoga. My colleague Scott Gilbertson says his children enjoy documentaries on CuriosityStream.
Ask for Household Help
The American Academy of Pediatrics notes that children as young as 3 years old can benefit from including chores in their routine. Personally, I’ve noted that the younger the child is, the more they enjoy doing chores alongside me, whether that’s pulling laundry out of the dryer or vacuuming with their own personal hand vac.
A more affordable way to include your child is this easy crinkle chopper, which is intended for potatoes but which my children use to safely chop hard-boiled eggs or fruit for pie fillings. Don’t try it with vegetables that are too hard for little arms. A step stool also helps.
Board the Potty Train
Several acquaintances have suggested that being quarantined in your home is a convenient time to potty-train my reluctant 3-year-old. I don’t particularly want to cover my home in urine while dealing with the anxiety of a worldwide pandemic, but for some of you, this might be the perfect opportunity. This is the potty training seat we have. My son has never used it.
Pillage Your Closet
Nearly every parent that I spoke to used goods around the house for crafts. Washi tape and cardboard boxes were recommended, as was the strategy of raiding your recycling bins for funky things to cut up and repurpose.
I like the versatility of wrapping paper, especially considering that we always have extra on hand. One parent said that their children made dresses, origami, and collages; used sheets as walls for forts; and when they were completely unrolled, used the paper rolls as swords. Small children seem to find the idea of unlimited supply to be alluring, so I'd recommend putting limits on unrolling rolls of toilet paper or paper towels.
Bust Out the Toy Box
Almost every parent I spoke to had one toy that keeps their child occupied for hours. Some mentioned an indoor toddler trampoline. Others mentioned dice or board games like Dinosaur Escape.
For my children—and possibly yours—that magical toy is the basic Lego bricks set. Not only do they have fun building and destroying each other’s creations, they also like to sort them by color into organizer trays. I also give them challenges to keep them busy, like asking them if they can build a Lego tower that can reach the ceiling.
