The provincial government has suspended classes schools for three weeks starting on March 23, and the closures will last until at least April 5 in Manitoba. In other places, such as Alberta, the government is preparing for students to be away for the remainder of the school year.

Close to home, many parents have decided to keep their kids home already, due to the threat of COVID-19 transmission. Regardless of when each family begins their period of relative isolation, we will be spending an abundance of time inside our homes, much more than usual.

So what are parents supposed to do with this time? In this article, we’ll propose a few ideas to help you and your family keep from going stir crazy.

First of all, set a schedule and a routine. Any child who’s used to attending school Monday to Friday is accustomed to having a schedule, and keeping a routine going will help to remove some variables in your children’s lives.

One way to accomplish this is to break up the “school day” into one-hour increments—for younger children, perhaps half-hour increments. How can these time slots be spent? It will depend on the children and family, but some ideas include reading, active play, creativity time, academic time, personal time, and spring-cleaning.

Try making a dry-erase or washable checklist using the ideas in this article. Just write them down or print them out, then place the paper inside a Ziploc bag and zip it up. You can use a dry-erase or washable marker to check off each item as you go through your day.

Now, on to the activities!

When it comes to reading, kids can take turns reading aloud, or they can each read their own book.

For active play, kids can follow along with a programmed workout, simply dance, or go out for a walk. Remember, as long as human contact is kept to a minimum, there’s nothing wrong with us going out into nature and enjoying the great outdoors. Plus, staying active produce endorphins which help keep our emotions in balance. Thankfully, we’re coming into spring, which will bring nicer weather.

As for creativity time, there are countless ways to be creative. A few ideas would be to colour, paint, write a story or song, journal, play an instrument, build something with Lego, or do a craft. If you need to get some supplies, be sure to support local businesses which may soon begin to struggle.

We should also put in place some academic time, but this doesn’t mean kids need to sit at the table and stare at textbooks. There are lots of ways to keep the mind engaged through household activities.

Consider baking something together in the kitchen. This can be a great way to practice fractions—not to mention, you’ll end up with a delicious product at the end.

You can also stage all manner of mind-bending science experiments using regular household items. You could learn to make your own ice cream, create a tornado in a bottle, or build a marshmallow catapult.1

Because social distancing will force us to keep more and more to ourselves, certain programs and websites have stepped up to help parents out. For example, Scholastic is offering a free “Learn at Home” program that lasts twenty days. To get going, you just have to choose the appropriate grade level and begin.2

National Geographic has a kids page that includes games, videos, information on different types of animals, as well as an exploration tab. This is a great tool to keep your children engaged.3

Were you one of many who had to cancel an upcoming trip? While that will have forced me to make a difficult decision for yourself and your family, there are still ways to tour the world from the safety of our own homes. At least twelve museums from around the globe are offering free virtual tours. From New York to Los Angeles, from the cultural hotspots of Europe all the way to Brazil, this is a fun way to immerse kids in culture and history.4

Next, give each member of your family the opportunity for personal time. One of the challenges of staying at home with your family for long stretches of time is that, although it’s a good time to bond and connect with each other on a deeper level, you can also get on each other’s nerves. Make sure to give everyone a chance to be on their own—to think, nap, or even have a bath—to destress when tensions are running high.

Another option is to get your kids involved in spring-cleaning. Since we’re going to be spending so much time at home, we may as well make sure our homes are a clean and healthy place to hang out! Many families will no doubt be taking this time to reorganize their homes, air out the rooms after winter, and deep-clean the spaces we use each and every day.

Outside of these scheduled routines, there are bound to be a lot of unstructured family time. Perhaps you could consider a family board game tournament. Ensure that there’s a prize for the winner. It could be as simple as extra time on electronics, or a pass from doing chores for the day.

Another popular activity will be taking advantage of the many streaming services available. Between Netflix, Amazon Prime, Disney+, and Crave, there are a lot of family-friendly movies and TV shows to keep us entertained for hours. That said, it would be a good idea to get in some walks and jumping backs between movies or episodes to keep everyone’s blood pumping!

While this is going on, we must also keep tabs on the elderly, sick, and vulnerable. In some cases, the safest thing to do will be to fully cut off from the outside world. Whether you came back from a trip, you’re already feeling sick, or someone in your family is especially susceptible to the dangers of the virus, staying home will be best.

Fortunately, we live in a very technologically connected age. Using phones, tablets, and computers, check in regularly with your isolated family and friends. After all, being alone with just our thoughts for long periods of time can be dangerous. Although you may not be able to see your grandparents, or even parents, in person for a while, that doesn’t mean you can’t connect in meaningful ways.

And we’re not just talking about talk—consider cooking or baking something and leaving it on the doorsteps of those in isolation, along with an encouraging card. Please also wash your hands before making any of these items, of course.

While these ideas are far from extensive, hopefully they’ll provide a good starting point for families as they face the unusual spring and summer ahead. Even in a time of social distancing, as a community we can thrive.