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Lockdown can be a stressful time for most moms. Managing work and family life can be challenging than you thought now that your kids are home all the time. Believe me, the one thing I constantly hear from my little ones is how bored they are. Between online classes and homework, my kids desperately needed some fun in their lives. Being confined to their home, they were missing their friends. They couldn’t go out and play with others or even go to the park, and this made them cranky and difficult to deal with. Unlike us adults, kids may find it even more stressful when all social contact is cut off from their lives. And they may not truly understand the gravity of the situation no matter how much we try to explain to them to the best of our abilities. My youngest daughter constantly kept on asking me why we can’t go to the park or meet her friends. I knew I needed to find something that would keep them engaged and entertained.
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The first few weeks of lockdown were probably easy since my kids were more excited about not going to school. But as the weeks progressed, I noticed that they were becoming even more restless. That’s when the idea of creating drawings using chalks struck me. Since the kids were restricted to the premises of our house, I began by drawing elaborate images in the driveway of our home. I tried to keep the images big and colorful so that it would be exciting for my kids to come and join me. This soon became more of a routine thing as it wasn’t just the kids who started to enjoy it. I soon began looking forward to these drawings and thought about the different ways to make it fun for them.
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What started as a simple drawing with chalk soon turned into a fun activity that we looked forward to almost every day. It sometimes took me close to an hour or more to complete a drawing, but it was so worth it. The images could be anything from a carousel, rocket, spaceship, motorbike, to a balloon, sunny day, or whales. I then got my kids to pose next to them and they turned out to be wonderful images.
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Soon I started to dress up my kids based on the theme of the drawings and they were excited to pose for me. Before I could ask them to help me with the drawings, they volunteered to do it. I began by giving them simple instructions and asked them to fill in each section of the outline with a particular color of chalk. This made them engaged and kept them busy for a long time. What kept them going was seeing the final result of how the drawing will turn out. They were the most excited about posing with the drawings and checking out the images we clicked.
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We usually do the drawings in the evening when there is enough shade in the driveway. Once the drawing is done and we click some good images, we then wash down the driveway to make room for the drawing for the next day.
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Not only did it keep them entertained, but they were no longer complaining about missing their friends and not being able to go out. Unlike the activity books, a simple drawing activity in our driveway brought my kids closer to each other and they were also having fun.
What are the different ways you have tried to keep your kids entertained during lockdown? Comment below and let me know your thoughts on using chalk to make lockdown more fun for kids.
