Toddler Activities for COVID-19

As all of us parents know being isolated to your house with children isn’t the easiest thing in the world. It’s so important for us to do our part, even if that means going a little bit stir crazy. Today I’m going to share with you some of my favourite activities that I do with A to keep us busy at home.

  1. Help Make Mommy Breakfast
    A absolutely loves helping in the kitchen. I find when I let her help me make breakfast in the morning it sets both of our days off on the right foot. A is the type of toddler who loves to help, I can tell it gives her a sense of purpose. I let her do things like put berries on her plate, help flip the egg, butter the toast. Allowing her to help do these tasks not only helps her learn, but makes her excited about eating a healthy balanced meal.
  2. Imaginary Play
    One of my favourite things to do with A is watch her use her imagination. We make up silly little games with her babies and she has so much fun. One of our faves is playing doctor. She will line up all her babies and she checks their heart and their ears and I can just see her little brain gears turning.
  3. Painting, Play Doh & Drawing
    A loves being artistic in so many different ways. She really loves painting and Play Doh. It allows her to explore different colours and textures all while getting messy. Since Easter is right around the corner we’ve been doing a lot of Easter themed crafts. Even something as simple as painting foam eggs is a super fun way to get creative while being festive.
  4. Obstacle Course
    You can make an obstacle course inside or outside using a variety of things. If you have hoola hoops, jump ropes and pylons its super easy to arrange them in your backyard to have your little one jump and run through all of the obstacles. If you don’t have a large outdoor space you can also create one inside using colourful tape. Simply put the tape on the floor in straight lines, zig zags and other shapes for your little one to explore. I’ll link some Pinterest links down below to give you a visual representation of this one.
    Outdoor Obstacle Course
    Indoor Obstacle Course
  5. Nature Scavenger Hunt
    A super easy way to have some fun is a nature scavenger hunt. Theres tons of templates online you can print out with photos of birds, sticks, trees and other things that you can find on a simple walk outside. Have your little ones find something from their list out in the real world. They’ll think its pretty awesome when they’re able to find what their looking for.
  6. Practising Mindfulness
    It’s so important to teach our children how to be mindful of the world. The world is a scary place right now and it’s important to educate our children. If you have kids old enough to understand whats going on you should sit down and talk about it. Talk about what it means to be isolated, and why social distancing is so important. If your children are too young to understand, like A, there are still so many different mindful activities you can do. Even just going for a walk and pointing out the things you see. Acknowledging that the grass is green, and the smell of the cool breeze are super important things to teach our kids.

Times are tough right now but that doesn’t mean we have to worry 24/7. Our kids still need some sense of normality and it’s important that we don’t let our anxieties get the best of us. If you try any of the activities I listed above I would love to see a photo! Take a photo of your isolation games and tag me on Instagram @motherhoodintheraww so we can all still feel connected while we distance ourselves physically. Don’t forget that we’re all in this together.

Xoxo, B

We’re All In This Together

I know that the media right now is a little bit scary, and life as we know it seems turned upside down. For people like myself who struggle with anxiety disorders on a normal day are probably falling into a dark place right about now. For me personally I continue to go back and forth between feeling extremely anxious, and trying to see the light in a bad situation. Over the last week I’ve had the most intense physical symptoms of anxiety, from nausea to headaches and full body discomfort. COVID-19 is changing the way that we all live our lives.

This past weekend was my 25th birthday, and I tried to allow myself a little bit of grace in order to enjoy my weekend, although the guilt and anxiety quickly took over for me. I’m currently in isolation with my family, we are not planning to leave our home unless we absolutely have to. It’s not that I’m scared of catching the virus as much as I’m terrified of the fast spread and contagion level. I’m so thankful that our Canadian government has decide to take action and announce a state of emergency. I’m a big believer in “better safe than sorry”.

While this time is hard for everyone, and so many people are missing out on big life events because of the affects of COVID-19 we must try and look at the positives. We need to take the time we’re being given at home to self reflect, and find our happiness. This storm will pass, and I want to feel as mentally clear as I possibly can when it does. I want to use this time to find who I really am, find what makes me happy when I don’t have the distractions of the world to help. I want to spend time with my daughter, getting creative and finding new games to play. I want our bond to grow stronger each day. I will take this time to remove the toxic people from my life organically, giving me the much needed space I’ve been longing for. Enjoy the outdoors, the earth has so much to offer us at this time. Take walks in the woods, dig deep in the dirt. Take time to feel the earth between your toes, look up at the stars.

Social distancing is hard when we live in such a fast paced world. We get so used to our daily routines and it’s difficult to break away from that. I think for a long time our earth has been begging us to slow down and give her a break. Now we’re being forced to focus on our homes in order to save the world. We’re truly all in this together. Help your neighbours, share your goods, and most importantly keep your loved ones safe by doing your part.

I am here for anyone who needs any type of assistance during this hard time, don’t be afraid to reach out, I will provide my email below.
motherhoodintheraww@gmail.com

Xoxo, B