With the coronavirus still posing a risk for school-age children, many schools have shifted to full remote learning for their students. To facilitate this, the US Department of Education offered online resources to allow the students to continue their education at home.
Staying at home keeps your children safe, but you should also make sure to keep them healthy. Here are the things you can do to keep your children healthy while they’re staying home during the pandemic
Create a Routine
The uncertainty of the situation will affect the mental health of the children. The physical and social isolation will cause them to become anxious and stressed. But creating a structured routine can help take away some of their unease. You can plan the routine with the child. The children will feel safer and secure when they are looking forward to doing something in the future.
You can incorporate some of the activities the children did at school or the daycare. You can also include daily tasks like changing out of their pajamas, making their bed, and brushing their teeth. The schedule should also include their remote learning schedule along with time for physical activities.
It’s also practical to put harder tasks at the start of the day since the children are well rested to take on these tasks. Parents can also incorporate some screen time as a reward for what they accomplished during the day.
Have a Healthy Diet
A healthy diet has always been the foundation of good health. So, parents need to ensure their children have a balanced one containing fruits, vegetables, protein, and whole grains. Limiting sugar intake is also good since consuming a lot of sugary food can increase the risk of high blood pressure, obesity, and Type 2 diabetes.
You shouldn’t also ban junk food. Instead, you can monitor their intake. You can allow them to eat the not-so-healthy options, but still monitor them. Banning them outright will cause the children to crave for them. They will carry this craving until they grow older and become a bigger issue. You can occasionally let your children eat junk food with their meals and snack time. Once they’re over the charm of junk food, they may not crave it anymore.
Encourage Physical Activities
When children stay at home, they may be tempted to plant themselves in front of the television and watch shows the whole day. Or they may play games on the computer. This lack of physical activity can cause childhood obesity. Due to this, your routine should include time for physical activities. You can schedule this after schoolwork.
If you remember the “Treasure Hunt” game, you can use it as physical activity that will have your kids going around the house. It also allows them to practice their reading comprehension skills through the clues you make. Since it will take a lot of time to prepare it, you can play the game once a week.
If you have a good-sized yard, you may also want to build a small playground for your children. Aside from encouraging them to be active, they’ll also benefit from getting some sunlight at least once a day. To make sure the playground has a good foundation, you can get in touch with a concrete contractor to lay the concrete for you.
Walking around the neighborhood is also a good way to keep the children active. Just make sure it’s safe to do so and you and your children are wearing masks. You should also stay a safe distance away from anyone who’s not a part of your household when you go out for a walk.
Develop Good Sleeping Habits
Parents should make sure their children have a good night’s rest after all the activities at home the whole day. When children are not well-rested, they will be susceptible to viruses and germs. Sleeping allows the body to repair and restore itself. Due to this, it’s best to ensure the children develop good sleeping habits.
To develop these habits parents can follow the schedule the children had before the pandemic started. So, if they were supposed to be in bed by 8:00 PM before the pandemic, you should also insist that they are in bed at the same time. Make sure the bedroom is conducive for sleeping. This means no screen time whatsoever when they’re in bed. You should also consider the number of hours your children have to sleep. Knowing this allows you to set expectations and ensure your children are well rested when morning comes.
The pandemic made a lot of changes in the lives of everybody. With these changes, parents should also make some adjustments to ensure their children stay healthy and fit until everything goes back to normal.
