Navigating Coronavirus as a Family

In these past few weeks, conversations with my clients have shifted from talking about what brought them into therapy to “how do I talk to my children about the coronavirus?” The global outbreak of coronavirus, also known as COVID-19, has created fear and anxiety with over 200,000 reported cases and over 10,000 deaths to date. While seniors are the more vulnerable population due to age and underlying health conditions, schools and daycare facilities are taking necessary precautions and temporarily closing to fight the spread of the virus.

Thinking of ways to keep children engaged and mentally stimulated without relying on technology and screen time? This can be a great time to enhance family time and support during your child’s days off. Studies have shown that children in families with high cohesion are likely to demonstrate low anxiety symptoms compared to children in families with low cohesion (Peleg-Popko & Dar, 2001; Victor, et al., 2007). See below for a full week of family activities to try while at home with young children. These activities can be facilitated by parents, caregivers, teachers, or babysitters. Adapt as needed. Grab your supplies and get started!

Mazed Monday. Everyone loves a good puzzle. Create your own escape room. First, agree upon an idea or theme you want to solve. Each participant should come up with three to five clues that you can place around a room(s) given your space. Create family rules (each person should add at least one rule) and play! Don’t forget to set a time limit.

If you are looking to make a sophisticated puzzle, follow steps at this link.

Tuesday Tunes. Create a song together! Each person is responsible for adding a line to contribute to a song. Make sure to use one of your vocabulary words or focus on a theme in your latest reading. Sing the song together and perform in front of a family member or friend.

Wind Down Wednesday. In our current climate, it is very common to feel nervous and even fearful at times. Not knowing what will happen next can be very anxiety-provoking for young kids. To help ease worries, focus on providing calming strategies for kids morning, midday and before bed. Start the day off with a morning exercise or stretch. Make sure you engage in a cool-down exercise afterwards. After lunch, take time to sit in silence and practice being aware of your present moment and breaths. Clients report that listening to soothing instrumentals such as nature sounds, ocean waves, or piano music can be very helpful in relaxing kids before bed. Find what works for you!

Thriving Thursday. Sometimes a shift in routine can impact executive functioning skills for children. Executive functioning is a set of mental skills that relate to three main areas: memory, flexible thinking, and self-control (Fuhs et al., 2018). In order to help your kids stay on task, create a brief “to-do list” that may include: chores, homework assignments, reading time, and playtime. Collaborate with your child in creating time frameworks, rewards, and consequences to ensure goals are met.

Fancy Friday. Fridays are for fun! Pick a family activity of your child’s choice. Whether it’s making dinner together, finding a game to play, or making a dessert, make sure it’s together!

Sit Down Saturday. There have been so many happenings in our first few months of the new year. Children have lots of questions and it can be very helpful to openly process them. Make sure you take some time to ask your child questions such as: What is on your mind? What do you care about? What are your values? Why not call a brief family meeting and take time to hear your children’s expressed needs.

Soul Sunday. You made it through the week! Before you hop back into Mazed Monday, take some time to reflect on your week by participating in a journaling exercise with your family members. Take 15 minutes to silently reflect on a few questions and share as you wish:

1. What was your favorite part of your day/week?
2. What has been the most challenging?
3. What do you hope to change this week?

Making space to intentionally spend time with loved ones can easily be overlooked during a time like this. I hope these activities create space to learn new things about one another as a family and inspire you to commit to family time as often as possible.