Experiencing lots of "family togetherness" during the Coronavirus pandemic? KidsOutAndAbout.com provides over 250 ideas for making the most of your time together and avoid driving each other crazy.

Some of the best parenting advice I ever received was: "When it rains, play in the rain." There are ways of making the best out of any situation, this one included. We have a unique opportunity here: We can make the COVID-19 crisis into a moment that will live vividly in our kids' memories, so that in other times of uncertainty they'll recall fondly how their family pulled together and made the best of things, and they'll be able to do the same.

250+ Creative Ways to Keep Your Family Sane During the COVID-19 Crisis

Below are the categories for this article. Click on any of them to jump to that category below.

During a time when we're all practicing social distancing, events, classes, and activities go online!

(Organizations offering virtual events, classes, or experiences can post them for free! Click here to get to the form.)

Games and Activities

Back to main subject list

Clean/Fix

Back to main subject list

Plan

Plan your next birthday party (theme, place, cake, decorations) Plan an any-occasion or no-occasion party Plan for summer camp (things to remember, and look up on the top of this KidsOutAndAbout.com page under our "Classes and Camps" menu) Plan a staycation (look for our 101 Family Day Trips article under "Resources" on your local menu above) Plan a bucket list from our Top 20 Places to Take Local Kids article as voted by local parents - find it under Favorites on our menu above Plan a dream vacation Plan a realistic vacation (where, when, how, what to pack, links to venues in the region) Plan a month of educational theme days (themes like nature, sports, music, robots, Hamilton, or whatever) Plan your day-by-day pandemic menu Plan something to make each day Plan your family's fire escape plan and have a fire drill Plan a garden Plan for higher education: High school kids can research colleges and scholarships, and brainstorm college essays

Back to main subject list

Cook

Back to main subject list

Science Experiments at Home*

Back to main subject list

Arts & Crafts

Back to main subject list

Perform

Read a Newbery winning book, then make a 90-Second Newbery Film Festival tiny movie submission on your phone Silent Disco Party Dance Party Puppet Shows Turn a big box into a television set and put on shows (this can also double as a puppet stage) Have a Joke-a-thon Re-enact your favorite story or movie as a play Memorize a poem or two and put on a show Magic Shows Fortune Telling Read a story out loud and create your own illustrations Record your kids reading/telling their favorite story and replay it after dinner Put those music lessons to good use and have a concert (bonus points for Facetiming the grandparents while you do it) Write a rap song and perform it Perform your favorite fairy tale in dance Fill glasses with water and make music Record a family podcast on your phone to send relatives Record a pots and pans orchestra performance

Back to main subject list

Outside your Perimeter: Driveway, Yard, and Garden

**Make sure you click on our RESOURCES link in our menu at the top of the page for plenty of ways to have fun outside and parks/trails where you can enjoy nature with your kids while staying away from others.

Back to main subject list

Links to Online Fun and Learning

Back to main subject list

Tips for Temporary Homeschooling

If your child's school has closed due to COVID-19 and you are suddenly tossed into monitoring your child's education, we can help! Below are a few tips to help you orient yourself to temporary homeschooling. Please click on the link below for our complete list of tips for how to manage this challenging time.

First...

Remember that everyone else is in the same situation.

Remember that the goal is to keep up the momentum of learning, not to imitate school or to compete to see whether your kid can do it better than the others.

Convey that we all have our work to do, and that you'll help your kids get set up to do theirs while you do yours.

Try to assume more the role of cheer-leading coach than overseer.

...and a lot more. Click here for our complete article: Surprise! You're Homeschooling!... It's full of tips to help you survive make the most of it.

Special thanks to Helena Robin, Katie Beltramo, and Carol White Llewellyn for their work on this article.

*We wanted to call the "Science" section "Science the $#!& out of the virus" to amuse fans of The Martian, but we restrained ourselves.

© 2020. This list may not be reproduced, in whole or in part, without written permission from KidsOutAndAbout.com. Feel free to link to it, though!