New Delhi, The nationwide lockdown has left children under house arrest. During this period, parents should know how to keep their these little energy balls engaged and manage their time effectively.

With almost no access to playgrounds and playdates, kids may get bored easily and this may result in an increase in screen time. Pavit Nanda from Momspresso lists few ways to help keep kids engaged.

Art and craft session at home - to keep kids occupied for hours

Make a schedule - Since schools are closed, it's important to reinforce what's done at school, so make a daily schedule for kids and ensure they spend some time reinforcing what had been done at school. Give them worksheet or assignments to do.

DIY stuff - Try inexpensive ways to keep kids busy. Give them old CDs, match sticks, unwanted woollen threads, coloured papers, glues, balloons, ice-cream sticks, etc and encourage them to make some creative things out of it.

Flameless cooking - Get them to make their breakfast or evening snacks with easy flameless cooking recipes.
They can make they vegetable sandwich or lime water or fruit chaat or bhel or sweet corn salad.

Clean their toy stock - Ask them to take out all their toys and help them clean and segregate it.

Play with toy collection at home - If you have put away some toys for a period of time because your kid gets bored really fast. It is time to give it to them. Board games, Uno cards, building blocks, playsets, and puzzles are just a few of the good toys that can keep kids engaged for hours. But sometimes they have to be reminded of these toys.

Pretend play - It encourages creativity. Children start by pretending to do everyday activities, they then participate and play with figures/dolls/teddies. They also enjoying role play activity kits like doctor set, kitchen set, beauty kits, etc

Encourage story telling - show and tell - Younger kids are natural at this, creating elaborate fantasies with stuffed animals or action figures. They use their stuff toy collection or animal figure toys to create their own stories.
Set up a playlist of your kids' favorite jams and let them dance

It's time to spend some quality time with kids and family and make the best of this opportunity! Create and capture the beautiful moments and make memories for lifetime.