Gee, what tricky times we’re living in! COVID-19 has arrived and is changing the world as we know it, at least for the coming months. We should feel reassured that we, as a community, have the capacity to get through this. But each of us will have actions that we need to take in order to keep us safe. As parents we’re very used to feeling the weight of that responsibility – a weight that we balance with our responsibility to our broader community.

What we’re less used to is the social distancing we’re now being asked to practice. Experts tell us that “social distancing”, or the deliberate lack of contact between us and the outside world, will make a big difference to the spread of the disease through our community. Put simply, by putting more space between you and others, you can make it harder for the virus to spread.

Which leaves us with the more day-to-day problem… as parents, how are we going to keep our little ones happy and occupied when we’re all stuck at home?

An obvious response to this question is to rely on screens. Screens will definitely play a major role in getting us through this, whether they’re used for entertainment, to keep us connected or to order groceries. But screen time doesn’t have to be the only trick we parents have up our sleeve - we can also be open to lots of low-tech ways of staying busy. Maybe we can treat this time as opportunity to do some of those things our family never usually have time for, such as drawing, reading or craft.

There are heaps of ideas online for crafts and games, some tricky some simple. Realistically, not all of us have access to craft materials, so I’ve compiled a list of creative things to make in households when the craft supplies are sparse. In fact the following crafty activities are created using an A4 sheet of paper, and not much more.

Mr Squiggle drawing game

provide each player with a piece of paper (or a whiteboard) and a different coloured texta (or crayon, pencil, pen)
give each player a couple of seconds to draw a squiggle on their page
swap the pages
look very carefully at the squiggle on your page. What do you see? It may help to rotate the page. What does it remind you of? What does it suggest?
using their own texta (in a different colour to the squiggle) extend that squiggle to create a new image
when both players are finished, share and tell the story of your drawing
repeat

In this example parent had the green texta, child had the orange one. Child transformed squiggle into a truck on a hill near the bush. Parent transformed squiggle into the child’s friend from kinder waving goodbye — In this example parent had the green texta, child had the orange one.
Child transformed squiggle into a truck on a hill near the bush.
Parent transformed squiggle into the child’s friend from kinder waving goodbye

Funny folded drawings

This is a way for two or more players to make a funny drawing together. Simply fold a piece of paper in half width-ways, and then in half again to make four even sections.

Your rules may evolve to suit your players, but some easy guidelines for a four part drawing are:

player 1 draws a head and neck
player 2 draws from shoulders to belly button (include out-stretched arms in this section).
player 3 draws from belly to knees
and player 4 draws from knees to feet.

Starting at the top, player 1 draws their section then refolds the paper so that their drawing is hidden and passes paper on to next person. They do the same, and the drawing and folding continues till 4 sections are complete, and the fabulous finished drawing is revealed.

Four folds gives enough space for four contributions to one very silly character.

Mini book

An A4 page can be folded to make very cute mini books, with just a snip of scissors – no stapler or tape required, and you don’t even need paper with two blank sides.

let child fill them with random sketches, or help them write some mini stories
suggest a theme (example, “Yellow” or “Letter B” and encourage the child to fill it with matching drawings or items cut from magazines or catalogues).
circulate one between a group or family and invite everyone to contribute a page
commission mini books of drawings instead of notes, letters or card

It’s easy peasy… here’s how it’s done:

Fold an A4 page in half lengthwise…

.. then fold in half again.

Unfold to open up the page…

… then fold in half width ways. Your paper now should have 8 sections.

Here’s an important bit.
Fold the page in half width-ways.
Using scissors cut the section as shown.

You’ll now have a slit in the centre of your page.

Re-crease folds till your page forms a cross.

Press all pages over to one side, and voila
- a book!

These are very little ideas for some very big days ahead. Stay in touch with Little Bluebirds as we share some ideas for getting through them. Plan your time at home, and try to establish little timetables for your children to give shape to their days.

The next few months are quite unprecedented, but experts say we will navigate them better by staying busy, connected and informed.

If you are feeling bombarded with information from a range of sources it’s probably best to seek up-to-date advice from reliable Government sources such as the following:

https://www.dhhs.vic.gov.au/coronavirus

https://www.health.gov.au/news/health-alerts/novel-coronavirus-2019-ncov-health-alert