Katie Hurley, a Los Angeles-based psychotherapist and author of The Happy Kid Handbook, said playing provides both tension relief and a safe space to tackle difficult topics. Children use their endless imagination to play and utilise different kinds of manipulatives such as dolls, building bricks, colouring books, and more to express their emotions. Playing also helps children develop cognitively, physically, socially and emotionally. This is especially helpful with the new normal as kids are more focused on learning indoors. However, when you are stuck inside, it’s easy to run out of ideas to entertain your children. The key here is to create something quick and easy for at home family activities. Here are some ideas that will help your children learn without limits. Read on, we might have a surprise for you too!
Bake and Decorate
Getting your kids to help you in the kitchen will create a huge mess, that’s for sure, but it is also a fun and creative way to spend time with them. Letting your children help out in the kitchen gives them a positive experience with food.
According to children’s cookbook author, Annabel Karmel, children will start developing math skills without realising, as they weigh and measure ingredients. All the hard work put into rolling dough, using cookie cutters or even putting sprinkles on top of their cupcakes also help to refine their motor skills, strength and control.
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Baking also increases your child’s language development as reading the recipes will help them expand their vocabulary. Get them to predict what will go in next during each baking step to make things interactive and fun!
By the end of the day, your children will not only learn something new and channel their energy to a new activity, but also get to bond with you and enjoy all those free desserts! It’s definitely a win-win situation.
Jigsaw Puzzle Time
This is the perfect time to bring out all your favourite board games and jigsaw puzzles that you have left on the shelves to collect dust! A jigsaw puzzle is one of many excellent at home family activities as any member of the family can participate and try to fit in new pieces whenever possible. Besides, studies show that puzzles improve cooperation and collaboration skills.
Building puzzles is also believed to help strengthen visual acuity, improve short-term memory, develop problem-solving skills, and increase fine motor skills. Some children might find building puzzles therapeutic, as doing something that engagingly occupies their mind brings them a sense of calm and serenity.
Credit: iStock
To encourage your children to continue playing jigsaw puzzles, you can always purchase designs that they prefer – anything from their favourite cartoon characters to beautiful views from around the World. Better yet, you can always find something your children like, and print it out to make your own puzzle.
Bring the World Indoors
If you can’t go out into the big world, why not bring the world to you! Animals fascinate children, so take this chance to re-create your own miniature zoo as one of your at home family activities and release your inner George of the Jungle. With HP Deskjet Plus Ink Advantage All-In-One printer, you can print all kinds of cut-and-fold animals that children of all ages can try for themselves. Bright colours are most attractive to children, so do not forget to print out the animal’s habitats and backgrounds too, to make it more realistic.
Family-Friendly Printer For Learning & Work Needs
With the HP Deskjet Plus Ink Advantage All-In-One Printer, you get to print all your necessities while enjoying better print quality and faster printing speeds. Printing your children’s worksheet and creative learning activities can be done with just a push of a button.
The HP DeskJet Plus Ink Advantage All-In-One printer is also the perfect home printer for the modern family, with a stylish and clean design that will fit right in with your home decor. Mobile Fax is available for the HP DeskJet Plus Ink Advantage All-In-One 6475 Printer to meet your work-from-home needs as well.
This HP DeskJet printer also has the best in class HP Smart App that makes printing easy and convenient. You can set it up easily and it can connect to multiple devices from anywhere around your home. That means you can use either your work laptop, home computer, or smartphone to print all your items easily. Getting your children’s print-out activities will be less messy too, as the Smart Tasks in the app enables you to organise your documents 50% faster.
The printer is also made from up to 20% recycled material, as HP is committed to reduce plastic pollution. Teaching your children about sustainability without leaving your house is another way for them to keep on learning despite the pandemic restricting their outdoor activities.
Stand a Chance to Win HP Deskjet Plus Ink Advantage All-In-One printer!
Want to win a HP Deskjet Plus Ink Advantage All-In-One 6075 printer? All you have to do is follow these simple steps:
Step 1: Download any HP Print & Play materials to recreate your favourite outdoor park.
Step 2: Snap a photo of yourself and your kid with your recreated outdoor park.
Step 3: Head to HP’s Bring The World Indoors page to submit your creation and tell them all about it.
Hurry, the contest ends on 13 November 2020 by 11.59pm!