Indoor activities for children during social isolation

Asst. Prof. Dr. Sarem Özdemir, responsible for the Preschool Teacher Education Program of the Faculty of Education, Cyprus International University (CIU) stated that social isolation due to coronavirus can only be perceived by adults, and this is a very troublesome process for children, especially in early childhood.

The process is more difficult for them since children are not in the cognitive development period that can understand this situation in a healthy way. “The fact that education is done in a virtual environment or the restriction of freedom can upset them more than you think,” said Özdemir.

She spoke about the activities that pre-school and elementary school children can do at home with the facilities available in a home setting by noting that parents can organize fun and educational activities in the home environment to reduce children’s anxiety and sadness.

Stating that the activities in question are the ones that will appeal to the mental, affective and psychomotor skills of the children, Özdemir said, “for example, we can re-arrange bingo game for pre-school children. You can ask the child to match the symbols that come out of the bag by drawing various symbols instead of numbers on a few cards in this game, so that it becomes a matching game for children aged 3-6 years."

Asst. Prof.  Dr.  Özdemir pointed out that children over the age of 5, can play a command game with commands such as skip, jump, clap, say a fruit name, etc. by arranging various pillows at home in the hallway or room and assigning an instruction for each pillow. She also suggested making an hourglass from two pet bottles before this game to use itas a timer for the prepared route.

Another  game was also recommended which can be played from soda or bottle caps by arranging the children to be both the actor and the observer when the order is over/: “In this game, which is suitable for children over the age of three, by hitting the marble lines on the ground or the shapes that you will create with colored bands, try to bring the bottle caps with your child to the endpoint before leaving. This activity will improve the child's muscle and mind coordination and comparison skills”.

Özdemir mentioned that the game of flying planes can be played with children over the age of 3 by making planes from newspapers or papers at home, “Never use words like win-lose in the game. Ask how we can do our flight so that it can go further, how to finish the route faster. Our aim is not to create a sense of competition in the children, but to contribute to their development .”