Thanks to pandemic-caused stay-at-home orders, families across the country have been enjoying an abundance of together-time. (So. Much. Time.) School—even from a distance—at least provided some structure. But with summer options like camp and overnight visits to friends’ houses too risky, parents are wondering, now what?

More and more, moms and dads are answering that question by reaching into their own childhood memories for ideas. Whether out of resourcefulness, nostalgia, or a little desperation, they’re disconnecting kids from digital devices and plugging them into old-school playtime—think retro board games, jigsaw puzzles, fort building, and roller skating.James Zahn, senior editor of The Toy Insider, sees this trend toward retro play reflected in the uptick in industry sales figures. Jigsaw puzzles have famously been in high demand ever since the pandemic first sent families sheltering in March. Classic board games like Risk, Sorry!, Pictionary, and Monopoly “are selling as if they’re brand new,” he says. Bicycle sales have sped up, with skateboards and roller skates also seeing huge spikes.

Making connections

Retro activities aren’t just a fresh way to keep kids busy—they’re also a way for children to make connections with their parents. “Kids love hearing stories from their parents,” says Sushi Frausto, a marriage and family therapist who works at the Southern California-based Institute for Girls’ Development. She specializes in parent coaching and working with young children. “They get to know their parents better.” In San Francisco, Sara Maamouri discovered this after mining her memories for activities that would be both fun and educational for her two daughters. She came up with the code-breaking game Mastermind— and decoded another benefit: a connection with her 7-year-old daughter. “I’ve told her that it was a game I played a lot with my cousin, Ilyes, in Tunisia. Playing it just feels like snapshots of my childhood,” she says. “And she was delighted to have a new game.”

Read full story

Why your kid might need new lessons in resiliency ?

How parents can help children deal with all the changes COVID-19 might throw at them

So you hear in August that your child’s school will reopen for in-person classes—but are given no date. Then you’re told September 10. Then September 21. Finally, your kid goes back to school on September 29 … and learns a few days later she’ll be getting sent home again. Most families probably aren’t experiencing the extreme reopening whiplash that some New York City children recently faced. But as more schools cautiously begin in-class learning, the likelihood of a school slamming shut again because of a COVID-19 outbreak remains ever present. And that sudden change can be difficult on children.

Teach kids to be mentally flexible

Alvord advises starting by encouraging something called “mental flexibility,” what we might think of as the ability to go with the flow. She defines it as the ability to come up with many different solutions or ways of thinking about a challenge or situation. “The aim is to have balanced and helpful thinking,” she says. Kids who can come up with multiple possibilities to an outcome rather than having an “all-is-doomed” outlook are more resilient, she adds.

Some language to try:

• Today we expected this to happen, but it didn’t. Instead we found out we have to do A and B. So how can we do that?
• What can’t you control that you just have to accept in this situation? And what are things that maybe are not going well that you can be proactive about and do something about now?

Read full story

As the world continues to deal with a pandemic that’s infected nearly 7.5 million people in the United States, kids are likely aware of COVID-19, what the symptoms are, and how they can protect themselves and others. But they might not fully comprehend the meaning or consequences of the virus until someone they know becomes infected—and that might include famous people. According to Lindsay Malloy, associate professor of psychology at Ontario Tech University, a celebrity might be a child’s first experience of hearing about someone who’s actually sick, whether it’s the president of the United States or Black Panther actor Chadwick Boseman, who recently died of colon cancer. “When a major figure who a lot of kids know of becomes ill, that’s going to hit closer to home,” says Malloy, also co-founder of Pandemic Parenting. “This is someone they ‘know,’ and for some, a celebrity is going to be their closest experience to an illness.” That sense of connection, Malloy says, might cause some children to ask questions about illness in ways they haven’t before. Suddenly, she says, illness isn’t just something that happens to other people—it feels realistically close to home. “They start to wonder, if this can happen to Black Panther, can this happen to me?” she says.

Giving kids back a sense of control

Empowering kids to take control while providing stability is one way parents can help children deal with emotions they might be feeling when someone they know becomes ill. “One of the hardest parts about illness is the lack of control,” Malloy says. And yes, it all goes back to that routine. “Have a regular bedtime, regular meal times, a daily schedule they can stick to,” Malloy says. “If life has been turned upside down in some ways, children can take comfort in the familiarity of routines they’re used to, which helps them cope with stressful situations.” She also recommends that parents give children choices, which increases their sense of control. If they’re learning from home, let them choose the order of what they’ll work on each day. If they’re wearing masks at school, let them pick out their favorite patterns.

But above all, Malloy advises that parents remember how resilient children are, even as they cope with illness. “Most kids are going to end up being fine,” she says. “The most important thing for kids who are adjusting is having loving, close, and secure relationships they can count on.”

Read full story