So three weeks into lockdown already. On one hand I can’t believe we’ve managed to stay in for over 3 weeks, but on the other hand I am exhausted from looking after the children at home every day. The days seem very long and I’m juggling the children, their school work, keeping them busy with games, gardening and baking, cooking, cleaning and my little blog. I usually work in a secondary school but there is little I can do from home for now.

Creative ideas for keeping the kids busy during lockdown

As well as all of the above we’re taking part in some online activities to keep us all connected.  These range from listening to podcasts (The Week Junior is a favourite), to taking part in #HomeTasking. Do you watch Taskmaster? It’s not entirely appropriate for my children but they just love it and it’s keeping them occupied.

We’ve been applying for Blue Peter badges, working towards Cub badges, joining in with weekly online art lessons and crafting. Thankfully we’re a creative family and I’ve found tons of free resources to keep the whole family busy.

Keep a Lockdown Scrapbook

Just before the lockdown started and our favourite craft shops started closing I picked up two scrapbooks from The Works. We usually keep a Summer scrapbook or smashbook, a place to keep tickets, photos and postcards from our summer adventures.

So it seemed like a logical step to keep a Lockdown Scrapbook. As well as our daily activities we record the rainbows we spot on our daily walk and how many steps we manage each day. I’ve found some lovely colouring sheets for the kids to colour, and don’t forget our free rainbow printable too). We’ll also be adding our letter from No. 10 which arrived this week, and the postcard we picked up at the last Duck Pond Market. We’ve taken some photos whilst out and about and they’ll go in too.

Free 2020 Covid-19 Time Capsule workbook

Although we were already keeping a scrapbook I downloaded this free 2020 Covid-19 Time Capsule I found here. It encourages kids to draw a picture of the people they’re staying at home with, and record a snapshot of life through photos, journal entries, art work and newspaper clippings. Other pages include ‘all about me’, ‘how I’m feeling’, ‘my community’ and ‘what I am doing to keep busy’. There’s also space for hand prints and to record how special occasions were marked during lockdown.

The workbook encourages kids to write a letter to themselves, and to interview their parents about their own experience of lockdown. I think it makes a great document for the kids to keep in their memory boxes to remember these strange days.

Free NHS colouring sheets

There are so many amazing free resources that people have made available over the last few weeks. I keep getting emails from people who want me to share their resources but I just don’t have time to share them all. It’s easy to be overwhelmed by the amount of information out there so I’ve kept it simple, just printing free colouring sheets that we can all sit round and do together.

Sir Michael Craig-Martin/BBC Quarantine free NHS poster #GetCreativeAtHome

Free NHS/Key Workers Thank You poster from ticketyboostudio

Millie Marotta’s free Love NHS poster

Mrs Mactivity free rainbow poster

Go on a rainbow walk

I don’t know who came up with the idea of looking out for pictures of rainbows on our daily walk but I love them for it! My 8 year old counts rainbows every day and she loves it, it helps keep her busy on what would be a boring walk round the block. As well as pictures of rainbows, we’ve spotted teddy bears and pictures of Easter Eggs. Don’t forget we have a free rainbow printable if you haven’t done this yet!

I hope you able to keep yourselves and your kids busy during this time.