If it’s not XBOX, football or being questionable down the park with his friends; Dylan isn’t interested. Only 2 of those aren’t really an option right now and he does not need more of an excuse to sit in front of his games consoles. It’s few and far between I catch his interest but every now and again I manage it so thought I’d share what worked for us. Most of these activities are suitable for any primary school age child or early secondary; or could be adapted to suit.
Cooking with Mum; a bonding exercise…ish
Baking, we all baked (mostly disasters) in the first lockdown with our little ones. But how many of us actually taught them how to cook? Dylan is always asking me if he can help make dinner and to be honest; I mostly say no because he gets in my way and/or gives me a heart attack.
But teaching our children how to make simple meals for themselves and the importance of using fresh ingredients in our foods (Jamie Oliver would be so proud) as well as good flavour combinations is not just fun and uses up some time, it’s also an important life skill.
When I was younger we’d have pretty basic meals in the week but at the weekend my mum would be in the kitchen most the day making big meals and I used to sit and watch or ‘help out’ (mostly tasting stuff) and I was so grateful for that when I had my first full time job at 18 in a care home; I could make my service users their dinner! Yet my 22 year old boyfriend at the time could barley toast us up some crumpets if his mum wasn’t home. Embarrassing.
So get them in the kitchen. Not a cook yourself? That’s ok; learn together. Jamie Oliver’s book ‘5 Ingredients; Quick and Easy Food’ is my must have for cooking beginners. It really is as simple as it sounds and is currently on sale from Amazon for £15.99.
Or, as I try to keep cost down in all my advice; his website does have a handful of the recipes available for totally free. Garlic Mushroom Pasta is a firm favourite in this house! Well, except with Dylan who is all up in my grill when I have deep fried Garlic Mushrooms from the Takeaway but insists I meticulously pick all of his mushrooms out of every home cooked meal.
Let’s Blow Shit Up!
The best science lessons were always the practical ones and at risk of sounding a geek; science is cool! As much fun as ‘blowing shit up’ is; safety conscious person I am, we invested in a science kit for Dylan that had 18 different experiments in. It also included safety goggles, a complete guide and all the kit (Frightful First Experiments, currently £15.74 from Amazon). We completed one experiment a week and Dylan loved them. Some were simple like colour mixing; others required a bit more time and concentration like creating his own bouncy ball. None; actually blew shit up.
But not everyone has money to spend so have you heard of The Dad Lab? You can follow him on Facebook or Instagram (he also has a facebook group you can join, I haven’t joined so fill me in if you do) and he shares lots of ideas about experiments and crafts you can do at home usually with just household items so definitely worth a look.
Roll the Dice
There is a board games for every type of kid these days. Dylan has traditional board games, quiz type games and even a miniature crazy golf table top game! They don’t have to be expensive either. Ideally charity shops are the best place to get them (and a good dose of dust) at knock down prices but of course they aren’t open. But Facebook Marketplace and Ebay are so, see what you can find. If they aren’t a win just donate them when this is all over. Dylan enjoys (not always healthy) competition so anything he has a chance at ‘winning’ he’ll go for.
X Marks the Spot
You can’t beat a good, old fashioned, scrawled on a bit of old envelope; treasure/scavenger hunt. Lots of these ideas online and they make the same old boring walk more exciting. It can be as simple as ‘spot three different type of leaf’ or ‘two different types of tree’ but Dylan loved ticking them off on his walk and could be quite grumpy if he didn’t find them all. If you live in a more built up area you can go with types of car, unusual coloured house, someone in a red jacket. Get creative…or do what I do and google it and steal someone else’s creativity
Fun Facts
I loved Sharks when I was Dylan’s age and any project I was given I’d centre round sharks. Rumour has it everyone is on the spectrum in one way or another and kids; the are all obsessive about something. So get them on a project. It does not matter what it is about just go for it, watch documentaries, films, youtube clips, read articles, ask questions and agree how you will present your findings. I know it doesn’t sound a barrel of laughs and yes I still have a titanic information poster hung in my living room; but the point is he was busy!
Anyone for Crochet?
Crochet was a disaster; Arran got very attached to the one mallet we had, there were tears and screaming and some mallet wielding. Anyway no more crochet, but; you can’t beat an old fashioned fairground type game like hook a duck, coconut shy, knocking down the tin cans, bullseye games, skittles, feeley boxes, bobbing for fruit; etc. And most of these you can make from items you have at home or combined with low cost purchases (we did hook a duck using Arran’s water table and a duck and rod set for £5 from Amazon). These served us well for Halloween games and for celebrating VE day and Dylan gets so excited to get involved especially if there is a score card involved or no Arran and a mallet.
Send Some Love
Your kid not crafty? Mine isn’t either; the face on him when I get the craft box out. Then, ask him to write a letter; it’s like his brain just fell out. But communication is key right now and keeping in touch with those we can’t see is more important than ever.
Nothing says ‘I miss you’ like something handmade. And they don’t have to be masterpieces nor do they have to be a painted mess on a piece of card anymore either. Google image simple, easy to do cards; the ideas are amazing. Dylan recently made a birthday card for Mike that simply involved sticking on pom poms (from our craft kit; his face) and then drawing lines to a point and sticking on a bow. Boom; 3D balloon card. It looked amazing! Handprint flowers are another easy one or making pictures from lollipop sticks. Once finished get them to write a note and maybe stick a picture inside. A perfect treat for a relative you can’t see right now.
Mastermind
Dylan loves a quiz but his general knowledge (unless it’s about football) is lacking so he gets frustrated, especially if it seems likely he won’t win. But a great task is to let your little one chose the topic and then you both go and write 10 questions. You can do it weekly, fortnightly, even monthly and keep a leader board. Quick and easy entertainment.
What’s On?
Movie nights are a given right? But again with Cinemas closed, there are more and more opportunities to watch brand new films on streaming services. Combined with a bowl of microwave popcorn and some sweets its easy fun. And one of Dylan’s favourites. It’s our plan for what will undoubtedly be a lockdown birthday for him this year.
Outnumbered 