Daily routine during lock down | How do I engage my 5 year old during this lock down period?

This pandemic is really very stressful for all of us and specially for kids as they are living a very different life. Though kids have got adjusted to the new normal. I must say, they have made this phase easy for us by understanding the situation so well and coping with this. 

How do I engage  my 5 year old at home?

I get this question daily from many of you on my social media. So I thought to write it down and share here on my blog. 

1. Daily Affirmations -

We start our day with daily affirmations. Saying the affirmations loud is very effective and helpful. 

    a. I am happy.

    b. I am Strong.

    c. I am kind.

    d. I am amazing.  

2. Yoga poses and 2 min meditation -

Start with simple yoga poses for kids.

I do Surya Namaskar everyday and my daughter loves doing it with me. So you can make a fixed yoga routine for yourself and kids will  definitely join you.:) Kids love to do things together. So this can be a wonderful opportunity to get back to yoga routine for our self and kids will join too.

3. Daily chores-

you can involve kids in many simple daily chores like-

    - Filling the water bottles.

    - Helping in peeling,chopping(for older kids under supervision)

    - helping in laundry.

    - folding clothes

    - organizing the toys.

    

4. Independent reading session. (you can give 5-6 words or sentences to read).

    We have dedicated a separate book for this activity. This gives us the idea of which words need to be worked upon and we have a log of our daily reading sessions.

5. Sanskrit mantra chanting/ prayer 

    This lock down has given us opportunity to involve kids in many new things. We have started to chant Sanskrit mantras every evening. This brings a peaceful atmosphere at home and we all feel relaxed after the hustle and bustle of the days' work.

Here is a link of the playlist of Sanskrit shlokas which I have uploaded on our YT channel. Click the link below.

Sanskrit Shlokas playlist.

6. Bedtime reading session.

   This is the most favorite part of the day for us. We get cozy and snuggle up to read our bedtime stories. All the best memories are created during this session.

So these are the daily mandatory routine for us during this lock down. We try to make our day more dedicated to open ended play rather than stressing on curriculum. Other than these, Shreya loves to color, scribble, write, draw and play with her dolls.

I just wanted to introduce you all with our daily routine. I will now be active on my blog too. From now on, I will be sharing our weekly learning routine as I don't follow a routine for daily learning. I plan for the week and we try to complete it by the end of the week. So Shreya is free to complete it in the one week's time. This gives her freedom to enjoy her learning time and to do it only when she wants and she knows that she has to complete it by Sunday. So the routine for the first week of July will be published on my blog soon and if possible, I will try to make a video about the same on my YT channel. Do follow my blog posts and my YT channel for more updates on early learning activities.