Social DISTANCING THINGS TO DO DURING A PANDEMIC

So many of our residents are trying to figure out a new way of life. It can be frustrating, it can be scary, it can even be boring for some. These feelings are even more so for residents with children. Finding a way to keep kids busy can be a difficult task, especially when they are unable to have their ‘normal’ routine and see their friends. However, by keeping them busy you can help keep them calm and not feel like there is so much stress going on in the world around them. The key is to plan and have ideas ready at the drop of a hat! While it is scary, there can be a silver lining.  Socially distancing from others offers families the opportunity to spend quality time together and create memories.  Below are 15 fun ideas for your residents that can be done in their apartment homes or around the community while still maintaining community health through social distancing.

1. KEEP LEARNING!

School may be canceled, but that doesn’t mean that the learning needs to stop. Have you offered your community an email with some good learning resources.

2. READ, READ READ!

One of the most important things anyone can do (kids or adults) is READ! Just because your local library is closed doesn’t mean reading should stop. This is actually a perfect time for everyone to indulge in a good book. Maybe send your residents some good recommendations or offer a virtual book club. Share some of your favorite books. Host a virtual book reading for your residents’ kids. Not only will kids enjoy reading with you, but they’ll also be learning while missing school.

3. PLAY SOME SPORTS

Encourage your resident to get outdoors! If they can find an open area, suggest that they play catch with their kids. Maybe they can mark out some end zones with twigs and throw around a Nerf football. Without gym class kids to get them active, this will get your community’s kids a little exercise.

4. VIDEO GAME TOURNAMENT

Let technology provide the stadium! Suggest to your residents that they can host a family video game night and play Mario Kart. They can create their own rules for their tournament. Or they can play online in tournaments with their neighbors who you can’t visit in person. Give your residents prizes for the best scores or longest winning streaks.

5. OLD SCHOOL BOARD GAMES

Technology doesn’t always have to be used to have fun. Maybe your residents have some old board games stored away, it’s a great time for them to teach their kids how to play their own favorite childhood games. From Candyland to Trivial Pursuit to the Game of Life, there are classic games for every age group. Have a tournament or divide into teams, adults versus kids.

6. GET OUTDOORS!

Social distancing isn’t the same as being sedentary. Depending on guidelines on exposure from local authorities of course, suggest that your residents lace up their sneakers and hit your local wooded trail. If parks are closed in your area, the residents can still take a nice walk (or even bike) around your community. As long as they maintain that six-foot distance from others and avoid places with a lot of surfaces to touch like playgrounds, there’s nothing better for the mind and body than some fresh air! The more ventilated an area, the lower the risk of transmission. Just encourage your residents to wash their hands as soon as they walk back into their apartment.

7. AT HOME GYM

Your residents may not be able to go to the gym or use the one in their apartment complex right not, but they can still stay in shape at home. They can even get the kids involved by using canned goods for weights. It is important that kids (and adults) should still be getting sixty minutes of physical activity a day…even during a self-quarantining.

8. LIVING ROOM CAMP OUT

It’s that time of year for camping, however with parks closed we will have to save that for another day. But how fun would it be to have your resident have camp outs in their living rooms?! They can set up a tent and sleeping bags in the living room and bring all the essentials like trail mix, hotdogs, water canteens, lanterns and of course s’mores. They can turn on the flashlights, tell ghost stories and doze off in the living room!

9. PLANT A PATIO GARDEN

The warm weather is almost here in much of the country, if it’s not already, so now is a perfect time to create a patio garden with flowers and/or herbs. Your residents can build their own garden box and put on your porch or patio. And by the time we’re all back to school and work, your community will be filled with beautiful flowering buds and the beginnings of a great salad.

10. TRY A LOCAL RESTAURANT WITH TAKEOUTS

Suggest some local area restaurants that are offering free delivery to your community. Most restaurants may be closed for the time being, but many are offering free takeout and delivery. Your residents can teach their kids about food from around the world by ordering from a different cuisine every week. Chinese one day, Mexican the next. Or they can try something a bit more uncommon like Ethiopian or Brazilian. Their families can even create Yelp reviews together.

11. VISIT A MUSEUM

Many famous institutes have their collections online and are hosting virtual tours. With virtual walk-throughs, you have exhibits at many world-renowned museums from around the world at your fingertips. Maybe host an art contest with your youngest residents and have them replicate a famous painting and offer a prize to the winner. Everyone can vote on your property facebook page.

12. CHALK ART

Have your residents safely draw to their hearts’ content on the sidewalk (staying their six-feet away from others). Have them draw a hopscotch court and turn it into exercise. If it’s too cold for outside chalking (or concerned about a crowd of children gathering)? Have them get an indoor chalkboard and let them write inspiring messages on it.

13. CREATE A SCAVENGER HUNT

It’s hide and seek to the next level! upload a list of a dozen items or so and let the community kids go scavenging around. The great thing about a ‘social distancing scavenger hunt’ is that it can happen almost anywhere: in the house, around the building or even on the internet.

14. PUT TOGETHER A PHOTO ALBUM

We’re in the middle of a very memorable time in our history, and we’re in it with family. Suggest to your resident that they can take photos, together with their kids, and let them document everything happening while they’re off school in photos. Then they can go through them as a family and put together a memory book.

15. MAKE A TIME CAPSULE

What better time than year 2020 to make a beginning of the decade time capsule. Have your residents and their kids jot down some memories they have from this latest crisis. Good or bad! They can gather some odds and ends, newspaper clippings, printed out photos and personal notes from the family and seal them up in a time capsule box to store away in a safe place. Remind them to set a reminder on their phone’s calendar to open it up a year, five years or even a decade from today.