Seems like our March school holiday is turning into ‘holidays’ for almost everyone in Malaysia due to the restrictions of movements. Any travelling activities to anywhere within or outside of Malaysia have to be cancelled or postponed. Even parents who initially took their leaves to have holiday activities with their kids had to change their plans.
No matter what, our health comes first. Thus, everyone needs to stay at home and please cancel all your plans for outings with your family until 31st of March 2020.
In order to distract your kids and break their boredom at home, here are a few great activities you can actually plan out and play with them throughout this lockdown period. Not to mention, be prepared for a ‘trip’ down memory lane with these nostalgic activities. Well, it’s more than just hide-and-seek!
The Best Indoor Activities for Kids this MCO ‘Holiday’
Let’s take this chance to expose our kids to more nostalgic games just like the ones you played during your childhood.
1. The longest spinning GASING wins!
Tell your kids that before Beyblade, there’s gasing (and boast about how you used to be the ‘Gasing Master’ in your neighbourhood). Gasing, with a wooden top, has captivated the hearts of many 90s Malaysian kids with its unique shape and colourful design.
But the design is not just for show. Somehow, it’ll affect the outcome of the battle, on top of having skills. Oh god, you never know how legendary you are if your gasing stands on for so long!
You can play this at the terrace of your house and see who’s going to be the new master of the battle!
2. You better don’t get ICED!
To get your kids to ‘stay-put’ for a few minutes while you’re working on your laptop, introduce them to an ‘ice-water’ game.
Some people call this game ‘police and thief’, ‘ice and freeze’, or even ‘ice water’. No matter what you call it, the rules remain the same – you wouldn’t want to be caught by the person who’s trying to get you into the ‘ice freeze’ zone.
Plus, you can see how cheeky your kids can get trying not to get caught.
3. Indoor Teng Teng!
This is one of the most played games during the evenings for 90s kids. You can practically just play this anywhere – at schools, playgrounds, and even indoors!
You just need to balance yourself with ONLY one leg, while hopping through a series of drawn boxes on the floor from #1 to #9 (or no matter how many boxes you want it to be) and going back to box #1.
To play this indoors, all you need is just a duct tape and create the boxes for each number and start playing. You can even use your kids’ play mats that readily have numbers on them.
It’s a good form of exercise as well – talk about having fun with your kids, while everyone can lose weight and stay fit, eh?
4. Great Activities for kids with Batu Seremban
My personal favourite!
Prepare 5 or 7 pieces of fabric, needles, threads, and green beans. Mummies, you do the stitching and let your kids put the green beans inside. Just make a small one similar to the size of a pebble.
Simple yet fun to play with, this game is often played at homes or even in schools. There are several levels you need to complete in. I bet most mummies will surely know how to conquer this game.
If you have no green beans, you can also replace them with rice, beads, or just use small pebbles or rocks from your yard and start the game!
5. Congkak
This legendary game in Malaysia is one of everyone’s favourites back in the day. Congkak can be played casually or to make it even more fun, turn it into a set of competition between players or teams.
Traditionally, congkak is played with marbles or guli, placed into the wooden plank with 14 holes – 12 small holes that are called ‘kampung‘ and 2 bigger holes at each side that are known as ‘rumah‘.
The sounds that you make while picking up and placing the guli into each hole is the most amazing feeling. The more guli you collect, the higher the chances of you becoming the winner. This game is so addictive and it’ll be one of the most memorable activities for your kids.
Trust me, you won’t get tired of it and your kids will never want to stop playing it!
More and more Fun Activities for Kids!
Aside from introducing traditional games to your kids, here are other great activities that you can do together during this stay-at-home period.
1. Sensory Playtime
Perfect for toddlers, sensory play is the perfect edutainment activity, where they can play and learn at the same time. Have some fun with an activity like ‘ice salt science experiment’. From this experiment, you can teach your kids about colours; which one is the primary, which one is the secondary colour, and also, teach them on how to mix 2 different colours to produce a new colour.
This is an opportunity for you to be a teacher to your kids, while both of you have some fun playing sensory games together.
2. Inflatable Pool
The weather in Malaysia these days is quite hot. Since many swimming pools and waterparks are now close, you can let your kids have some water playtime in an inflatable pool at your house.
You can simply let them play with their siblings in the pool or create some fun water games with their bath toys. Your kids will surely love having their own water time without feeling restless!
3. Home Camping
Turn your yard into a camping place for your kids. Just set up a tent in the middle of your garden, add an inflatable pool, prepare some games like congkak, batu seremban, or any sensory activities for kids, and bring some snacks as comfort food. Wallah, your campsite is now ready – just like how this famous mummy, @bettyrahmad did it!
Plus, a night in your own house camp is way better than going out. You can even plan out a BBQ session or some exciting games to play together with the entire family.
4. Baking Day
Baking cookies and other sweet treats with your kids is a great idea. Although it’s going to be a major disaster in the kitchen, that’s actually how they can enjoy baking and learning at the same time. You can also ask them to help you clean up the mess once you’re done.
At the same time, you can let them decorate their cakes or cookies using their own creativity. This can enhance their creativity and cognitive skills. How I wish my childhood was like this!
Also, you may include your kids during your daily cooking time. Let them learn to cook or help you with chopping the meats or veggies. Who knows, one day your kids can be way better cooks than their mummy?! But make sure to keep your eyes on them to avoid unwanted accidents!
5. A House-Bound Treasure Hunt
Create a map of your home and hide small items around it. Mark each piece of the hidden treasure on the map. Explain the map to your little ones and offer your support throughout the hunting game in case they need it.
For older kids, you can use word cards to describe a place of the hidden items. For example, “I’m always cold and the light stays on if you leave me open.” – which is the fridge!
Your kids will love this activity as it’s a combination of quizzes and ‘hunting’ skills. Once they’ve found all the items, why not ask them to create their own treasure hunt game?! Let them draw their own maps and come out with their own cryptic questions for the second round.
Extra Tips to Increase Your Immune System
While you #StayAtHome with the entire family and doing a variety of fun activities, you have to make sure that you’re eating healthy, in order to boost your immune system. Here are some of the foods that you can include in your daily family meals throughout this period:
- Citrus Fruits – It increases the production of white blood cells – the keys to fight infections.
- Red bell peppers – It provides twice as much as Vitamin C than citrus fruits, which helps better in boosting the immune system.
- Garlic – It helps lower your blood pressure and slow down hardening of the arteries. Garlic’s immune-boosting properties seem to come from a heavy concentration of sulfur-containing compounds, such as allicin.
- Spinach – Spinach is rich in Vitamin C and it’s also packed with numerous antioxidants and beta carotene, which may increase the infection-fighting ability in our immune systems.
- Turmeric – It’s the king of all the other foods. You’re suggested to include turmeric in every meal, and even washing your hands with turmeric water in exchange of hand sanitisers is much better.
Also, hygiene is very important to avoid getting exposed to any infection. Below are some tips from Kementerian Kesihatan Malaysia on how to keep yourself protected and clean:
- Avoid touching your eyes, nose, and mouth before washing your hands.
- Wash your hands frequently with water and a soap for at least 20 seconds or use a sanitiser.
- Avoid getting close contact with people who have respiratory tract infections, such as cough and flu.
- Follow the cough etiquettes, such as using tissues to close your mouth and nose while coughing, and washing your hands immediately afterward.
- Use a face mask to cover your mouth and nose if you’re having a cough and flu, while also staying within a 1-meter gap when interacting with people.
ALSO READ: How Far Will It Spread? When Will It End?
So, mummies, #DudukRumahDiamDiam during the lockdown period with your family, while having simple yet fun activities at home! Don’t go roaming around outside now, and make sure to always keep yourselves clean. You never know who will be the next victim. So, stay safe and stay healthy!
Meanwhile while you’re at home, you can shop for your baby essentials, such as diapers, sanitisers, baby wash products, and many more online on Motherhood.com.my today!