Helpful information on how to encourage your child to be active

Staying active is important for our physical and mental wellbeing.

Getting Outdoors – currently the government advises we can go outside once a day for exercise, providing your household is free from coronavirus symptoms. You and your child can go for a local walk, bike ride, or run.  You could look out for rainbows and pictures in neighbour’s windows. When outdoors you need to be very careful and keep two metres away from other people who don’t live in your home. Make sure your child understands what two metres distance from other people means, keeping in mind your child’s age and stage of development. For example, show them physically what two metres looks like by counting how many steps it takes to make two metres.

Staying indoors – over long periods of time, this can become boring or stressful which can impact on our physical and mental wellbeing. Try to think about ways in which your family can be physically active indoors as well; building an obstacle course, hide and seek, dancing, helping with chores around the house, joining in with The Body Coach. Relaxation activities such as those on  Cosmic Kids Yoga and Calm Zone  will help children stay calm, active and enjoy time together with you.

Keeping active minds – one way this can be achieved is through play, fun activities or games such as puzzles, board games, work from school, colouring, playing cards, magic tricks, arts and crafts, eye spy etc. Spending lots of free time indoors can be used as an opportunity to start a new hobby or build on a new skill for you or your child and help add structure to the day. For example, involve your child in baking or learning to cook a meal, planning a family trip for the future, completing a puzzle or read together with your child. This can help you and your family connect, bond, and have fun together.  It is important for children to experience success and receive praise and acknowledgement for hard work and effort.

Use of Technology – consider how you can use screen time/technology in alternative ways. There is a range of resources available online for children of different ages and for parents/carers as another way to connect and keep active. For example, you can take a virtual tour together with your child to explore museums and historical/educational sites on  Virtual Tours, access books through the  Open Library  or visit zoos across the world using the link Zoo Live Streams to learn about animals, plants and insects   Try to have conversations about what you are both seeing to help your child develop their understanding and giving them a sense of achievement from their activities.

Advice for Parents – Helping your child to ‘Achieve’

Helpful information on how to encourage your child to achieve.

Learning at home is about providing learning opportunities as part of everyday life. Remember that you are not expected to be a teacher or create a school environment at home but instead to enjoy learning together with your child.

Routine and structure to the day – Some structure and routine can be beneficial for children.  It can help them understand what is coming up next, removing uncertainty  reducing anxiety. It can also help to separate weekdays from weekends; mornings and afternoons from evenings etc. If your child is reluctant or refuses to engage with activities, this can be a sign of anxiety or worry. Give your child choices if they are able to make the choice. Help your child to share what may be worrying them by giving examples of words to describe what they may be feeling or wondering out loud of what you think maybe bothering them. Remember to have plenty of breaks for playing and relaxing together.

Learning together – Freedom to choose their own activities and having adults join in their play is often a great motivator for children.  Encourage them to teach you how to play their favourite games,  toys or computer game, watch their favourite film/TV programme  together (e.g. with subtitles) or read their favourite book. Think about having conversations about different scenes, characters and themes.  Following your child’s interest and making the learning fun can help them feel comfortable and give them a sense of security. Offering praise for effort and hard work can build their motivation to enjoy more learning activities.

Play based learning – Learning through play is a major way in which children develop essential knowledge and skills;  social, problem solving, language, motor skills etc. Also, play can allow children to practise skills they have already learned in a fun way.  You may wish to organise a “play date” for your younger children through a video call e.g. your child and another child may play “hide and seek” in their own homes with the help of parents in the ‘seek’. Joining in with their role play eg dressing up, construction, drawing, puzzles, board games, arts and crafts, etc. are just some ways to support your child’s learning. Please visit the Play Scotland – Messy Play website for more ideas.

Environment and choice – Setting up space, a quiet area for learning where learning materials are kept, can help your child focus on more specific school work tasks or similar activities. Good examples can be found on BBC Bitesize  and Sumdog. Help your child to explore what they’re interested in and offer them choice in these learning activities e.g. what activity, what order or what time of day they would want to do something. If your child is losing attention; try something else and the original activity can maybe be returned to later.