With our current lockdown situation, our options for family fun may be a bit more limited than we’re used to. A lot of our usual indoor activities have been put on hold, but we’ve still got young minds to keep busy. However, with a little ingenuity and a heaping helping of inquiry, there’s still great discussion to be had in the great outdoors.
Here are some suggestions:
- If you little thinker is a fan of winter sports, choose their favourite and have a chat about whether the rules are fair. Are there changes they would make to the rules? Are there ways to make it more fair? Can they invent their own winter game or sport that is super fair?
- Along similar lines, you can also discuss whether some winter sports, like skating, could also be classified as art forms. What’s the difference between art and sport, and what do they have in common?
- Play make believe and ask what your child would say if a yeti stomped out of the forest, with questions about human beings. What would a yeti ask about, and what would they tell them?
- While catching snowflakes on your tongues, take on the idea that humans, like snowflakes, are all one of a kind. What makes us different from all others, and what makes us the same?
- With days (slowly, but surely) getting longer, and the sun coming back, take time to wonder why it sometimes feels like time goes slowly, and other times quickly. Does time change, or just the way we feel it?
- Invite your kid to put themselves in the mind of the winter animals they see around them. Do animals think about seasons the same way humans do? Do they wonder why we’re not out and about quite as much during the winter? How do we know what these creatures are thinking?
This winter will likely feel a little longer than years past, but there are still big questions and great conversations to keep brains warm, and to help pass the time. With any luck, you and your little thinker will come out of hibernation even more connected.
Stay safe, thinkers!