Adrian Polidano

Mother holding her son while he plays with various toys.

When talking to your kids about COVID-19, it’s okay not to know where to start or be worried about saying the wrong thing. It’s very possible they may have heard about it at this point, and their amazing imaginations may have started to fill in gaps which might be making the information scarier for them. By opening up the conversation however you can, it will help them better understand what’s happening and why. Do your best to describe things in a child friendly and honest way.

Take some time each day to have 1:1 communication with your child. We know that “special time” conversations with your kids are helpful when we: follow their lead, speak at their level face-to-face, use language that is appropriate for their understanding, and provide full attention with our “listening ears” on. Using conversation is an excellent way to be able to connect to our children’s thoughts and feelings, as well as to express our own.

You will want to find a setting and time that is optimal for both of you. Remove any distractions (e.g., background noise, television, toys) and set up the environment so that you can both have undivided attention. It may be easier to have a conversation during a walk, bath time, or snack/meal time. If you have more than one child, you might consider having the conversations 1:1 to check in on each child.

Children constantly see and hear new things in their environment. The “adult” conversations we are having and “news” may not be appropriate for young children. Pay attention to what your children are exposed to and how it affects them.

Some things you may want to talk about:

Ask them what they know or have heard about COVID-19, this can help better understand what they know and clarify any incorrect assumptions or conclusions they have made
Be honest about how you are feeling and describe what those feelings mean
Use words they will understand (e.g. “virus” versus “sick”).
Use a calm and reassuring voice
Talk about their questions and answer honestly if you don’t know the answer, reassuring them that you will let them know when you hear or find the answer
Involve them in any planning (e.g. “Let’s think of what we will make for lunch”, “What movie should we watch together?”). For younger children, it may be easier to give them a choice of two options than an open-ended question.
Validate their feelings and discuss that it’s okay to have fears.
Reassure them of what they can do to take control of themselves and how to reduce the spread of germs
Read the Grandview Kids Social Story about COVID-19 together

You may find your child doesn’t want to talk in depth about COVID-19 or after their questions have been answered they say, “okay” and go back to playing. This is a normal response and how children regulate their emotions. What you have done is now created a safe space for them to come back and talk more if they need to.

If you have young children and are currently working from home, you know that keeping a toddler or little kids entertained while working can be quite the challenge. Having some easy go-to activities that parents can quickly set up with simple, recycled household items can buy you some extra time to get work done while allowing your child to engage in meaningful fine motor and educational tasks.

Grandview Kids Occupational Therapist, Evelyn, teamed up with a teacher friend to come up with fine motor and educational activities that you can do – no fancy tools or equipment required!

Prep time to set up all of these activities is between 10-15 minutes per activity. Hopefully, these will give you some ideas for activities to do with your little ones while at home!

Card Drop

Materials: Oats/yogurt container (cut slit at the top), deck of cards

Fine motor: Pincer grasp development, grading-drop and release, eye-hand coordination and dexterity

Education: Counting, sorting by suit

Sensory Play: Car Wash

Materials: Bucket with water/soap bubbles, brush, cars (or any other small toys)

Fine motor: Sensory water play, bilateral upper extremity coordination.

Educational: Counting, science concepts

Most importantly, have fun and enjoy the extra time with your children.

Sometimes people get sick from a cold or flu virus. The Coronavirus is similar to a cold of flu virus and it spreads very easily.

I smiling Weston is wearing a plaid button-up shirt with glasses.

Meet 9-year-old Weston. He is a happy, loving and friendly boy whose smile and contagious laugh can brighten anyone’s day. Weston loves playing on his iPad, with his brother Jase, all of his friends and enjoys pretty much any sport offered to him.

By seeing Weston, you’d never know he has had to overcome so many challenges, but he hasn’t always had it so easy. Weston was born with Spina Bifida which was diagnosed the day he was born. He was brought directly to Sick Kids where he underwent successful corrective surgery at only 3 days old. Weston has been a client of Grandview Children’s Centre since he was an infant and attended Grandview’s educational partner, Campbell Children’s School (CCS), for both Junior Kindergarten and Senior Kindergarten before heading to mainstream schooling.

“We don’t know where Weston would be without the dedication of all the staff at Grandview and CCS, who have worked so hard with him,” said his mom, Krystal. “They are truly an amazing group of people whose love and compassion make the days for our children so much fun!”

Weston has delays in his speech and physical movement, as well as with his fine and gross motor skills, but after regular help from Grandview for Speech-Language Therapy, Occupational Therapy, and Physiotherapy- Weston is thriving!

Now in third grade, Weston is seeing much success.

“Weston has always been an amazing reader. He is currently reading at grade level but still has delays in his verbal communication. He has received in-school assistance from a Speech-Language Pathologist and an Occupational Therapist. During recess, he sometimes rides a bike or trike around the school which gives him a dose of Physiotherapy.”

Weston has made plenty of new friends since beginning school and has overall been having an excellent learning experience.

“He is not at all shy, but we still feared he may be rejected from his peers because of his differences. His teachers always assure us that is not the case and that his friends tend to offer him help occasionally, explained his mother.”

Weston’s favourite sport is hockey and he takes any chance he can to play ball hockey with friends at school and his brother at home – if his brother doesn’t want to play, he’ll set up Buzz Lightyear as goalie and fire off some shots. He has been practicing his ice skating every weekend he can in order to improve his balance and strength.

“It is tough to watch him struggle, his body moves somewhat robotically and he does not have quick reflexes so falls happen often and he gets very frustrated, we just have to keep reminding him to get back up and keep going.”

Weston also loves making comic books, which he mimics from his favourite books Captain Underpants and Dogman. When he is finished with his creation, he reads you his story while barely being able to contain his laughter – he thinks he is hilarious.

Every time we have to go to Grandview, Weston lights right up. He absolutely loves Grandview and the amazing staff that know him and chat him up from the moment he walks through the door.

With every new therapist we see, we always learn something different; a new way to help him achieve his goals.

Through Grandview, we learned about the Durham Regional Police Children’s Games. Weston participated for the first time this past October. He was able to see so many familiar Grandview faces, staff and old classmates, and had so much fun participating in all of the events that he ended up winning his team’s spirit award!

Being stuck inside and stretches. Two things that are never considered “fun”. But, stretching is an important routine for all of us to get into, parents as well as kids. Stretching is important to maintain range of motion in tight joints, but it can also reduce the risk of injury, improve your posture, engage core muscles, and promote deep breathing and relaxation, which is something we all need right now.

Our “Stuck Inside” Stretches

Holding a stretch allows the muscles to relax and return to their original, intended length, keeping our joints safe and ready for action. And now that we’re stuck inside for most of the day, our physical activity routines have changed significantly, and we are doing a lot more sitting than our bodies are used to. This can lead to back pain and other minor injuries, all of which could be reduced with stretching. When you incorporate deep breathing into the practice, you can use stretching as a time to reconnect with your body and manage your stress.

With everyone staying inside right now, why not make a game out of stretches? Who can stay in one position the longest (hint: it will probably be the youngest family member)? Who can come up with the funniest pose? This is a fun activity that the whole family can do together. These photos show one Grandview Kid trying to use her body to spell the word “LOVE”, but you can create any word with your body. Can you make all the letters in your name? Can you work together to spell a word?

Remember these tips:

Do all stretches in a sitting or lying down position so that you don’t have to worry about keeping your balance.
Hold each position for at least 30 seconds – that is a lot longer than you think! Try singing a favourite song while you hold the stretch, or close your eyes and do some deep breathing. There are some great websites for guided breathing, pick one that works best for your family.
Take photos and tag us with #GrandviewKids
HAVE FUN!

A small, wooden clock sits beside a calendar marked with colourful post-it notes and thumb tacks

Looking ahead to the next few weeks at home with your children may feel overwhelming; how will you keep your kids busy when they are usually occupied by routines at school or daycare? Grandview Kids Occupational Therapy team has some useful information to help you find the right routine for your family.

Routines are easy to forget when at home. On weekends, this is good as it provides kids with a break from school and hard work. However being at home everyday while practicing social distancing can present a special challenge, where kids that thrive on routine have now had this interrupted.

Routine can be beneficial for both parents and kids. For parents, routine provides structure, and allows them to schedule time needed to get things done around the house or for work. For kids, being able to predict what is going to happen throughout the day minimizes anxiety. It also helps them get back into the school routine for once classes resume.

Keep in mind that structured learning times do not need to be long or extensive, in fact, breaking them up into small chunks makes them more manageable for both you and your little one. By scheduling the day out ahead of time, you can present the routine that kids thrive on and also include the down time that both you and your kids need.

This is an unprecedented time. It’s okay to be flexible and give yourself breathing space to take care of yourself, so you can take care of your children.

** These are examples of ways you can structure your day. You can change and alter it to fit your family as needed. If your child benefits from visuals, you can add a column to the chart where he or she can add a check mark or a sticker to indicate when they have completed that activity.

Grandview Kids Schedule A – Colour-coded

Grandview Kids Schedule B – Colour-coded with times

Visual Schedule

Meal times- any meal time presents a great opportunity to include your child in meal prep activities. Young kids can add pre-measured ingredients and older kids can work on math skills during meal prep.

Learning time- this can be academic learning time or home economic learning time. Think of academic skills based on age and ability. Home economic learning can include sewing, baking and chores.

Take creative time (when direct supervision isn’t needed), gross motor play and free time for time to yourself for self care. Self care is important for you as a caregiver. The time you used to have (even if it was just driving to pick kids up) is no longer there right now.

Some days will go better than others when implementing routine at home. Remember that it’s okay if your day doesn’t go exactly as planned! Be flexible and adapt the plan throughout the day as needed.

Learning Time Ideas:

Numbers
Letters
Math
Reading
Matching colours, numbers, shapes
Writing sentences or stories

Fine Motor Activity Ideas:

Cutting shapes/lines (with adult supervision as needed)
Tracing shapes, letters, numbers
Copying the alphabet or age-appropriate sentences
Using tongs or tweezers to pick up household items
Threading beads on a string or making pasta necklaces (macaroni and string)
Painting

Sensory Activity Ideas:

Water painting – paint the fence or another piece of wood with water
Play-doh
Rice play – put rice into a container with some other small toys for your child to find and retrieve out of the rice
Sand play
Finger painting
Making and playing with slime

Gross Motor Activity Ideas:

Cosmic Kids Yoga: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC5uIZ2KOZZeQDQo_Gsi_qbQ
Go Noodle: Get Moving: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC2YBT7HYqCbbvzu3kKZ3wnw
Super Stretch Yoga App (Free!)
Wheelbarrow walking
Obstacle Courses https://grandviewkids.ca/staying-active-while-social-distancing/