So, school’s been out for two years no thanks to Covid. Thankful in a way my son isn’t missing his foundation years of going to school and socialising with friends.
The lockdowns have come in various phases of restrictions and frustrations, nothing has been clear. Playgrounds have been closed for as long as I can remember and nobody is doing/coming on play dates for fear of catching Covid and being separated from their kids. And I would hate to be a vessel to spread any germs, so I’ve been mindful and prudent and just playing on our own.
rebooked: best secondhand children’s bookstore
Today, they’ve closed beaches, which has been my only salvation from this madness and locking my child (not old enough to be vaccinated) up at home. Libraries are still closed since god knows how long ago and we get chased off green patches in the park.
So what do we do with a 18 month old?
Here’s what we’ve been doing to keep sane, although my sanity is seriously hanging on a thread here.
I am very grateful we have the privilege of an outdoor area for water play.
messy fun Sensory play
- Water play
- Driving our Little Tykes taxi
- Painting in the shower (easy to clean up after)
- Little Nature Wanderlust makes fantastic sensory kits and we’ve got our little construction set. Support local businesses, the government has brought all businesses to their knees and greedy landlords have not given any leeways in times of crisis.
- Going to Rebooked and buying way more books than our small flat can fit. Fantastic secondhand children’s bookstore.
- Freezing plastic animals into ice blocks and “rescuing” them. You can add food colouring to make it more fun.
Cooking and baking together has not been a success and ends up in more mess than I can manage, in due time he will be ready but he still hasn’t mastered his trajectory schema and enjoys throwing EVERYTHING until it breaks. If he could he would be throwing eggs off the supermarket shelves – that gives him immense joy.
We will all come out on the other side with some sort of trauma, but we will survive. Keeping toddlers entertained is challenging, not to mention during the inconsistent and insane lockdown rules in Hong Kong.
However, for our sanity, and even the best of us are wavering – hope these creative ideas will help pass some time and lighten some mum guilt.
At no cost and a good bad weather plan – set up an indoor obstacle course using cushions and pillows, or build a fort! Organise a treasure hunt with their favourite toys. At 18months old, sensory play is a big hit: anything from finger painting to DIY playdough should keep the monster toddlers occupied and stimulated.
