For us, the most challenging part of this social distancing, by far, has been trying to explain to Maddie why she can’t play with her friends. It breaks my heart to see her so sad to be without her classmates and buddies- to have her wonder why she can’t go to the playground or have a play date. Over the last few days we’ve worked hard to keep her interacting with them in safe and healthy ways.
Here are a few ways the kiddos can keep in tough with their classmates:

Virtual playdates

1. Make a Zoom Call and facilitate a Show and Tell share

2. Start a Class Book Club-Choose a book at the beginning of the week and FaceTime or Zoom to talk about it

3. Record a short message and send to your friends

4. Write letters to classmates and drop in their mailbox

5. Make friendship bracelets and send a picture of them or drop at their house

6. Chopped- FaceTime or Zoom and let kids create their own recipes from the same ingredients

7. Virtual Dance Party it Freeze Dance

8. Plant a Class Garden at Home- Assign each student a flower or vegetable and plant at home.

9. Choose a song to learn as a class, then set up a call to perform together

10. Create a Story as a Class- Set up a call and have students start alphabetically. Take turns adding on to the story. You can also do this by recording sections of the story then sending via text or email, then have one parent or teacher compile all the videos

11. Write letters or draw pictures for your local nursing home- share yours with your classmates then have one gather them and drop off.

photo by Julia Dags