THE THIRD wave of Covid-19 proving itself more devastating than its predecessors, Pakistan like its several near and far neighbours have been sent reeling by the menace. With diminishing oxygen supplies and sluggish vaccination derive; cities creep towards an imminent lockdown with a looming question: how to sail kids through another lockdown.

Interrupted school routines, lack of online educational resources and financial crunch on the parents have put them into a precarious situation. Children suffer from a lack of attention from their parents who are clueless about how to adapt to this unexpected change. Psychologists are apprehensive of an impending mental health crisis after the lockdown is over. Here are some of the recommendations that can help students and their parents to make lemonade with another basket of lemons – the lockdown.

Explaining the lockdown:

Kids have a wild imagination about the things going around them. Taking help from their imaginations often helps better to deliver the message across. The hardest thing for most parents is to communicate the new way of life to kids who seemed to have no clue about why suddenly they have to stay at home, their schools, clubs and swimming classes are closed. Fabricating a story instead of explaining to them the viral infections in a pandemic and their harmful effects on the human immune system can work better! Children understand best when they can relate to the information. A “germ monster” trying to attack dirty hands is a much powerful message for them compared to any scientific theory for hand washing.

Setting up daily family routine:

The first thing is setting up a daily routine; allocating time during the day from breakfast to going to the bed at night and making sure the routine works well for your kids who have been passionate about physical activities. Below is a general template of a regular daytime table in the pandemic where one tries to spend most of our time indulged in various forms of activities.

Resorting to the ‘best friends’: Books

In times of pandemic remember you can still visit your best friends: books. While adults find ample time to start new books and finish reading the unfinished, they must also help inculcate the reading habit in their child: a habit rarely found these days in young. Getting the right book for the children can be tricky; always be ready to take help from their teachers and parents of their peers. You can get recommendations from different book stores as well. Your kids need to know how privileged they are by having access to books and education. They should be interested rather than compelled for book reading.

Cooking, cleaning, and caring:

Children are very fast learners and they learn by actions rather than advice from the elders. It is a good opportunity for the fathers to exemplify by lending a helping hand while staying at home. Washing dishes, trying new recipes, and making the bed daily or on some days can have a great impact on the young boys in understanding their role in the house. Remember always to make sure to involve the kid in your chores. Give them specific tasks. They need to feel important and heard.

Take help from the professionals:

Homeschooling for the kids can be a great opportunity for the parents and children to develop their skills and make a long-lasting bond. Take turns to teach the kids. However, it is also important that child education and early age development experts should be consulted side by side during the lockdown.

Planning fun activities:

Children must be taught while they are enjoying their learning. This includes doing family activities together. It is a good idea to select a range of activates for the kids to keep them excited and looking for more work. Such activities can include various craftworks, such as making things from paper-origami, making decoration pieces, clay pottery, oil painting, colouring, plantation using building blocks to make statues and model monuments.

How important are the pets?

Several psychological studies show that those kids who have pets tend to be compassionate human beings. Many pets including dogs and cats work best for the kids as emotional support and give them the freedom to play at the time of their convenience. If one does not have pets one can go nearby lake or park with loaves of bread and popcorn for the fish, turtle, birds and squirrels.

Backyard activities:

It’s vital to sweat! This has wide-ranged advantages from physical to mental. Activities such as cycling, running, yoga can help. While in other instances, one can go to isolated woodlands ensuring not to bump into anyone in the times of Covid-19 and do kite flying and hiking or fishing.

Barbers? Are they gone?

Barbershops are considered a potential source of infection for the people and seem to remain shut from an unforeseeable future. It is time for the parents to become self-taught hairstylists! Luckily for us, there are many YouTube tutorials available that can teach parents the art of cutting hair for the kids and themselves. Self-hair cutting is also not as difficult as it may be seen to many people. However, if one finds it impossible to get a decent haircut for one’s self, a shaved head is the need of the day. Also, it is considered as one of the power looks!

Personal and professional development:

There has never been more stress on personal growth in the past. Many psychologists believe that sense of growth is one of the strongest reasons for a person to stay happy and motivated. Hence parents and kids should make sure they are keeping themselves updated. They can take online coaching related to their professional growth and personal development. Several free courses can be found at Udemy, Coursera, Edx , Skillset and khan academy. Create a website, do freelancing or become a YouTuber.

Teach the kids the value of time:

Time is money. But kids should be taught this the easy way early in their lives. If time is utilized and managed in an effective way one can do wonders in a lifetime. There are several time management books available online which can be referred to and explain to the kids. Some of the best-sellers are: ‘The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People’, ‘The Power of Habit’ and ‘Getting Things Done’.

Bedtime stories:

Children's world does not consist entirely of the material. A lot of it rests in their imagination. The parents need to ignite the imagination of their kids with the help of creative bedtime stores and creative handcrafts during the day. This also helps develop the bond between parents and their kids. Those kids who are read storybooks by their parents tend to be more creative in the future. Creativity will be the most looked-for attribute in the future job market!

Covid-19 is going to stay here for a while and our world will be changed in the post-pandemic era. It is high time we prepare ourselves to combat the challenges in the future and productively use our time during the lockdown.