Keeping the Kiddos Busy

Happy Easter! It is time to get festive -- not just today but for the rest of the Easter season. But how do you get festive during lockdown? Recently, a heartwarming video went viral.  It depicts how a mom and dad recreated a restaurant for their two small sons who have been wanting to eat out and who are too young to understand what the lockdown is all about.  For those of you who have young kids who are similarly situated, they will enjoy the same treat for a meal or two.  It will also be an opportunity to teach them proper table manners. If the young kids have older siblings, the older siblings can be enlisted to help recreate the restaurant setting.  They will enjoy it, and it might even lead them to careers in food and beverage or other related fields  someday.  They can help cook, decorate the dining room (perhaps even try out some fancy napkin folding ), and play roles such as waiter or waitress. Those who are playing waiter or waitress, a...

Encouraging kids to read is an obvious choice of an activity during lockdown that it needs no introduction.  But some parents may be wondering how to do it, especially in these times when electronic gadgets attract children's attention more than books. Here are some tips: Be involved, or at least, interested . The simple act of initiating a conversation with children about what they are reading can reinforce good reading habits. Ask them what they are reading, listen to them when they talk about it, and talk to them about it. Talking to children about their readings is also an opportunity to encourage critical thinking, impart values, and explain complicated topics. Keep it light and easy... Do not make reading a chore or else all the more will children not like it. Also, in a conversation I had with a friend who has written award-winning children's stories, he complained to me that a lot of children's books being published these days are too serious. I tend to agre...