It sounds like Shikta Das and her two children, from London, like to get up to mischief at home. In between all of that mischief, they have found the time to make some beautiful craftwork, such as this plastic bottle milk feeder. Let’s take a look…
Please tell us what you did…
- We had two used milk bottles, we washed them thoroughly and let it dry.
- Then the kids used permanent markers (various colours) and scissors (adult supervision if necessary).
- We made outlines of the features such as windows and doors or any creative art the kids wanted.
- Finally, we used scissors to cut outlines as shown in the picture above.
Working the outlines really worked well for the kids. I asked both my kids, 13 and 5 years, to have separate bottles and separate ideas to make it fun for both. One chose to have two doors and the other one chose just one door.
A little bit about you…
We are a family of four. My husband is the mature parent of the house, but less creative. The three of us are the kids of the house with lots of naughty activities! We all are very creative, and lockdown has brought the best out in us all.
I am an epidemiologist. I am extremely busy with COVID-19. Therefore, now I collect ideas and leave my 13-year-old, Raaghav, to implement it with his little sister, Nandita, who is 5-years-old. They have been making amazing crafts which have impressed us beyond imagination. We have had lots of new play ideas between the brother and sister which is lovely to watch.
What’s your next project idea?
The next project idea will be making a scary scarecrow (or something similar) for our resident squirrel. He is eating all our bird feeds and even eyeing our fruits. Last year he left none for us to enjoy and this year we would really like to make an apple pie from the little apple tree we have!
Please tell the community a bit about yourself…
My name is Shikta Das. I have two children – 13 & 5 years old. I am originally from India but have been living in London for the past 20 years now. We live in the south-east of London and absolutely love our area.
How are you finding being housebound with kids so far?
It has been very hard for both my kids and us (two working parents). The biggest trouble is that as a family we were very busy, and we used to be hardly home in our normal routine. We would leave home for school/office around 7.20 am in the morning and return roughly at 6.30 pm. Therefore, spending time at home was a novelty for us.
Initially, it was great fun as the kids were re-discovering their toys and hidden gems of the garden. However, over the 40 days, enthusiasm has really depleted and now we are left with no other option but to be creative and make our own games. We have so far been extremely creative in craft, making new sports (from amazon boxes) and even made an outdoor invisible house with two bathrooms.
I assign the kids some sort of topic at the beginning of the week and the kids must show their creativity to win prizes (usually sweets) by the end of the week. It has been going well. We have had chalk drawing competitions, dance & singing competitions and magic shows over last week. However, the difference in the age group is now cropping up far too many times and I am wishing the lockdown finishes quickly.
Any tips to help people when they are housebound with kids?
Here are a few things that have really worked for us:
- Give them a theme and let them create wild ideas. However, I do keep interjecting at the right time to help them focus on a practical solution and something useful.
- We have also got themed evening family activities: Monday is a card game day. Tuesday is book reading day – we choose our favourite book and read a page from it (or enact it). Wednesday is charades, my 5-year-old absolutely loves it, and Thursday is hide & seek.
- I do silly games to make sure my 5-year-old does not miss out on the silly play she does with her friends. The older one is more settled with his Zoom calls and not super affected by the lockdown.
Tell us what you think about the “Housebound with Kids” community…
Housebound with kids has been super useful for me. By connecting with other parents in the same situation as me, it has given me an outlet. I do not feel alone at all.
There are so many wonderful ideas, funny memes that really gives me the much-needed laughter or rainy-day games ideas which I desperately need during these stressful times.
Over the last 40 days, I have asked about useful apps for my 5-year-old which have been tried and tested by other parents on safety and usefulness. I have asked for film suggestions for my daughter and got suggestions on very family-friendly movies that can be watched by all four of us. I always keep an eye on any new craft which I can replicate at home.
