Fun Things to Do with Your Kids When Schools are Closed

School closures have left parents scrambling to find ways to entertain and engage their kids with fun things at home that might not include computer games. Computer games are great but too much "Screen Time" can also have consequences. Here are some things that kids can enjoy with their parents now that school closures have begun. Some of these suggestions are rooted in previous generations. The game of "Monopoly" is high on the list. It is a board game where you roll the dice and try to collect properties so that when someone lands on your property, they must pay you rent. If the player purchased houses or hotels on their property, then the rent can be very high (Like Los Angeles or NYC rents). The game is not only fun but introduces the player to Money, Real Estate Investments and possibly the art of negotiations and trading. For younger kids there is "Dinosaur Monopoly."

"Stratego" is a game where you hide a flag and your opponent hides a flag. Each player controls 40 pieces of different strengths. If the wrong person hits the "Bomb" he or she loses a piece.You need to keep as many pieces on the board as possible to capture the hidden flag. The game of "Battleship" is similar to "Statego."

You can make a "Hop Scotch" board outside on a sidewalk or in the house using sidewalk chalk. Hopscotch is a children's game that can be played with several players or alone. Hopscotch is a popular playground game in which players toss a small object into numbered rectangles outlined on the ground and then hop or jump through the spaces to retrieve the object. This game dates back to early Roman Times.

Most people have regular cards somewhere in the home. For younger kids mix them up and place them with only the back showing. Each person turns over 2 cards. If they match, they get to keep the pair and go again. If the 2 cards don't match, they turn them face down again for the next player. Whoever gets the most pairs wins the game. Another card game is "War". Split the deck into 2 equal parts and each player turns one card up. Whoever has the higher card gets to keep that pair. If there is a tie place 3 cards face down and the 4th card facing up. Whoever has the higher 4th card gets to keep the opponents cards including the face down cards. The player wins when he or she gets all the cards.This game introduces math and greater than-less than concepts. Other classic games include Rummy or Spit.

I recommend purchasing easy to use Crayola Watercolors or a better brand, some decent round brushes that taper to a point, and watercolor paper which is somewhat thick. There are also watercolor pencils where you draw an image then lightly brush the image with water to make the colors look like a watercolor painting. Blick's Art Supplies, Michael's , Artist & Crafstman Supplies, and Amazon carry these materials. One idea I use in my tutoring session is to draw 6 square boxes that take up most of the page. Place 2 straight lines under each box for the children to write on. You are encouraging them to create a comic strip. Have them pick 2 characters. A boy and a girl, a Superhero and a turtle, whatever they want. The first box introduces the characters. The middle boxes show some kind of problem and the last box shows a solution or a result. By using a problem, solution, result approach, the child will be able to formulate a story-board and enhance their writing skills at any level.