A Healthy Daily Quarantine Routine With Kids

Coronavirus quarantine with kids: Here is a list of activities, a survival guide, if you will, for parents who are quarantined at home with their small children.

Now that I’m home all day with my jackals, I had to come up with a healthy quarantine-friendly daily routine for the kids!

I have worked from home for years, but since I had Storm I’ve had a nanny from 9 am -3 pm four days a week. Now that we are essentially quarantined due to coronavirus, our daily routine has changed quite a bit.

First let me say that we take this very seriously. We are not going to local playgrounds, we’re not having family over and we’re not visiting with friends. No playdates, no social interaction outside of our family aside from chatting with our next-door neighbors across the fence.

In doing so, I’ve had to get creative with our routine! And keeping my family healthy is of the utmost importance to me. It keeps our minds healthy, our bodies healthy and God forbid one of us catches Covid-19 – we are better equipped to fight it.

This is what a Healthy Day of Quarantine with Small Kids looks like:

This is just an outline – feel free to adjust to your time and needs. Wake up earlier? No problem, so do I actually. Are you kids homeschooling? Switch out some of the play activities with school work.

My kids are 1 and 3 so we have no school work, though I am trying to keep their brains stimulated through play and crafts (and I really suck at crafts!).

A healthy quarantine routine also means healthy meals:

A big part of this daily quarantine routine revolves around preparing and cooking healthy meals that boost your family’s health and immune system.

My favorite healthy quarantine meal recipe:

Quarantine breakfast recipes:

• Collagen Beauty Smoothie
• Paleo Breakfast Salad
• Breakfast Tacos
• 25 Paleo Breakfast Ideas

Quarantine lunch recipes:

• Daily Lunch Salad
• Ranch Chicken Salad
• Meal Prep Taco Salads
• Asian Chicken Salad

Quarantine dinner recipes:

• Grain-Free Enchiladas
• Salmon Cakes (made with canned salmon, you could also use tuna!)
• Honey Sriracha Chicken
• Sheet Pan Chicken Tacos
• Easy Baked Salmon

Quarantine activities to keep kids entertained, stimulated and occupied

I have read so many articles on this. Searched Instagram pages dedicated entirely to entertaining kids. And honestly, they haven’t been incredibly helpful.

My oldest is 3 and my youngest is 19 months. They don’t do board games. They don’t follow directions. And they certainly don’t paint. (We tried that and it was a complete goat-rope).

I don’t know if my boys are just too wild, but most of the quarantine activities I’ve seen just don’t work for them.

Here’s what we’re doing to keep the kids busy during Corona lockdown:

• two very long walks a day
• going to a secluded field and bringing soccer balls and bikes
• gardening (they just dig and dig)
• a sandbox (do NOT try this on your deck like I did – they literally turned it upside down)
• Water Wows
• this slide has been the best purchase, seriously
• locking them in the backyard (just kidding, sort of)
• setting up a bunch of their toys on our deck and letting them play out there

A word on outdoor activities:

Thankfully the weather in DC is just starting to get nicer, but it’s often cold and we have a lot of rain. We are extremely lucky to have a backyard. If you do not, I truly feel for you.

My sons need to be outdoors almost at all times. I literally walked around the backyard with my 19 month-old for an hour the other day in the rain, in 43-degree weather, while he kicked a ball. It sucked.

If you can, get them outside, kids need the sun and the movement. I’m less concerned with crafts for my kids because first, I am terrible at them and two, because it occupies them for such a short span of time. This is OUR experience, so do what works best for YOUR family. And don’t feel guilty about it!

A word on allowed screen time and quarantine:

Because while we’re normally a no-screen time family, I’ve been letting my oldest watch TV while his little brother naps. I NEED that time to work and get my house cleaned.

These are special, unprecedented circumstances. Don’t beat yourself up about any of it. Be patient and kind to yourself.

Refocus – Adapt – Thrive:

I hope that you can use this time to become the healthiest, happiest version of you. Reflect on what’s working in your life and what you want to change.

Now is the perfect time to take proper care of yourself. Check out these 10 Self Care Activities you can do from home.

Make a bucket list of everything you want to do. Make a list of all the people you want to see and places you want to go when this is over ( What About Tulum? Check out my Tulum travel guide.)

Remember, this WILL end. We’re in the thick of it right now, but consider how much your life can change for the better during this time.

Eat well, nourish yourself, move your body, meditate, start a skincare routine, connect with your spouse, play with your kids and build a life you love. And if there’s something you want to change – now is the time to make a plan to change it.

You are brave and strong – you can do this!