Thriving In: Home Isolation With Kids

Thriving in
Home
Isolation with
Kids Package
For
thriving in
isolation just click on
the pages and links:
Nurturing Creativity and Boredom

Busters……page 4
8 steps to help kids be boredom busters
page 6
In house art supplies page 8
Creative ideas page 9
Social media tips page 13
Squiggle Set…..page 23
Working at Home with Kids
blog
Why toilet paper matters blog
Sign up to do our FREE online Mistake Maker parent and child workshop.
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Page 2
“Picasso once said
this, he said all
children are born
artists. The problem
is to remain an
artist when we
grow up. I believe
passionately that
we don’t grow into
creativity, we grow
out of it.” Dr K. Robinson

Page 3
Nurturing
Creativity
And Boredom
Busters
“A child’s talent may be of

less importance than the
encouragement they
receive from those around
them.”
M. Csikszentmihalyi

Page 4
Home isolation is a shock for most of us, except our Design Director, Andrew who was
born for this! However if we change our perspective we can use this time to develop
our children’s creativity when they have all the time in the world. The tips in this guide
will help you survive home isolation with your kids PLUS develop skills that will help
your children thrive.
FIVE REASONS WHY HELPING CHILDREN TO ENTERTAIN THEMSELVES

MATTERS
01:
Kids become BOREDOM BUSTERS rather than relying on parents or screens to
keep them occupied
02:
Kids develop their problem solving skills
03:
Kids develop mindfulness – it’s a chance for your child to unwind and reset,
especially away from screens
04:
Releases a DOSE of nuero chemicals (dopamine, oxytocin, serotonin and
endorphins) that are good for their physical and mental wellbeing
05:
Increases brain development
That is why we use art and play in all our

workshops. INVITATIONS TO PLAY give
children opportunities to develop problem
solving, resilience and helpful thoughts.
In this guide we share with you the ways you can
easily incorporate creativity in your home and
guide your children even if you do not have a
creative bone in your body.
ART is a great way to AWAKEN YOUR CHILD’S CREATIVE and research has
recently shown that it also wakes up more of your brain.
You don’t have to be good at art or creative to awaken the creative in children in your
world. Your role is to encourage their confidence and provide opportunity NOT fix up
their mistakes, give them another piece of paper when they don't like what they have
done. Your role is to help them look past the mistakes, keep trying and not give up.

Page 5
STEPS TO DEVELOP YOUR CHILDREN’S ABILITY TO ENTERTAIN
THEMSELVES
Parents often complain about having to find things to keep their children entertained
and I am reminded of the quote "Give a person a fish and they eat for a day. Teach
them how to fish and they will eat for a lifetime."
Follow these steps to engage with "I am bored" to help your children learn how to
occupy themselves.
01: IDENTIFY WHAT THEY CAN DO ON THEIR OWN

Get your children to create a “Boredom Buster Chart or jar”. Help them come up
with a list of things they could do on their own or without you. By having a boredom
busting chart all you will need to do is coach them to choose an idea when they come
to you and say “I-M-B-O-R-E-D.” Hopefully as your children get the hang of this they
won’t need you to help them. Scroll down for our Twenty Boredom Busting Ideas.
02: PREPARE FOR ACTIVITIES

• You need to make sure that it’s easy for your kids to the things on their Boredom
Buster Chart or in the jar. For example, put the games that they were given for
Christmas where they can be easily accessed.
• It may be easy to fill this time with screen time but that is just a quick fix. Read
out Working at Home with Kids for advice.
• To create children will need supplies and a space to create art such as a cleared
surface with a chair and art supplies. with easy access so they can create art
with the minimum of help. Set up a craft or art box and fill it with bits and
pieces, they can do without you. Read on for suggested supplies from
things in your house.
• For over 40 different ideas for home made art supplies such as paint and chalk
check out The ARTFUL PARENTS COMPREHENSIVE LIST.
03: GENERATE CRAFT IDEAS

Your aim is to get your child to use the resources and come up with ideas. This can
be challenging if your child has always been given guidance. To start you may need
to give them prompts to encourage them. Teachers call these invitations to play e.g.
a tray of pipe cleaners and beads can keep them entertained for hours. Read on for
our list of simple invitations to play.

Page 6
04: TAKE TIME REGULARLY TO CREATE WITH YOUR CHILD
This type of play may be different for your child

and like any change, they may not take to it at
first go. You may find it useful to role model the
creative process and a great way to do that is
to do the same thing. Resist the urge to take
over their creation but simply do your own,
showing your child what they can do.
This also has benefits for you. Firstly it allows
you to connect with your child more and it
provides a distraction that lets your
subconscious brain to think about any problems or issues you need to deal with, it's
the same as when you get your best ideas in the shower!
Check out our NEW online art workshops that let you do just that.
05: HELP YOUR CHILD SEE THE GOOD
Our brains are wired to see what we mucked up, so by prompting your child to look for
the good in their creation you assist them see the whole picture. It can simply be a
question like: “What do you think you did well?” or “What do you like about this?"
Make sure you offer your opinion too. This is not about ignoring the things they did not
do so well so make sure you ask them what they think they can do better next time?
06: NOTICE AND ACKNOWLEDGE THEIR ABILITY TO ENGAGE THEMSELVES

Doing so you will encourage a child to entertain themselves in the future.
07: PRAISE FOR EFFORT

To foster creativity your focus should be on how they made their creation (the process)
rather than the final creation. Ask questions like, “How did you do this?”, “What made
you come up with the idea to do it like this?” “What was the hardest bit?” or simple
reflection like “Wow, I can tell you really thought about how you were going to do this”
08: MANAGE YOUR CHILD’S SOCIAL MEDIA USE.

We know that our “smart” devices are contributing to our children’s lack of ability to
focus and entertain themselves. Read our tips are at the end of this guide.

Page 7
A SUGGESTED ART SUPPLY LIST FROM THINGS IN YOUR HOUSE
THINGS TO DRAW THINGS TO STICK
Textas, sharpies, crayons, pencils, Sticky tape, masking tape,

scissors and pens. contact strips, blu tac, glue stick,
glue or you can make your own
with this recipe.
THINGS TO DO PAINTING
Paint brushes – cotton tips, old make up brushes, wool tied on to a stick,
pastry brushes, pegs with cotton balls or sponge, lavender or make a cool
spaghetti brush here.
Little kids LOVE painting the outside of the house with water - easy and mess free
Paint stampers – bubble wrap, noodles, packaging, corks, sponge pieces, potatoes (cut
in half).
THINGS TO CONSTRUCT AND THINGS TO COLLAGE
SCULPT
Paper – coloured, plain,
Click here for recipes for No shredded paper, packaging
cook Play dough, salt (We use the wrappers from Who
dough or kinetic sand. Gives a Crap toilet paper!)
Loose parts to stick in - nuts from gum Paper plates (great for making faces)
trees, wool, string, marbles, milk bottle lids,
pen caps, twigs, pebbles, pegs, clips. Old magazines and newspapers for:
• Face parts – cut up from magazines
Tooth pics and blu tac are also a great – great for sticking onto card to
way to make sculptures and towers. Roll make an abstract face.
blu tac into balls and use to connect the • Making newspaper towers
toothpics. Play doh is great for this too. • Letters to stick on pictures. Maybe
something like “Gratitude is an
Beads are fabulous to stick in playdoh - attitude!”
go through everyone’s jewellery boxes to Cardboard – cut out shapes from cereal
look for old beaded necklaces to cut up or containers, packaging, especially sparkly
make your own pasta beads chocolate packaging.
We all know cookie cutters are a hit you Paper doilies or pretty paper serviettes
can also use plastic cups, milk lids or for
some free hand made ideas. From the garden – leaves, twigs, flowers,
grass
You can also make them from aluminium
trays or Plastic bottles Clothes, t-towels, even towels for
creating large floor collages. Can you child
make a person from the contents of your
linen cupboard?

Page 8
BOREDOM BUSTERS WITH A PAPER AND PEN
As a mum and creative director, I

know time is precious so here are
some activities that can be done in
FIVE MINUTES (if you can stop!).
You can do these with your kids or
good to start them off as they are a
great antidote to “I-M-B-O-R-E-D” All
you need is a space to create, paper
(A4 printer paper is fine) and some
coloured pencils. Combine it with
some favourite music and you have
a mini art class.
FIND A FISH
First get a blank piece of paper and cover the whole thing it with swirly scribbles. Then
with your child find the fish. Once you have found some see if you can find other sea
creatures or other things. Then you can your child to colour in the remaining shapes
so the whole paper is a coloured masterpiece. You will find this in our attached
Squiggle Pack.
SQUIGGLES
Do you remember Mr Squiggle? I use this activity a lot in my classes. Draw a squiggle,
it can be spikey or curly. Challenge your child to turn it into something. Kids love this
and will quickly ask for another one. That is great but encourage your child to fill all
the page. They can draw the scene or patterns. A good lesson in persistence. Kids
can also give you a squiggle to try. Just add colouring in stuff and a DOSE of
imagination. You will find these in the Squiggle Pack.
CAN YOU DRAW WHAT I SEE?
One of you draw a picture of anything simple - it could be a boat, face, car but don’t
tell or show the other person. The person who drew it then has to describe it without
saying what it is, for example put a barrier between you both. For example, if I drew
a face I may say "In the centre of the page draw a big circle...." This is a really creative
way to have some fun and illustrates how much we depend on our eyes to
communicate.

Page 9
INVITATIONS TO PLAY
ABSTRACT COLLAGE
Use a ruler, textas, scissor, glue and a
piece of paper or card to make an
abstract collage. Use a ruler and rule JEWELLERY
seven lines in different directions on the
paper making sure the lines go from Use pipe cleaners, buttons and beads,
side to side. In each space do a add a big darning needle, wool or
different pattern. Cut all the shapes and ribbon for older children
then glue them onto your coloured card
in any way you like.
COLLAGE
Make a house out of paper, recycled
HOUSEHOLD SCULPTURES cardboard, card and glue or a face out
Give your child free reign of your of body parts from a magazine.
plastics draw. Challenge them to build
the highest tower they can.
PIPE CLEANERS
Construct a tower that can stand by
CRAYON RUBBING itself.
Take paper and a pencil or crayon and
get your child to find different surfaces
MAGAZINE, GLUE STICK AND PAPER
to do a rubbing. All they need to do is
take their paper and place the crayon Cut out the words to your favourite
on its side and rub. quote and stick it to a piece of paper.
Decorate it with pictures and patterns,
If you can’t think of one use ours “If you
STILL LIFE think you can't, you can’t.”
Create a still life using a vase, some
fruit or vegetables in a bowl. With SCISSORS AND PAPER
crayons, pencils and textas challenge
your child to draw what they see. If they Make a snowflake by folding an A4
are struggling, ask them: “What shapes paper at least four times then cut out
can you see?” pieces. Unfold and you will have a
snowflake as unique as you.

Page 10
NO MESS CREATIVE IDEAS
We keep children entertained with our creative and fun

workshops. Here are some of our ideas to keep everyone
occupied while in social isolation - fun and giggles
guaranteed.
01: SCULPTING
There are possibilities galore with some aluminium foil.
Light and easy to bend and wrap around objects such as
toilet rolls. Make a person, make two!
02: STORY TELLING PENCIL CASE

A variation on the commercial version of Story Cubes. Go to THAT draw in your house
where everything that does not have a home seems to end up such as a button, toy
figurines, bottle tops. Put them in a pencil case and everyone takes turns to tell a
story. The sillier the better.
03: COLOUR I SPY

Put discs of different colours or small objects, pencils, textas in a small container,
pencil case or anything you can think of. Children can pull one out and start looking
around the house!
04: WATCH THE ROAD SPOTTO

Compile a list of things you are likely to see if you watch the road from your house -
e.g. a bus, person on a bike, person wearing a pink hat or something tall. Draw them
if your child can’t read. Children simply mark off when they see.
05: BAKING TRAYS

Just add white board markers and magnets and you have an instant activity station!
Don’t forget something to rub off the marker. Baking trays also are a great tray to lean
paper on.
06: SET UP YOUR TENT IN THE BACK YARD

With Easter camping plans cancelled, why not set up your tent and all your camping
equipment in your back yard. It could be the kids “office” during the day and the older
ones may want it as their bedroom.

Page 11
TWENTY NON ARTY CHALLENGES FOR BOREDOM BUSTING
Find a jar or a 09: Find things in your house that begin

container, cut with the same letters in your name.
these out or 10. How many different faces can you
write your own make in the mirror?
boredom
11. Get someone to put on some
busting ideas.
classical music and pretend to be a
conductor.
When you are bored pick one out. 12. Think about "What you would do if
01: Count how many yellow you ruled Australia." Once you are
ready deliver present your speech
things are in the house. to your pet.
02: How many times can you bounce a 13. Build a fort in a room in your house.
ball against a wall without
stopping? 14. See how many books you can
balance on your head. Once you
Try again to bounce more can balance them try and walk to
times. the other side of a room.
03: Write a thank you letter to someone 15. Pat your pet.
who has done something nice for
you. 16. Find a game or puzzle
you can do on your own.
04: Blow bubbles and pop
them all before they 17. Make up a dance to one
touch the floor. of your favourite
songs.
05: Try to say "She sells sea shells by the
sea shore" ten times without 18. Stand on your head while
making a mistake. singing a song.
06: Lie on your back in the 19. Write down the letters in the alphabet
backyard and see and then say them backwards.
what animal shapes Once you can do that, try and do it
you can find in the clouds. without looking.
07: Put on a show for someone in your 20. Find a toy you have not played with
family. for a while. Play with it.
08: Think up nicknames for all of your

family - mum, dad, brothers, sisters,
aunty, uncles, pets.

Page 12
TIPS FOR MANAGING CHILDREN’S SOCIAL MEDIA USE.
We LOVE smart technology but like

everything it needs to be in moderation if we
don’t want it to become our children’s sole
source of entertainment.
04: IMPOSE TIME OUTS AND IF

01: TALK TO YOUR CHILDREN NEEDED TURN OFF THE INTERNET.
Ask them questions and engage in You may need to provide some
conversation about the reality of social alternatives as to what they could do or
media influencers on You Tube and just let them get bored and see what
other social media channels. Let your they do. Some families get children to
children know that they are not always earn time on social media by equally
going to be up like in social media active time with social media time.
world. Being sad, angry, confused and
doubting yourself is normal and must be
worked through while staying true to 05: BALANCE SCREEN TIME WITH
yourself and not believing everything HANDS ON ACTIVE TIME.
you see and are told. Our children's workshops are perfect
chance for kids to slow down or buy one
of our kits or art projects.
02: SET BOUNDARIES
Consider a time limit for social media
and times when your children can 06: ROLE MODEL
access it. There are apps that monitor
smartphone and app usage. I use My
Hour which has a timer that appears, so
03: LEAVE DEVICES IN A CENTRAL I am aware of what I am doing. There
PUBLIC PLACE IN THE HOUSE is also a little turtle that appears when
Additionally, keep devices out of room, you have been on for a while and
bathrooms and toilets (yes toilets!) and encourages you to take it slow after a
off the dinner table. defined time. Not for everyone but
awareness is one of the keys to
changing behaviour.

Page 13
Squiggle
Set
“
Creativity is intelligence
having fun.”
A. Einstein

Page 14
GUIDE FOR PARENTS AND
TEACHERS
Awaken the Creative with these two

sets of fun squiggles. Create
Something Squiggles challenge
children to create a picture by adding
lines and colour. Find something
squiggles challenge children to find
different things in the squiggly mess
that covers the page. Children may
also want to just colour in the patterns.
There are so many ways you can use
these and guaranteed to keep
everyone entertained and engaged.
SOME WAYS TO USE:
• Teach children about perspective GOOD TO KNOW:
– give everyone the same
squiggle and compare results.
• Take along to a café, restaurant There are many different things
children can make out of our squiggles.
or anywhere children could use
some amusement.
Sometimes it may take a while so resist
• Give them to the children who the urge to take over.
finish their work early.
• Eliminate those “I’m bored” Encourage your child to keep looking
moments. and reassure it’s okay not to see
• Give kids a time-out from something immediately.
homework or classwork to
refocus. Many children rush to complete but
• Use them to create “mindful” encourage them to make a picture out
of their creation. The idea is not to
moments.
have any white space. The only rule;
make it interesting!
Visit our Games to check out more

squiggles and creative activities.
What can you make with our squiggle? Turn it around, upside down or
sideways until you find something. You can add lines and colours.
Visit our Blog for our blog on how to build resilience in children.
Follow us for creative ideas Strengthheroesau strengthheroes





What can you find in our squiggle mess? You may find a fish, a dog or
an ice-cream. You can add in lines. You may just want to colour in the
shapes.

shapes.

shapes.

shapes.

shapes.

Want more?
Download our great value

games and strengths
resources.
Working at Home with Kids

blog
Sign up for our FREE Mistake

Maker workshop
Follow us on our Socials and tag

us so we can see all your creativity!
Instagram #strengthheroes
Facebook @strengthheroesau

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Thriving in

Nurturing Creativity and Boredom

Follow us for creative resilience ideas Strengthheroesau strengthheroes

Follow us for creative resilience ideas Strengthheroesau strengthheroes

“A child’s talent may be of

Follow us for creative resilience ideas Strengthheroesau strengthheroes

FIVE REASONS WHY HELPING CHILDREN TO ENTERTAIN THEMSELVES

That is why we use art and play in all our

Follow us for creative resilience ideas Strengthheroesau strengthheroes

01: IDENTIFY WHAT THEY CAN DO ON THEIR OWN

02: PREPARE FOR ACTIVITIES

03: GENERATE CRAFT IDEAS

Follow us for creative resilience ideas Strengthheroesau strengthheroes

This type of play may be different for your child

05: HELP YOUR CHILD SEE THE GOOD

06: NOTICE AND ACKNOWLEDGE THEIR ABILITY TO ENGAGE THEMSELVES

07: PRAISE FOR EFFORT

08: MANAGE YOUR CHILD’S SOCIAL MEDIA USE.

Follow us for creative resilience ideas Strengthheroesau strengthheroes

THINGS TO DRAW THINGS TO STICK

Textas, sharpies, crayons, pencils, Sticky tape, masking tape,

Follow us for creative resilience ideas Strengthheroesau strengthheroes

As a mum and creative director, I

CAN YOU DRAW WHAT I SEE?

Follow us for creative resilience ideas Strengthheroesau strengthheroes

Follow us for creative resilience ideas Strengthheroesau strengthheroes

We keep children entertained with our creative and fun

02: STORY TELLING PENCIL CASE

03: COLOUR I SPY

04: WATCH THE ROAD SPOTTO

05: BAKING TRAYS

06: SET UP YOUR TENT IN THE BACK YARD

Follow us for creative resilience ideas Strengthheroesau strengthheroes

Find a jar or a 09: Find things in your house that begin

08: Think up nicknames for all of your

Follow us for creative resilience ideas Strengthheroesau strengthheroes

We LOVE smart technology but like

04: IMPOSE TIME OUTS AND IF

Follow us for creative resilience ideas Strengthheroesau strengthheroes

Follow us for creative resilience ideas Strengthheroesau strengthheroes

Awaken the Creative with these two

Visit our Games to check out more

Follow us for creative ideas Strengthheroesau strengthheroes

Follow us for creative ideas Strengthheroesau strengthheroes

Follow us for creative ideas Strengthheroesau strengthheroes

Follow us for creative ideas Strengthheroesau strengthheroes

Follow us for creative ideas Strengthheroesau strengthheroes

Follow us for creative ideas Strengthheroesau strengthheroes

Follow us for creative ideas Strengthheroesau strengthheroes

Follow us for creative ideas Strengthheroesau strengthheroes

Follow us for creative ideas Strengthheroesau strengthheroes

Follow us for creative ideas Strengthheroesau strengthheroes

Download our great value

Working at Home with Kids

Sign up for our FREE Mistake

Follow us on our Socials and tag

Follow us for creative ideas Strengthheroesau strengthheroes

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