In the beginning, as long as they finished their assigned work, we didn't put too many other parameters on them - we figured it was hard enough trying to work from home and not see friends, so we took away our usual rules on technology use.
But after a while, it became necessary to reign everyone back in a bit. We've realized that our kids get grumpier and meaner when they have unfettered access to technology, so we tend to put limits on how long they can be on devices each day. Since school wasn't taking as long during quarantine, they had a LOT of free time (especially Molly, the youngest, who would churn out her kindergarten work in no time at all). That meant mama had to get creative.
I stocked up on some fun art and science kits, and we attempted to add some fun into our days. First up was some fun art.
Our house backs up to a car dealership, so there is a concrete wall running across our backyard (and all of our neighbors' yards, as well). We have a lot of vegetation in the backyard - the previous owners went a little nuts. But amidst the orange tree, overgrown bougainvillea, avocado trees, plumerias, and some random pineapple plants, there is some of the concrete wall visible.
My girls love to create art, so we figured we'd let them decorate part of the wall. They each got a section of plywood that I taped off in various shapes. Then, we let them go for it.
They had fun making our boring wall look a bit more interesting! And it's all still there, a year and a half later.
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