Brilliant ideas for effectively juggling telecommuting and children

Working from home while having our children close to us may seem like an interesting option for reconciling family and professional life, but it is not always easy and above all requires good organisation.

In order to juggle all the responsibilities, I recommend that you plan a schedule that is not rigid , that leaves room for more flexibility and that offers directions to take each day and each week.

How to keep children busy

Over the course of a week, consider planning activities in advance to offer children a routine that includes a special time with them where they are offered different ways to stimulate themselves according to different dimensions . These moments will allow the child to be busy and not to solicit you, allowing you to accomplish your professional tasks.

Here are some ideas:

Physical development:

• Provide a guided exercise sheet to reproduce to move to music.
• Have the children set up an obstacle course with the outdoor equipment and time themselves to establish the best score.
• Have children place dish towels, washcloths and pieces of cloth on the floor; children can jump from one to the other like a frog.
• Ask children to place various (safe) objects of different sizes between their knees and attempt to cross a room or the backyard without dropping the object.
• Offer the little ones something to blow bubbles that they have to chase and pierce.
• Give children brooms or mops and invite them to toss a ball of socks across the floor.
• Place targets (brains, baskets, large jars) at different distances into which children must throw different objects.

Cognitive development:

• Ask the children to find flat rocks on the ground, then suggest that they paint them with gouache and fine brushes.
• Cover a wall at the children's height with paper and give them different types of pencils so they can draw a mural.
• Scatter orphaned socks on the floor and ask children to match them.
• Fill a bucket with water and leave one empty. Ask the children to transfer the water from one bucket to the other using sponges.
• Give the children paintbrushes of all sizes, a spray bottle of water and a bucket of water, then invite them to “paint” the walls of the house.

Social-emotional development (if you have several children at home):

• Ask the children to gather different objects on a table. Each child takes the time to observe them carefully, then closes their eyes. The leader makes one disappear. The others must find the one that has disappeared as quickly as possible.
• The child secretly chooses an object and, without being seen by the others, makes noises using it: by tapping or rubbing, scraping, pinching, blowing, etc. The others must then guess which object was used.
• Prepare different themes in advance with which children must improvise a play. Here are some suggestions for situations, found on the website www.pommedapi.com : we arrive at school and realize that we are still in our pajamas / we are waiting for the bus and it starts to rain very hard / the heating stops and it starts to get very cold in the house / at the restaurant, instead of the starter, we are brought dessert…

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