Does your child suffer from seasonal allergies? As spring approaches in late March, the bees and flowers are busy working their pollinating magic, but many children succumb to congestion and itchy eyes. On those days of extremely high pollen counts, some children may not be able to enjoy the great outdoors, even with an allergy medication. Luckily, busy moms and dads can create a fun day indoors to escape the floating pollen irritation.
1. Start an Indoor Garden
The fun of gardening can be brought indoors. You can clear off the dining table and cover it with a spring inspired tablecloth. Bring in a small bag of soil from the backyard and offer the children small baby jars or tiny ceramic pots. The children can place the soil in the jars or pots while the mom and dad supervise. Offer different types of seeds, such as flowers or herbs, for each child to plant within their container of soil.
2. Indoor Chalking
Chalking on the sidewalk is a classic spring activity. An indoor equivalent requires a long piece of rolled easel paper; allow the children to roll out the paper as far as they can. A good location for this activity would be down a long hallway. The paper can be taped down at all four corners to stabilize the sheet. The paper is now ready for a beautiful drawing with hypoallergenic chalk!
3. Hopscotch
The timeless excitement of jumping on one leg down a hopscotch square formation can be created inside. Moms and dads can use the child’s foam floor alphabet letters as the hopscotch squares. Simply connect the letters’ edges in a hopscotch formation and lay it on the floor. To prevent any slippage, place the hopscotch formation on a carpeted surface.
4. Paper Flower Project
Bring the beauty of spring inside without the pollen by creating paper flowers. Moms and dads can offer construction or tissue paper for the petals and pipe cleaners for the stems. Let the children explore their creative side by using lots of different colors and cutting the petals into unique shapes. You can place a vase on the dining table to showcase the flowers when they are completed.
5. Take up a New Hobby
Busy parents also need their children to have some individual time, especially if household chores are looming. Look online for a simple knitting tutorial; many children enjoy creating practical items, like scarves, since it shows their grown up skills to the rest of the family. For younger children, try printing out graph art. Graph art uses a blank grid and an attached instruction sheet for coloring in the grid squares; the resulting mystery picture is a surprise for the child as mathematical graphing skills are slowly mastered.
Springtime allergies can be frustrating, but with a little creative energy, children can be happily engaged on the high pollen days. Once the pollen count drops to a tolerable level, children can enjoy the outdoors with a few new art pieces and hobbies under their belt.