Staying Creative as a Family to Combat Pandemic Boredom
Under normal circumstances my family typically has a calendar packed full of after-school activities, hobbies, social engagements, general out & about adventuring and travelling, nearly all of which is currently on pause. Here are some of the things we have been doing to stay creative in that time.
1. Drawing Challenge
Our immediate family is not “artistically inclined” and would usually shy away from craft type projects, but we were challenged by extended family in Europe to a drawing challenge. Each week, we select a tutorial on YouTube and everyone from age 4 and up draws the same thing. Here is an example of something we might select (from Art for Kids Hub, but there are lots of other tutorials available): https://youtu.be/21jWNVrcrw4 It is very easy to follow along and super fun to see what everyone comes up with. Everyone has been growing in confidence and creativity each week and realizing that maybe art projects aren’t as daunting as we thought!
2. Stretching our imaginations
One day we were heading out for a walk and my daughter decided that she didn’t want to come, so my son and I headed out just the two of us. As we walked, we started talking about all the things that would make my daughter jealous that she hadn’t come along. So we went on a “pretend” journey in our imaginations and talked about all the places and people we were visiting, all the delicious food we were eating and the activities that we were enjoying. It reminded me of articles like this https://www.ideastogo.com/articles-on-innovation/why-you-should-have-a-child-like-imagination-and-the-research-that-proves-it & https://blog.aboutmybrain.com/the-importance-of-imagination and how lucky we are at Quest Theatre to stretch our creative muscles surrounded by imaginative young people.
3. Learning something new
As a fan of singing, I yearn for the golden age of people gathered round the piano for a nightly family sing song, and also fascinated that we live in a time when learning to sing, play an instrument, write music (or just about anything else) can be as simple as finding a free online video tutorial. There can be a perception of “leaving things to the experts” and not even attempting to learn something new. However, since the pandemic began millions of people stuck in their homes with a shortage of yeast embraced the wonders of sourdough, and with more time on their hands, elaborate baking or cooking projects. I learned to make gourmet hot cocoa bombs which seemed to be an Instagram sensation over the holidays. My son learned how to do yo-yo tricks & solve Rubix cubes. My daughter plays online card games & took a virtual dance class.
Stay creative, friends! And feel free to share your creativity with Quest Theatre on our social channels – we’d love to see what you are up to!
Written by Peita Luti