April 2, 2020
Although Wheaton College had to cancel its annual Spring Break Staycation, here are some ways to recreate it in your own home.
Wheaton College’s annual Spring Break Staycation was scheduled for this week, but COVID-19 changed our plans. Fortunately, your family can still enjoy a staycation with these activities. Bonus: you likely already have the materials you need at home.
Start a Read-Aloud
The Marion E. Wade Center with the Wheaton College Tolkien Society had staged a dramatic retelling of C.S. Lewis’s The Voyage of the Dawn Treader. Enjoy this adventurous tale by starting a family read-aloud. Dust off your copy in the bookcase or borrow it from the library on your e-reader to get started. Another idea: Have a grandparent or another relative read the story to your kids over FaceTime.
Throw a Dance Party
This year the Zoe’s Feet Dance Ministry won’t be leading our children in a dance workshop, but don’t let that keep you from dancing. Turn up some good tunes and start a family dance party. If you’ve got any fun dance moves from your past—the running man, the sprinkler, the macarena—now’s a great time to teach your kids.
Cook Together
Recreate the Café Bon Appétit cooking class and kitchen tour by including your kids in the task of meal preparation. Sure, the meal prep might be messier and take a little bit longer, but cooking and baking together is a wonderful way to teach children a practical skill. Try out HoneyRock’s camper-approved recipes for pizza dough, an oatmeal bake, and banana bread.
Create a Writing Workshop
Guide your kids through a writing workshop: Inspire them to start a journal, where they can scribble down their thoughts and feelings. Or show them how to write letters to loved ones or friends, especially those who are feeling particularly isolated and alone during the stay-at-home order.
Start an Art Class
Free drawing and painting classes are available on Facebook Live and YouTube. But if you’re trying to steer clear of screens, take out some crayons, markers, colored pencils or paints and set up a still life scene the kids can put to paper--perhaps a bowl of fruit, a vase of flowers, or even their latest Lego creation. You might also try out this step-by-step "Bug Box" drawing game, crafted by Wheaton's Sheldon Till-Campbell.
Take a Tree Hunt
Go for a walk outdoors and have your kids examine the needles and cones on the conifer trees you come across, sketching them and writing down their observations. When you get back home, help them identify the trees you saw, using this chart that Wheaton Biology Professor Dr. Raymond Lewis put together. Remember to maintain six feet of distance between others you come across!
Get Moving Together
The staff of the HoneyRock Center for Leadership Development has assembled an array of activities to enjoy at home: Try out their SolidRock: Home Edition challenge that incorporates Scripture memorization, exercise, service, and prayer.--Emily Bratcher
For more ideas for activities at home, check out HoneyRock’s ideas for creating “a place apart” within your home.