The team at the Centre for Resilience and Socio-Emotional Health, University of Malta − Carmel Cefai, Stephanie Curmi, Natalie Galea, Mollie O’Riordan and Rachel Spiteri − have compiled a list of family educational games adapted from RESCUR Surfacing the Waves Resilience Curriculum, University of Malta, suitable for these challenging times.

The following creative activities can help parents entertain the kids while keeping them aware of the current situation.

1. The child plays different ways of walking and family members have to guess the feeling or the situation the child imitates. Walking like their leg is in a cast, kings/queens, cowboys, shoes are too small, shoes are too big, carrying something heavy, and walking in mud, in water or on hot sand.

2. Someone in your family probably has a playhouse, tent or a desk you can cover with a bed sheet. You need this hidden place to play ‘Hey little house, who lives inside you? Hide inside the house. The child’s task is to ask, “Hey little house, who lives inside you?’’ After you have heard the question, make a sound (of a cow, horse, chicken, wolf, bird, etc.) and the child’s task is to guess what animal lives in the house.

3. Identifying the positive things in the family during family dinner, with one round for each member, going round the table.

4. Use a metal box that you can close firmly, put inside various little things you can find around the house (rice, sugar, beans, little stones, sweets, etc.). Your child has to take the box, shake it and try to guess what’s inside. Your child can also secretly fill the box, and then you have to guess what is inside.

5. Your child may keep a weekly diary and note down the times when he/she notices how other people are feeling. Discuss his/her observations daily.

Ask your child to identify a goal which they would like to achieve in the coming weeks while at home and help them work towards that goal

6. Sing and dance to a song of the child’s choosing and ask the child to accompany you as well. Ask them to draw a face that matches how they are feeling after the song.

7. Help your child find pictures of symbols in nature that show that bad times get better, for example, a seed turning into a beautiful flower, a small plant growing into a tree, a rainbow after a storm and so on. The child can make a poster with the pictures.

8. Start telling a story and stop when the character (child or animal) is facing a difficulty; the child has to continue the story by finding a solution so that there is a happy ending.

9. For every letter of your child’s name, you and your child find a positive quality of the child beginning with each letter.

10. Help your child locate stories in children’s books, movies or cartoons about courageous animals which had dealt successfully with their difficulties. Initiate some discussion with your child about the animals’ characteristics which made a difference in overcoming obstacles. Your child can then draw the animal from the story.

11. Help your child to make an outline of their hand and ask them about the people they can go to when feeling upset. Write the name of the persons on each finger.

12. Ask your child to interview an adult in the home or else over the phone about a problem they have encountered in the past and encourage a discussion on what they did to overcome the problem

13. Ask your child to write a list of (or draw a picture of) the skills they are good at. You may add some other skills which you believe your child is good at. Go through this list and discuss how the skills can be useful to help others, including siblings, relatives and friends, during the current situation (eg. listening skills can be used to call a relative who may be lonely at this time and listen to them; creative skills can be used to create a drawing or make a card to send to cheer someone up; IT skills can be used to help with the online supermarket shopping).

14. Ask your child to write a list (or draw) 10 things (people, pets, objects) they are presently grateful for and discuss them together.

15. Ask your child to draw a colourful picture, write a letter or poem, or make a card to send to relatives, such as grandparents who may be feeling lonely or school friends they have not been able to meet, to help them keep in touch while also being creative.

16. Follow online activity classes tailored to children including online PE lessons, yoga for children or other physical activities that will keep your child active and help reduce any stress.

17. Ask your child to identify a goal which they would like to achieve in the coming weeks while at home and help them work towards that goal. For example, children can aim to learn a skill taught by a family member in the home (for example, baking, knitting, painting, cooking) or using online resources (for example, to learn a new language).

18. Ask your child to think of a subject which interests them, to find out more about the subject by looking up information online or in books at home, and to prepare a presentation for the family to learn more about the subject. This can also be shared and exchanged with their school friends via e-mail.

The first part of this article was published on April 12.