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Keeping happy, healthy and occupied at home

In these unprecedented times we are all adjusting to spending more time at home. Here are a few ideas that can help us keep happy, healthy and occupied:

Keeping fit 

  • Sport England  launched ‘Join the Movement’ earlier this year to encourage simple, fun and free ways to get active, both indoors and outdoors, that you can enjoy safely.
  • Local Qualified Personal Trainer, Matt Davies, has produced a 5 minute workout that just needs a small bit of floor space to do, so it’s ideal if you haven’t got long.
  • The Royal Horticultural Society is the UK’s leading gardening charity and they have tips and ideas for all ages. They aim to enrich everyone’s life through plants and make the UK a greener and more beautiful place.

Keeping happy

  • Action for happiness calendar  you can sign up to receive monthly calendars that have daily actions to help us look after ourselves and each other as we face the global pandemic together. 
  • Fun and learning with the RSPB The Royal Society for the Protection of Birds (RSPB) has fun and learning ideas for children and interesting blogs for bird lovers.
  • Let's Go Live with Cbeebies favourite Maddie Moate (Maddie’s Do You Know?) and BBC science journalist Greg Foot (weekdays) is a live family science show on YouTube. Plenty of past issues to catch up on and new ones coming up too.
  • Drawing with Ed Vere Pencils at the ready - Ed Vere (illustrator of Grumpy Frog and How to be a Lion) has posted easy 'how to draw' videos. 

Keeping healthy

  • Public Health England has published a guide on how to look after your mental health and wellbeing with ideas of what you can do to keep occupied.
  • NHS mood boosting audio guides to help boost your mood and combat stress.
  • NHS Every mind matters Having good mental health helps us relax more, achieve more and enjoy our lives more. This site offers expert advice and practical tips to help you look after your mental health and wellbeing.
  • A two minute slide show for children to help them understand what coronavirus is 
  • CSSC is a not-for-profit organisation inspiring its members to find new ways to be happy and healthy. They have plenty of top tips covering cooking, mindfulness, exercise, gardening, new skills, and hobbies to help you when staying at home. 
  • Love Food, Hate Waste has some really good recipes for using up your leftovers.

Keeping occupied

  • BBC Bitesize - Explore hand-picked videos, articles, games and quizzes for primary and secondary students and discover their new Primary Catch-Up Lessons to get back on track.
  • Developed by Pfizer UK colleagues, ‘Science in a Box’ aims to educate students about medicine development and careers in the life sciences. The content is aimed at two different age groups, 7-8 years and 13-14 years.

  • Digital library - Range of free e-books, e-audio books, e-magazines and e-newspapers from Kent’s libraries.
  • Change4Life great indoor and outdoor children's activities and games for them to play in the house or garden.
  • South East Rivers Complete the Junior River Ranger Challenge, become river friendly and get out and enjoy the river. 
  • Kent Children’s University offers kids aged provides 5 to 14 year olds with exciting, innovative and aspirational learning opportunities outside school.  They have compiled over 250 online resources so far and recommend some of their personal favourite learning websites.

  • MyKentFamily suggested a list of 50 things to do at home in the first lockdown which is a great list and can be done at any time.

Cultural initiatives 

Arts and cultural organisations have launched some digital initiatives to ensure national collections and performances can be enjoyed by everyone. These are:

Best virtual museum tours for kids

Other events include

  • Chester Zoo is also bringing its animals into your living room using social media. Follow them on Facebook and watch out for their live feed.