Children’s Mental Health and the Pandemic, Activities & Listening Games for Kids

Kids will be kids, and that’s no different in a post-pandemic world. One of the main challenges faced by teachers returning to the classroom will be keeping kids focused in a classroom that may be very different than previous years. Here’s a few teaching strategies, activities and listening games for kids that teachers can use in this post-pandemic world.

Classroom instruction is going to provide new challenges for teachers with added restrictions in place to prevent the spread of COVID-19.

It’s going to be difficult for kids too.

They need social interaction with their peers and the freedom to move about and play as that’s usually how they learn best.

Depending on where you are located, the precautions your school takes may vary. Even with the added policies in place, you and your students can still have a year full of learning and fun.

How?

We’ve put together some tips for teachers looking to integrate activities and listening games for kids to keep the focus on learning and fun. Here’s 4 tips to keep kids on track in the classroom in a post-pandemic world.

Incorporate movement breaks with activities & listening games for kids

Movement matters.

It surprises some teachers and parents to learn that interrupting the day periodically with movement, dance, and exercise can actually keep kids’ learning on focus.

Movement breaks do five key things for students of all ages:

1.     Movement breaks make learning more efficient.

2.     Physical activity increases oxygen to the brain.

3.     Movement breaks interrupt negative stress patterns.

4.     Movement breaks offer kids a mental and sensory break.

5.     Movement boosts our ability to self-regulate emotions throughout the day.*

Take frequent brain breaks, and let your students move around – at least once per hour if possible.

Our CoordiKids Classroom program was designed specifically as a 5-minute movement break for teachers to pop on without any preparation. They include exercises that boost the midbrain activity for focus, attention span, and emotional regulation.

Another option is to play old-fashioned playground games. Here are a few favourite listening games for kids that don’t require any equipment, and don’t take up a lot of space, while allowing your students to maintain distance if necessary.

• Simon Says
• Mother, May I?
• Red Light, Green Light
• Follow the Leader

You can also have dance parties throughout the day. Simply play a catchy tune between assignments and have everyone hop up and move to the beat.

For the younger crowd, have them stand up and sing songs with movements that match lyrics – Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star & Itsy Bitsy Spider are classics, but I’m sure there are several contemporary options we can find on YouTube!

Keeping kids moving is the key to keeping them focused.

Make a list that you can refer to and rotate your movement break styles each day or week to keep things interesting for your students.

Use a mask with a clear window around the mouth for facial cues.

If masks are required where you’re located, consider getting one with a clear window around the mouth. If the option is available, encourage parents to do this for students as well.

This is a stressful time for everyone, and kids of all ages need the added reassurance of seeing their teacher’s smiling face.

Masked adults can also be scary, especially for younger kids. Being able to see your face will go a long way in reassuring them all will be okay.

Traditional masks make it hard for kids in the back of the classroom to understand what you’re saying. This is also the case for those who are hard of hearing.

Another issue masks present is this – if students can’t see your face, it’s hard for them to read your facial expressions. Kids need to see faces when learning how to communicate with others.

This is especially important for kids on the spectrum or others who have trouble reading social cues. Masks with clear windows around the mouth help resolve some of these issues.

Having your mouth visible will help kids understand what you’re saying, see your facial expressions, and provide encouragement.

Don’t underestimate the value of technology

Technology offers so many ways for us to connect with our students and provide them with opportunities they might not have access to otherwise.

Video learning is an easy way to do this, and though you may hesitate to give kids more screen time during school time, know that certain types of video learning are scientifically shown to be valuable for teaching certain skills.

You can read about some of the research I’ve come across that demonstrate video learning can be a valuable educational tool.

If field trips are out of the question this year, consider taking virtual tours. Thousands of museums and historic locations around the world have taken their tours online, allowing us to provide a wonderful, engaging field trips from the safety of home or classroom. Check out this list of virtual tour options.

Mix up your usual lessons with audio/video story times, lessons, science experiments, and movement breaks. Podcasts and audiobooks are great learning tools as well.

You can even use audio-only learning components as listening games for kids to work on their skills at paying attention closely as they listen to instructions or stories provided in an audio lesson.

By incorporating audio, video, and hands-on learning into your classroom plan, you are offering more support for kids with different learning styles.

Take lessons outside

Being outside offers more opportunities to keep kids at a safe physical distance. And vitamin D is extremely important to a healthy immune system. It also breaks up the day, helps with emotional regulation, offers a sensory break, and boosts attention span.

Whenever possible, bring your students outdoors. You can sit under a tree for story time, or let the kids enjoy a picnic lunch on the playground.

Take a nature walk and gather leaves, twigs, and rocks to take back to the classroom and examine.

Consider starting a small, school-wide sensory garden. You can get ideas from our previous article on one school that incorporated a sensory garden for their outdoor play.

Get creative and get outside as much as you are able. Being outside is not only good for our physical health, but for our mental health as well.

It’s a natural way to provide the necessary sensory input kids need to regulate their bodies and brains. Fresh air, sunshine, sounds of nature, digging in the dirt – these experiences are so important for all of us.

Plus, time spent outside is known to reduce anxiety and depression – both of which are at an all-time high in both kids and adults right now due to the added stress of COVID-19.

It also goes hand-in-hand with our first tip – movement matters!

Bottom line… get outside! It’s good for you and your students for so many reasons.

In summary

This is new territory for all of us. We’re all doing the best we can with the tools and information we’ve been given. We hope that these teaching strategies, activities and listening games for kids inspire your intentions for the new school year.

What we do know is this:  we have to find some semblance of normalcy for our kids and give them as many tools to be successful in this unique school year as possible!

*Learn more about how movement breaks have been shown by research to support learning, attention span, and emotional regulation in our article.