Welcome kids’ questions and concerns. Stay calm and provide fact-based information. Ask your kids what they know or understand about the pandemic. Talking with your kids will provide reassurance and make it OK to express thoughts and feelings in a safe and supportive environment. Listen to and acknowledge your kid’s thoughts and feelings by reflecting back what they are saying or feeling.

Model consistency for your children, which will provide a sense of predictability and safety/containment during uncertain times. Plan wake time, bedtime, meal and snack times, fun activities, learning, and work time. Make sure to build in unstructured time, for both kids and parents, to explore and encourage creative and/or relaxing activities. For helping your kids with schoolwork, stay connected with the school and teacher(s). Use positive reinforcement when you notice your child doing something well/correctly. Be kind to yourself and your kids by setting realistic expectations of what can be accomplished in a day in terms of learning. Remember, children will be unable to stay engaged in schoolwork for a whole day.

It is important for parents to learn strategies to manage frustration and/or anger and recognize these are normal feelings during uncertain and challenging times. Also, stay engaged as a family by building fun time and together time into your day. This can be playing a game, doing a puzzle, art/creative activity, or watching an uplifting movie or TV show together, cooking and eating meals together. Remember! Consistency is most important in times of uncertainty. Some days will be better than others, and that’s OK. This is not the time to beat yourself up as a parent and compare yourself to others. It is OK to relax some standards and be a “good enough parent.”