So many of us are stuck at home with kids who feel bored, frustrated and anxious during this pandemic. What do we do?

Your family survival kit may contain toilet paper, hand sanitizer and masks…but are you saving any room for having fun? This version of a family survival kit is focused on strengthening connections and helping families thrive by building resiliency through our activities together. Rather than let the coronavirus squeeze us into an unrecognizable shape, we’re pushing back and deciding to make our families a great place to be, even in the midst of a pandemic. Thanks for going on this journey with me!

Let’s start with a foundational fun activity…let’s build a fort!

You might need a fort for each member of your family to get some space from each other by the end of a day! They can also be a great gathering place for the family to reconnect or band together.

Just in case you need to make an academic argument for it…here’s some other benefits:

• It fosters maturity, independence, and confidence. 

• Increases cognitive skills, problem solving, planning, and imagination!

• If building together it increases social skills, like cooperating and negotiating.

• Practical skills; it’s like taking a construction 101 class!

• Lots of exercise, from all that building and play!

• Stress-release: A fort is, literally and figuratively, a defense against all the forces of the outside world (and one of the best for daydreaming).