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Here are 5 things to keep them occupied, and 5 play spaces to daydream about. Find all the playspaces and designers listed on our website’s inspiration directory at built-id.com
1. Online zoo safari
Cincinnati Zoo are holding online zoo safaris for children, so your little ones can learn about the great outdoors whilst still safely inside. Warning: may cause your child to then drive you up the wall by making animal noises incessantly! Find their Facebook here.
2. Exercise Videos
Joe Wicks, writer of Lean in 15, runs indoor exercise sessions on Instagram, so your child can be getting fit whilst you take a breather. Check out his account on Instagram: @thebodycoach
3. Coding lessons
You are probably all too familiar to the sight of your child staring at a screen for hours on end, eyes glazed over, watching videos, listening to music or playing games. This is one way of putting all that screen time to good use and nurturing a new skill. If your child signs up to Codecademy, they can learn to code for free. Find their page here.
4. Learn a new language
Your children can learn a new language in their newfound free time through downloading an app like Duolingo. The gamified nature will bring out your child’s competitive streak for the better! For younger children, watching a programme like BBC’s Muzzy, a children’s series in a fairytale land which is available in seven different languages, can be the key to broadening their mindset and their horizons.
5. Scholastic online courses
To supplement what your child has been learning at school and fill gaps caused by early closing, Scholastic are running online courses. Find more information here.
6. Gardens by the Bay – Far East Organization Children’s Garden
This bespoke playspace for children was designed by Grant Associates. On their design, they said: ‘The Far East Organization Children’s Garden at Gardens by the Bay is inspired by the natural instincts of children. Providing children with an innovative facility that gives them the opportunity to play with nature in nature, hide, climb, explore, paint, cook, dig and in ways that contribute to their full growth potential.’
7. Valley Reserve Adventure Play
This outdoor playspace was designed by Playce. On their design, they said: ‘Playce was engaged to design an all ages playspace as part of a broader strategic project (SPARC). To ensure the community lead the process, we ran an online forum with ‘oursay’, had a successful community BBQ on site, spoke to over 100 primary school students and shared conversations with parents groups and high school students at the local library.’
8. Aldgate Play Space
This indoor playspace was designed by Delvendahl Martin Architects. On their design: ‘The proposal focused on providing a variety of spaces for children and teenagers, by developing on the idea of the steel cage courts for ball games that are the norm in most urban residential estates.’
9. Croydon Park X-Space
This is another outdoor playspace designed by Playce. On their design: ‘The space challenges participants to overcome fears, embrace the perceived risk and how to identify ones limits. Importantly it is completely un-prescriptive in nature, forcing the users to test themselves and appropriate the space accordingly, use their imagination and adapt to the components accordingly.’
10. Baltic Street Adventure Playground
This playground was designed by Assemble. On their design: ‘Funded as the lead public art commission for the 2014 Commonwealth Games, the project was initiated as an immediate, practical response to the challenges facing a group of children growing up in a relatively scarce urban environment where around 54% of children live below the poverty line. Drawing inspiration from the post-war junk playground and Lady Allen’s 1950s mantra, ‘better a broken bone than a broken spirit,’ Baltic Street is a supervised child-led space offering free open-access play, caring adults, daily campfire food and warm and waterproof clothes to children from 6 to 12 years of age.’