"Life is different now," I said to my 6 yr old son when I explained to him again why we couldn't just leave the house for any old reason we wanted. So that we don't go stir crazy and to encourage my kids to participate in activities other than binge-watching YouTube (though we are doing plenty of that) I made a printable menu of activities. I created a clickable PDF for anyone to use for free. Some are free and I noted those in red. There is also a version without the red notations that you can print and give to your kids or hang up in the house and point to it whenever anyone says, "What is there to
do?!"
Right up at the top I wrote out why we are doing this in simple terms. Often, it is easier to do something that we don't like if we keep remembering why we do it.
I made a CHALLENGE spot as well. I'm not making my kids complete a certain number before watching things. Some days, the creativity doesn't flow and stress just makes you want to chill. That's fine. For kids and adults. However, they do have to hit, for us, 30 activities before unlocking a prize. I had stocked up on a few Lego Kits and activity kits for kids to do while I recovered from my hysterectomy. Well, that surgery is postponed now so they've become prizes. Prizes could be anything though. Make little cards for "CHOOSE A MOVIE TO WATCH TOGETHER" or "PLAY ANY GAME YOU WANT" or "CHORE FREE DAY".
I hope this helps you!
