Indoor Activities for Families Coping with Wildfire Smoke
Written by: Bryna Campbell
If you live anywhere on the west coast starting from the Bay area and going north, chances are that you’ve been stuck inside for the past week due to hazardous air quality. Our hearts sink to think about the lives that have been lost due to the wildfires that have destroyed many communities & towns in Oregon and elsewhere in recent weeks.
While many of us our lucky to be out of harms way, even those in relative safety have been effected by this persistent problem of smoke has drained our collective energy.
At our house, we feel tired and listless. Cranky. We keep refreshing the air quality website hoping things will change.
Our child - who is supposed to be online for school right - spends an inordinate amount of time buzzing around us, just as short tempered as we are, often on the brink of tears about being trapped inside. And he is 10…so we can only imagine how hard it is for those with younger ones.
To help families struggling through parenting this week, we’ve gone through our old projects to find activities to help parents entertain, distract, inspire, and bring nature inside. All free.
Here our some of our favorite indoor craft activities, map making projects, and and other hands-on activities for indoor engagement with links to download.
Create Your Own World, Issue 2
A seven page zine - originally created for quarantine engagement in the early stages of the pandemic - with a focus on using recycled materials from around your own home to construct a world.
Monument Lab Field Trip
A hands-on activity guide that can be used with the search engine tools of the internet from your very own home. Young people can use the free activity sheet to exploring historical monuments in their (or another) community, ask questions about art and justice in public spaces, and propose their own ideas for a monument. This project was made as a partnership with Monument Lab.
Paper Bag Tree Activity
Been collecting paper bags since the pandemic began? This is an easy and fun way to transform them into a tree. Add leaves with green or autumn colored construction paper, or create “spookier” barren trees.
Create Your Own Trillium Flower
All you need is a stick of some kind (pencil works!) and paper to this spring wildflower making activity. The instructions provide a design for trilliums, but can be adapted to any color and kind of flower.
We are keeping all those affected by the recent wildfires in our thoughts. And we are hopeful for wetter onshore airflow to help those working to contain the fires, prevent further disaster & protect threatened communities.
Sending you love! Stay safe everyone!