3 Ways to Help Your Child Survive Covid-19 Home Isolation
Keeping a child occupied is tough even on a normal day. If your child has been issued an isolation order after testing positive for Covid-19, however, this task is likely to prove even more challenging.
Not only will you have to tend to your child if he is sick, but you also worry if he will pass it on to others in your family. And, if he is better, he may find it hard to be isolated in his room for days on end, not allowed to go out or continue his usual routine.
As you pray for your child’s speedy recovery, how can you help him understand and navigate the next few days fruitfully?
Here are three practical ideas and resources you might want to consider:
1. Explain What Home Recovery Will Look Like
Being isolated in a room for a few days, facing nothing but the four walls, is daunting for many adults. Imagine what it might be like for a young child who may not fully understand what’s happening, why he cannot go out, or why he can’t see his other family members.
Your child may be feeling overwhelmed, anxious, or frightened. Calmly explain to him why he has to be isolated, and what he can expect over the next few days.
Children’s writer Emily Lim-Leh has penned a delightfully-illustrated comic book, I Can Recover At Home!, that you and your child can read together to understand what the isolation process will be like.
Sample pages from the book.
Over the next few days, it would also be a good idea to check in with your child regularly on how he’s feeling, both physically and emotionally. Children may not always express their inner feelings openly, so do reassure him of your presence and pray with him.
2. Turn Your Child’s Eyes to Jesus
“Why did I catch Covid-19?”
“Why does God allow this to happen?”
“Will I die?”
These are certainly not easy questions to answer, but they may come up as your child grapples with what he’s going through during this uncertain time.
We can take this opportunity to share with our child about what perspective Christians can take towards Covid-19 and other diseases. As we gently point them to what the Bible says about sickness and disease, why God allows death, and where Christ fits in the picture above it all, we can help them gain a deeper understanding of disease and how he can cope with it.
We can also point our child to Jesus during this time of home recovery by having extended family devotion with them. Encourage him to suggest worship songs, take turns to read Bible verses, and pray for other family members and friends. You can “link up” with the rest of the family through a video call to make it more fun.
And if your child is bored and fidgety, check out these resources to help keep him occupied.
While this may be an unsettling time for your child as he goes through home recovery, encourage him to take comfort and hold on to the truth that God is sovereign and present with us. Remind him that Psalm 139:16 declares: “Your eyes saw my unformed body; all the days ordained for me were written in your book before one of them came to be.”
3. Enjoy This Precious Time with Your Child
When was the last time you could spend several days exclusively with your child, with no housework, distractions, or errands to run?
While this period of isolation may not be a pleasant one, it nevertheless gives you a rare opportunity to get to catch up with your child and know him better. Talk to him about what the past weeks and months have been, his latest likes and dislikes, his favourite food or cartoon, his friends and favourite subjects in school, and so forth.
If your child is feeling up to it, you can also have a little fun with him doing activities such as doing a puzzle, dabbling in some arts and crafts, or watching some movies together. You can also draw up and decorate a “countdown” chart to help him look forward to the end of the isolation period, and celebrate the end of each day with a prayer of thanksgiving.
Check out our children’s resources below, which you can use to keep your child occupied, as well as to get a glimpse into his thoughts and well-being. As you and your child try them out, you can . . .
- Talk to them about what they have written or drawn
- Listen to what he says about his emotions, and reassure him from Scripture
- Re-use these exercises from time to time
While these few days of home recovery may be an uncertain and unsettling time for both us and our children, we can commit our worries to the Lord, and take this opportunity to remind ourselves—and our children—of the Lord’s faithfulness and sovereignty.
About the Author
Wendy is a writer, wife, and mother who seeks to be a disciple of Christ. She hopes that God will use what He’s given her to glorify Him through her living and writing. Her perfect day includes peanut butter, time with the Lord, and a good cuddle with her family.
