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Creative Mom Designs Custom Activity Binders To Help Kids Learn At Home During The Pandemic

If COVID-19 has taught us anything, it's that being a parent is one of the toughest jobs in the world. Staying inside with our kids non-stop for months has been one adventure after another. But, with school just around the corner, many parents are looking for ways to keep their kids occupied while also stimulating their minds in an educational way.

Sometimes, iPads and computers can be a bit distracting when using them.

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Many parents opt for apps and videos that can help their youngsters academically, but being on a screen all day long can be a lot for our little ones. Instead, some parents are coming up with some really brilliant ways to keep their kids on track and having fun.

Mom and teacher, Heather Wachler, is one of those creative parents.

Heather, who is both a mom of two boys and a teacher, has been coming up with fun, stimulating, and educational activities for her two sons all throughout the ongoing pandemic.

Many of the activities include game-like dynamics, while also building foundational skills like spelling and counting.

Heather is a middle school special education teacher in Queens, New York, and previously taught students with Autism in high school. Her background as a teacher has helped her come up with some of the activities that her boys love to do.

"I follow a lot of other mommy accounts on Instagram and recreate some ideas that I find. Both of my boys receive occupational therapy and the therapist is fantastic. She’ll do something with them and I’ll add an educational component," she said.

The skills that Heather focuses on in her activities help with all different areas of learning.

Some of the games and activities include matching letters, counting symbols, and looking for specific things, like sight words. It's the best of both worlds for toddlers, as they're both having fun and learning at the same time.

Recently, Heather has been creating personalized binders for her friend's toddlers.

The personalized toddler binders have 15 minutes of learning activities all wrapped up in one adorable package. Heather has been taking orders from her friends and Instagram followers, designing the binders specifically for each kid.

Many of her friends began asking her for some ideas after everyone began quarantining in March.

"After seeing my personal Instagram, many of my friends asked me to create a schedule for them during quarantine or some sort activity. One specific friend started telling her other friends and it took off," she said.

As a teacher, Heather realizes that remote learning and distance learning can come with a lot of challenges.

Being at home all day long and staring at a screen can be detrimental for little ones. As both an educator and a parent, she's able to see the struggles from both ends.

"I think the most difficult part of remote learning was the lack of socialization with friends. It’s very difficult for a toddler to sit in front of a screen (that isn’t playing "Baby Shark") for more than a few minutes, let alone 30 minutes to an hour," she said.

It can be a struggle to try and manage being a parent and helping them learn at home.

Keeping our kids on track while staying home a few days a week, rather than attending full-time instruction, can be difficult. But, Heather says there are tons of ways that parents can help their kids during distance learning.

The main thing to remember is that consistency is key.

Heather says that the best way to help kids during distance learning is by keeping up with things every day, even if it's a little bit each day.

"For my kids, I try to do something for 15 minutes. I love combining fine motor strengthening, gross motor strengthening and academics. It’s so important to get kids physically moving to help brain growth as well," she said.

You can follow more of Heather's ideas and activities on her Instagram page, @managingmommy.

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