{"alias":"blogEntry","byline":"Words: Chris, a dad of three in Suffolk","standfirst":"","content":{"layouts":[{"type":"singleColumn","areas":[{"items":[{"gridType":"RichTextBlock","content":"\u003Cp\u003EThis is not a normal Tuesday morning.\u003C/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EIt\u2019s 9am and my family of five are assembled in jogging bottoms, shorts and t-shirts in front of a workout video led by my son\u2019s PE teacher, broadcasting from his garage. We lunge and stretch, occasionally knocking books from the shelf and nudging into each other.\u003C/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EThe cat doesn\u2019t like this one bit. At this hour, she normally has the house to herself. She gives us a distasteful look then dashes into the kitchen and out through the cat-flap.\u003C/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EWe\u2019re still getting used to new arrangements brought on by the coronavirus crisis \u2013 but one thing\u2019s clear: having a nine year old, a twelve year old and a fifteen year old in the house twenty four hours a day, seven days a week will take some readjustment.\u003C/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EAdjusting to the new world \u003C/strong\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EMy eldest daughter was in the middle of her GCSEs when the news came that school was over and her exams weren\u2019t happening. It took some time for it to sink in that she wouldn\u2019t be wearing her school uniform ever again and would simply be issued with her grades.\u003C/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EFortunately, things have fallen rapidly into place. She\u2019s carrying on her violin lessons using Zoom with her music teacher and my son, Noah, has a basketball hoop out the back to burn off excess energy (as well as a long list of homework assignments to get on with from his school).\u003C/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EBut there\u2019s still an awful lot of day to fill. That\u2019s where Scouts\u2019 #TheGreatIndoors comes in so handy.\u003C/p\u003E","gtmId":"","gtmClass":""},{"gridType":"gridImageBlock","gtmId":"gtmId","gtmClass":"gtmClass","image":"/media/6140/marthas-bookmark.jpg","width":750,"height":563,"altText":"Martha\u0027s handmade bookmark","caption":"","link":null},{"gridType":"RichTextBlock","content":"\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EA lifeline for parents \u003C/strong\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EThis collection of 100\u002B free activities has been a lifeline, especially for my nine-year-old daughter Martha who has an insatiable appetite for anything that involves coloured pens, sticky tape, glue and cardboard. When the activities launched, we were straight on there.\u003C/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EArmed with the contents of the craft box, a glass of blackcurrant juice and a laptop propped open, she tackled the first activity: Changing your coat. This involved creating her own coat of arms, filled with all the things that are important to her. She aptly chose her violin, a koala called Euki (short for eucalyptus, of course), our back garden and, brilliantly, herself. Due to some drafting issues, there was no room for her head in the coat of arms, but this didn\u2019t detract from a great result.\u003C/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EI offered to help her out, but she really didn\u2019t need it, so I could get some work done (I\u2019m lucky enough to be able to work at home).\u003C/p\u003E","gtmId":"","gtmClass":""},{"gridType":"gridImageBlock","gtmId":"gtmId","gtmClass":"gtmClass","image":"/media/6142/marthas-coat-of-arms.jpg","width":960,"height":720,"altText":"Martha\u0027s coat of arms","caption":"","link":null},{"gridType":"RichTextBlock","content":"\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EGetting creative \u003C/strong\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003ENext up was mark my words, which is a challenge to create your own bookmark. As an avid reader, this appealed to her straight away. She promptly came up with a design featuring the instructive words: \u2018Read the book, enjoy the book, finish the book.\u2019 A teacher or Scouts volunteer in the making? \u0026nbsp;\u003C/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EAfter a lunch and a rapid-fire volley of jokes from my son (\u2018Why did the bicycle keep falling over? Because it was two-tyred.\u2019) Everyone had a go at making an animal from twigs and leaves. My son went for a stegosaur. Two hedgehogs, a horse and a whale completed the set.\u003C/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EThere may be weeks ahead of us yet, but #TheGreatIndoors is making life a lot easier in our household, preserving our sanity, even if it\u2019s not so popular with the cat.\u0026nbsp; \u0026nbsp;\u003C/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cem\u003ETake a look at the activities that Chris and his family enjoyed below and try them out for yourself!\u0026nbsp;\u003C/em\u003E\u003C/p\u003E","gtmId":"","gtmClass":""}]}],"config":null},{"type":"twoColumnWide","areas":[{"items":[{"type":"Image top","cta":"","body":"\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cspan\u003EUnderstand your local coat of arms, then make your own shield.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E","link":{"name":"Changing your coat","id":null,"url":"https://www.scouts.org.uk/activities/changing-your-coat/","newWindow":false,"target":"_blank"},"colour":"#490499","title":"Changing your coat","image":"/media/5881/changing-your-coat.jpg?width=800\u0026height=450\u0026v=1d9becd08d10730","imageFocus":"","imageId":13011,"imageKey":"00000000-0000-0000-0000-000000000000","imageCrop":"","gridType":"card","gtmId":"","gtmClass":""}]},{"items":[{"type":"Image top","cta":"","body":"\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cspan\u003ENever lose your place in a book again, thanks to this monster bookmark.\u00A0\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E","link":{"name":"Mark my words","id":null,"url":"https://www.scouts.org.uk/activities/mark-my-words/","newWindow":false,"target":null},"colour":"#490499","title":"Mark my words","image":"/media/5876/mark-my-words.jpg?width=800\u0026height=450\u0026v=1d9becd0899a380","imageFocus":"","imageId":13006,"imageKey":"00000000-0000-0000-0000-000000000000","imageCrop":"","gridType":"card","gtmId":"","gtmClass":""}]}],"config":null}]},"searchDescription":null,"pageType":null,"location":null,"versionDate":"09 April 2020","reviewDate":null,"furtherReading":[],"relatedLinks":[],"id":50756,"nodeName":"Why we headed into #TheGreatIndoors","title":"Why we headed into #TheGreatIndoors","type":"blogEntry","image":{"url":"/media/6141/martha-with-pic.jpg?width=800\u0026height=450\u0026v=1d9becd09bc0370","caption":"Martha With Pic","type":"jpg","size":69946,"width":960,"height":720,"altText":""},"assets":null,"headerOptions":{"headerTitle":"Why we headed into #TheGreatIndoors","headerSubTitle":null,"headerCta":null,"headerCtaText":null,"headerCtaLink":null,"headerBackgroundColour":null,"showSEOImage":false,"headerBackgroundImage":null,"quickLinks":null},"subHeader":"","browserTitle":null,"silktide":"eyJjbXMiOiJVbWJyYWNvIiwiZWRpdG9yVXJsIjoiaHR0cHM6Ly9wcm9kLWNtcy5zY291dHMub3JnLnVrLy91bWJyYWNvIy9jb250ZW50L2NvbnRlbnQvZWRpdC81MDc1NiJ9","canonicalUrl":"https://www.scouts.org.uk/news/2020/april/why-we-headed-into-thegreatindoors/"}