June 13-16 Virtual Tours and Activities In and Around Charlottesville
To give a little glimpse of what you can look forward, here are some COVID-19 posts from local attractions. To make this a true vacation, you’ll want:
A Gift Shop.
Buy some blank post cards and draw a picture of the sites you visited. Send them to a friend.
Make some small models of objects you saw on your visit.
Create some books. Gift shops typically have not only books about the site you visited, but also non-fiction and fiction related to the site.
Get some fabric markers and make tee-shirts, hats, and tote-bags with images from your visit.
A Snack Bar
Be sure to include a few selections related to the site you are visiting. For example, maybe serve some watercress or other Maori foods.
A Hands-on Learning Section
Some of these sites already have an activity section, but here are a few more:
Create a costume room. Look at some old clothes, clothes, and accessories in your closets and WITH PERMISSION :), the closets of people bigger than you. Can you transform some of these into period clothes or clothes from another part of the world?
Set out some materials to try out crafts or music related to the site.
Put out some construction materials, such as Lego’s, Plus Tubes, and Lincoln Logs to make models of the place you visit.
Now Enjoy Your Tour.
These are a few local attractions I found with online offerings. I’m sure to have missed some great ones. Message us on Facebook or write to mail@enrichmentalliance.org if you have additions.
This is the second of two parts. Last weekend’s post focused on transforming your home and yard into a destination. This weekend’s post shared information about potential destinations in the Charlottesville area, or close enough for day trips. The situation is very fluid, so rather than listing open destinations, we are providing links. Check these links often for updates.
Whether you have decided dining out is a safe choice for your family or are looking for the carryout for the beautiful restaurant you created in your home (see last weekend’s post), find out what local restaurants are currently offering. Staunton has closed four blocks of city streets to enable more outside dining.
During Phase Two more attractions will be opening up, but please weigh the risks carefully before deciding what is safe for your family and your community. Social distancing, hand-washing, masks, and other measures recommended by the CDC are still critical, and staying home remains the safest choice.
For information on a few local and regional parks and natural areas that are at least partially open:
Check out this interactive map to get some ideas for day trips in Virginia. But please don’t let down your guard. The virus is still out there. Most popular tourist destinations in Virginia have virtual tours, downloadables, and online activities, and we’ll be sharing some of those next week-end for Part Three of Family Staycations.
Whether vacation plans for the summer were cancelled by quarantine, or a family vacation was never in the budget to begin with, it’s still important to set aside a time to to exchange the same old routine for some fun and relaxation.
Every vacation takes planning. A staycation is no different. If you can’t get away this summer, or even if you can but quarantine has you in the doldrums for now: it’s time to plan a staycation. If you have a child with developmental differences, you may want to prepare for these changes with social stories or visual schedules, since changing a routine in a familiar setting may be especially confusing without some preparation.
Begin by finding out what’s important about vacation to your family. A change of scene? A change in routine? Freedom from daily chores and meal planning? Make a list with your family and start thinking about how you can create opportunities at home. Read more about planning a staycation for your family.
Engage your children as much as possible in these activities for physically transforming your home into a vacation destination. For example, do your folding with the kids a few days in advance and set the towels and napkins aside until the vacation begins. And remember, if it feels too much like work, it’s NOT a staycation. If it’s fun, fold a towel like a swan. But it could feel just as special to roll your towels up and put them in a basket.
An Inn in Your Home. If the novelty of sleeping in a new place is a named as a reason your family loves vacation, make your home extra, extra special for a week. Kids might find that rearranging their bedrooms gives them a feeling of waking up in a new space. Or would they like to sleep in a different room? Maybe swap rooms with a sibling, or sleep in a cardboard “fort” (see May 27 post). Turn your bathroom into a hotel bathroom with flowers, guest soaps, and specially folded towels. And don’t forget to fold that little triangle at the end of your toilet paper roll!
Dining Out Dining In. Probably dining out will be mentioned as a favorite vacation experience. It may be that it works for your family to visit some local restaurants. If so, to create the novelty of vacation, try some restaurants you haven’t been to before. But if weather, budget, or health concerns mean you prefer to eat at home, you can still make it new. This article on turning your dining room into a restaurant offers some great ideas. Here are a few more:
Rearrange your eating area or move it to another part of the house.
And try some recipes you’ve never prepared before, or order from a new restaurant.
Backyard Destinations. Of course, there’s more to vacation than sleeping and eating. There is. Really! Mini golf is usually a vacation favorite, so why not set up a golf course in your backyard? You can make it as simple or complicated as you want. This video tells how to make a hole with a cardboard box and a cup, but you can also dig tin cans into the ground. Put some big toys near your holes to create a theme. No clubs and golf balls? Improvise with sticks and small balls. After a few rounds of golf, you’ll be hot, so you might want to visit a water park next.
What’s your favorite destination? Try entering the destination with the phrase “Turn your backyard into a …” or “turn your house into a …” Some hits will be off topic, but you’ll get some cool ideas, too. Next week-end, we’ll share some day trips that are open in Central Virginia.
