While we’re rejoicing at the Hong Kong flight bans being lifted and compulsory quarantine being reduced, we still can’t help but feel a bit apprehensive about the prospect of a week locked in a small hotel room with our youngsters! Here are our tips for getting you through Hong Kong quarantine with kids.
Empty airports and extra seats on planes are definitely perks of travel at the moment, but the impending Hong Kong quarantine with kids on landing may be a less than joyous thought. While most might be staying put this year, some will brave the journey to see family and friends – and no doubt the thought of keeping the kids entertained while cooped up indoors during the quarantine time might seem a little daunting! But have no fear. A mama who went through (home) quarantine with her little one tells of her experience with a few tips and tricks to keep the kids (and you!) sane.
When you come off the plane you’ll be ushered to the mid-field concourse for your COVID test. The test is a nasal and throat swab PCR. Have all your paperwork ready, especially your completed Health Declaration Form(completed up no more than 48 hours before arrival). This form will generate a QR code which will be scanned.
Once you’ve done your test you’ll have to wait for the results. This normally takes around two to three hours. From there you will be directed to collect your baggage and then to your hotel transport. Expect to do a lot of walking between each step, plus a lot of queuing and waiting. In general, we’re hearing that it takes around seven to eight hours from landing to walking into your quarantine hotel room.
Tips For Keeping Kids Entertained During Hotel Quarantine
Family Quarantine Games And Activities
To pass the time and stave off boredom you’ll have to get very imaginative. There are some great Instagram accounts that have easy to make games and activities for kids, personal favourites are @fiveminutemum and @Thedadlab.
Daisy Upton at the Five Minute Mum offers a huge amount of ideas to keep kids around the ages of 1 to 5 years old entertained when at home all day (older children will find these ideas fun as well). It’s a well-known fact that kids tend to prefer playing with a cardboard box – sometimes more than the original contents! So if you’re looking to encourage creativity, try her 10 things to do with a cardboard box tips. A schedule to keep your day in check and youngsters focused is also a great plan of action. There are also ideas that can be adapted to older kids as well, like the spider’s web number game.
Make sure you’ve got a good selection of paint and other arts and crafts supplies(remember to have this in your list of essentials for the hotel), so that we could make whatever popped into my son’s imagination that day (mostly space rockets and dinosaurs!).
Ikea is perfect for a cost-effective haul of paints, massive roles of paper and pens, etc. You can order Play-Doh and other craft supplies to be delivered from Toys R Us and Amazon. If you don’t already have an activity box subscription, Sassy Mama can highly recommend Kiwi Crate.
Alongside drawing and painting, you can try an easy paper mache volcano science experiment. The wonders of vinegar and baking soda eruptions, truly are amazing to keep kids entertained! If you’re looking for instructions, take a look at this article Red Ted Art.
Another easy idea is to hold a treasure hunt. Simply use a favourite toy (a “stolen” dinosaur egg was a winner!), or try finding all the numbers you can in the room. If your kids are at school, take a look at the syllabus(numbers, colours, new words, etc). Have fun creating your own clues dotted around the house, or take some inspiration from others, like this indoor treasure hunt for children from The Spruce.
Similarly, you can get creative when playing hide and seek by using a toy that can get into all sorts of nooks and crannies! Similar to the Elf On The Shelf!
Get family at home and across the world involved by holding a daily picture challenge. Have someone position a toy or object around their house (works especially well if one parent or aunty is staying in your home and can use the kids’ bedrooms) and ask your kids to recreate it in the hotel. Check out the images below for some inspiration — in our case Nanna in hotel quarantine set up Minnie Mouse for our son to recreate at home with Mickey!
Incorporate some sort of exercise and movement every day, definitely a challenge in a small hotel room. You can check out our round-up of online workouts for the whole family and also Joe Wicks on YouTube, but it can even be as simple as hosting dance parties, playing musical statues or having five minutes of crazy jumping on the bed. I also discovered that if I was doing exercise he wanted to join in, so he’s now mastered a squat and lunge. Even post-quarantine, we still really enjoy a family exercise session together!
Don’t underestimate how much isolation will affect your kids. While their resilience often surprises us, it does still take a toll and so you’ll want to do all you can to create a sense of normalcy. The best way to do that is to put a structure and routine into the day. You will have heard the saying, “kids crave routine”. Nothing underscores this like hotel quarantine. Create a daily schedule, which, yes, might include higher than average screen time, as a structure can give a sense of security and helps when planning.
Here’s hoping that the days of hotel quarantine in Hong Kong are numbered. In the meantime, browse through the articles below for more ideas on making your time in quarantine fly by. You’ve got this, Mama!
This website uses cookies to improve your experience while you navigate through the website. Out of these, the cookies that are categorized as necessary are stored on your browser as they are essential for the working of basic functionalities of the website. We also use third-party cookies that help us analyze and understand how you use this website. These cookies will be stored in your browser only with your consent. You also have the option to opt-out of these cookies. But opting out of some of these cookies may affect your browsing experience.
Necessary cookies are absolutely essential for the website to function properly. These cookies ensure basic functionalities and security features of the website, anonymously.
Cookie
Duration
Description
cookielawinfo-checkbox-analytics
11 months
This cookie is set by GDPR Cookie Consent plugin. The cookie is used to store the user consent for the cookies in the category "Analytics".
cookielawinfo-checkbox-functional
11 months
The cookie is set by GDPR cookie consent to record the user consent for the cookies in the category "Functional".
cookielawinfo-checkbox-necessary
11 months
This cookie is set by GDPR Cookie Consent plugin. The cookies is used to store the user consent for the cookies in the category "Necessary".
cookielawinfo-checkbox-others
11 months
This cookie is set by GDPR Cookie Consent plugin. The cookie is used to store the user consent for the cookies in the category "Other.
cookielawinfo-checkbox-performance
11 months
This cookie is set by GDPR Cookie Consent plugin. The cookie is used to store the user consent for the cookies in the category "Performance".
viewed_cookie_policy
11 months
The cookie is set by the GDPR Cookie Consent plugin and is used to store whether or not user has consented to the use of cookies. It does not store any personal data.
Functional cookies help to perform certain functionalities like sharing the content of the website on social media platforms, collect feedbacks, and other third-party features.
Performance cookies are used to understand and analyze the key performance indexes of the website which helps in delivering a better user experience for the visitors.
Analytical cookies are used to understand how visitors interact with the website. These cookies help provide information on metrics the number of visitors, bounce rate, traffic source, etc.
Advertisement cookies are used to provide visitors with relevant ads and marketing campaigns. These cookies track visitors across websites and collect information to provide customized ads.