All over the world, people are waking up to the new normal of social distancing [1] and self-isolation. For families who don't have the budget or capacity to pick up an arsenal of supplies, toys, and tech to keep kids busy in quarantine [2], things can get even more stressful. In Spain, where I live, we're already two weeks into the COVID-19 lockdown, so my 4-year-old twins have already played with everything we have in the house, and that means moving forward we've had to get creative. Here are some of the regular household items that have been surprisingly keeping my boys busy and active while we are on lockdown.

Repurpose What You Have to Make the Ultimate Obstacle Course

Before the coronavirus crisis, you may have thought you had a normal living room — cushions, poufs, coffee table, nothing out of the ordinary. When you're on lockdown though, you discover those cushions can turn into balls of lava to jump over. Your pouf may be a death-defying spinning wheel to run around. Your dining room table might become, in fact, a tunnel of terror. At least with a bit of imagination on everyone's part.

Our 4-year-olds have been totally engrossed in design, execution, (and inevitable) destruction of our homemade daily obstacle courses. With all the running, jumping, climbing and scrambling, it's like a baby CrossFit [3] olympics, with all the entertainment and exercise benefits included. Squeeze a little more juice out of the circuit by adding challenges like going backwards, walking super slowly, or doing it all on one leg. Soft furnishings, it's your time to shine!

Reinvent Screen Time to Get Your Kids Moving

Parents everywhere are drastically reassessing their rules on screen time in quarantine [4], and rightly so. These are intense days, and the rule book can be thrown out the window, for the most part.

TV and smart devices don't have to be the enemy, though. My boys are classic 4-year-olds — eyes glued to a screen once it's turned on. I've been leaning into that to get some quarantine exercise, by tuning into fantastic kids workouts on platforms like YouTube. Yoga that's fun for kids [5]? You've got it. Expert fitness instructors delivering tailor-made family workouts for quarantine [6]? No problem. Silly and easy dance videos [7] kids will love and not even realise they're exercising? As you wish. Sometimes we even just put on random music and let our boys decide what to do (which is almost always just chasing each other round in circles, but still — it's quarantine exercise!). We don't have a huge garden or a home gym, so these kid-friendly workouts have been a great way to keep my boys moving without even having to push them. Win-win.

Get Some Peace and Quiet With Audiobooks

It's not all about burning up the never-ending supply of kids' energy [8], though. Now, more than ever, we all need a bit of quiet time to switch off and tune out. My boys are too young to read alone, so we've been delving into audiobooks on Spotify. And yes, it's the (10- to 15-minute) miracle every parent in quarantine dreams of. They sit, mostly quietly. They listen, imagine, make faces, ask questions, and giggle their little hearts out. It's a delight. What's more, you are free to cook, clean, or (far more importantly) put your feet up and have a little down time too.

There is a selection of curated playlists [9] accessible even on the free Spotify version. Find one you like and choose anywhere between a one-minute or one-hour story. Press play and let the (probably brief) quiet times commence.

Use Your Old Clothes For a Fabulous Fancy Dress Party

Fancy dress for this generation of kids seems to be all about Marvel superheroes [10] and Disney's Frozen [11]. If you don't have the time or budget to get in a whole new, brand-name fancy dress wardrobe for quarantine, take a leaf out of our parents' approach and break out your old clothes. Last year's flouncy skirts; the dress that's too small (or too big) for you these days; that shirt that was so on trend a few years ago but not so much in 2020 — these are your tickets to a bit of silly fun on lockdown.

On day five of quarantine here in Barcelona, my boys "dressed up" in my day-glow exercise t-shirts, and though all their Christmases had come at once. We had a 7 a.m. "Pants on Your Head" parade, too. Things can get boring real fast when everyone has to stay inside. Have a look in the back of your wardrobe and see if you have any little gems you don't mind getting a little stretched or snotty, and let the silliness commence.

Take Your Fort Building to the Next Level

Fort building [12] is basically the royalty of indoor activities. It's active. It keeps kids entertained and it creates a (sometimes welcome) physical barrier between you and your littles, giving everyone a bit of space to breathe [13].

When you're on lockdown though, you need to take your fort-building game to the next level if you want to stave off cabin fever for a while. In our home, what used to just be a cushions and blankets affair, has now become a multi-furniture situation. Tunnels run from the sofa to the dining room. Tablecloths are suspended from the window frames. Poofs and small step ladders have disappeared inside the main-frame and bed-sheets have been called into active duty. These are some serious forts . . . which are keeping my 4-year-olds seriously busy. If you can sacrifice a tablecloth to the cause, it'll be well worth it for the squeals of delight coming from under a canopy somewhere.

Surprise Yourself

Quarantine is an act of solidarity and pure love for our elderly, for the immunocompromised, and for the brave health-care workers fighting the coronavirus on the front lines. It's not particularly fun or easy. With a little imagination, and a bit of help from some previously taken for granted household items, however, you might surprise yourself at how well you and your kids can get through the day.