Best of the Web: 5 things to try to help kids wear masks, and more

(Rebecca English and Karleen Gribble, The Conversation)

Wearing masks to help protect us from COVID-19 can be challenging at times for adults. For kids, it’s now required or highly recommended in many settings.

How can we encourage our kids to mask up to keep them safe? This timely article has some great ideas to try to help parents.

First, as the article notes, one of the best things you can do is to model mask wearing: ‘Show your child it is okay to wear a mask; it is “normal”.’

Kids might also be more willing to wear a mask if they understand the science of mask wearing.

And then there is the approach of making it a game. They could decorate their masks as a craft activity. Or see themselves as a superhero protecting others. The article includes a video on this that you can also view, above.

(Celina Ribeiro, The Guardian)

As we try to get through another lockdown and another round of remote learning, this is an important article that may allay some concerns of tired, anxious parents.

The article begins with Pasi Sahlberg, the deputy director of UNSW’s Gonski Institute for Education, who is in lockdown with two primary-aged children. As the lockdowns grind on, he says that not all school work is being done.

‘The kids just can’t do this every day…My message to parents is to not feel guilty about it.’

The writer speaks to a range of experts about the concept of ‘learning loss’ for kids doing long stints of remote learning.

‘So how real is the threat of significant learning loss,’ they ask, ‘and how does this potential loss stack up against the very real threat of diminishing mental health?’

(WindowSwap)

One of the many things we’ve missed because of the restrictions of the pandemic is the ability to travel and see new sights.

As part of what has become a growing virtual travel movement, a new platform called WindowSwap allows you to take in the view from windows all around the world.

People submit pre-recorded videos of their view, which maybe a mountain view in Switzerland, the Singapore skyline, and a busy street in London.

The project was created by Sonali Ranjit and her husband Vaishnav Balasubramaniam, who work in advertising, based in Singapore.

‘There’s something very positive about the experience,’ noted  a writer on The Verge website. ‘Strangers are taking their time to share their favorite watching spot to help those who might not have one (or are just tired of their own). It is a small gesture of kindness and reminder of the positive ways the internet can make the world feel smaller.’

We’ve included WindowSwap on our popular Super list of great ideas for kids at home, and there’s a direct link below.