Kids in Quarantine
After we launched our #QuarantineHotel campaign, we were contacted by families who wanted to know how to prepare for and get through two weeks in hotel isolation with their children. Others contacted us to trouble shoot difficulties they were experiencing. We were unable to find resources - but noticed our members in Hotel Quarantine with kids were sharing their tips. Their strategies and suggestions were so well received that we set up this page to share them. We also have strategies for flying during COVID19.
The stories on this page may or may not be helpful to you if you are in Hotel Quarantine. Experiences are likely to vary depending on the Quarantine context, age of the children, family relationships and individual personalities. These are stories - rather than prescriptions - and we hope you find them helpful.
The stories on this page may or may not be helpful to you if you are in Hotel Quarantine. Experiences are likely to vary depending on the Quarantine context, age of the children, family relationships and individual personalities. These are stories - rather than prescriptions - and we hope you find them helpful.
How to participate
If you are in Hotel Quarantine with children and are willing to share your experiences and strategies, please contact us b
- phone Catherine on 0429 582 237
Quarantine Diaries
We asked a number of parents with children to share their Quarantine Hotel diaries with us. Sophie Kerr Azevedo and her 9 and 11 year old children spent a month in quarantine after returning from Brasil. Their diaries are linked below.
Story Gallery - hotels
A number of people shared strategies and reflections on Hotel Quarantine and their reflections are provided below. If you would like to share your reflection please email us at: [email protected]
Tuini Ngamotu
We travelled from Auckland to Brisbane on Wednesday (day 4) me my husband and 11 year old. And are so grateful for our accommodation. Rydges Southbank super organised. Large room with joining room for my son
On arrival we were invited to hop of the bus first as we were the only family with a child and given a conjoining room with a large balcony. We were given a double sided A4 letter with everything we needed to know. With a balcony we are able to have an enjoyable stay without having to leave the room. Very blessed. And worth the $4165 we have to pay best hotel we have ever stayed in. We have a microwave which is a bonus. Food is good but would recommend a Woolworths order as you don’t get to choose your food. The only advise I would give is to be prepared. Things we bought with us: Puzzles; Toiletries; Skipping rope; Laptop for our aerobic classes; Tea towels; Spray and wipe; Spray for bathroom; Cards; Plenty of paper and pens colouring in pencils; Plenty of GB on your phone for zoom and Facebook calls; A journal to write things down to reflect on; And I love my to do lists so when I get out I can make a list of things to do as there is plenty of time to yourself. Blue tooth speaker. For the ladies; Hair dye; Tweezers; Nail clippers; Straightener; Make up - I found dressing up and keeping up my appearance helped me feel a little bit of normality.
Ky-lee Stephens
We’re two days away from freedom. My advice. Plan ahead. Card games. Play dough. Large roll of paper & paint. Books. Kids work out videos (YouTube). Lots of sticker books & coloring books. A soft ball to play catch & THE MOST USEFUL ADVICE - have grace on them. This is tough for them. If they’re getting a little more TV time then usual - that’s okay. Oh, also pack snacks (healthy)! My kids are loving their Hotel stay as they’re getting chips & pizza for most meals :-)
Julia Collins
Mandatory hotel quarantine is hard. It’s a long time to be cooped up in a room for everyone in the family. Best strategy is not to hold on too tight to your daily schedule. I’ve just survived it with my teen daughter (16) and even though we’d agreed on projects for her to do, yoga workouts and so on, in reality she didn’t always feel like doing her projects and our room was too small for much yoga. I had to let go. I had to lower my parenting standards let her have “too much” screen time! It was also vital she stayed in touch with her friends and could FaceTime with them as much as possible.
Katherine Walker
All of these items assisted us everyday in making Quarantine tolerable... and even pleasant.
Elise Stamatopoulos
As we near the end of our Quarantine stay in a Brisbane hotel I look back and think of the things that have made our stay seem to fly by. Having 3 children aged 12, 13 and 15years old and being cooped up for this length of time, with only a window to peer out of and watch the world go by. We decided to played eye spy, cards, board games, colouring in and also just talk to each other. We sang and danced to the music channel, we also did hair and makeup on each other whilst watching hair and Makeup tutorials. The children also had their technology so they watched movies, YouTube and played online games. I think having older children who you can explain things too, to give them a better understanding of why we have to do this makes it easier as well. All in all a pleasant experience one we will never forget.
Sophie Kerr Azevedo
In early June, I flew into Australia with my kids (aged 9 & 11), and was required to quarantine in a hotel for 14 days, as are thousands of others who are entering Australia during the pandemic.
I was very nervous about this, as my kids and I are outdoorsy people, we love being outside in the fresh air, blowing off steam and being active. We all get quite cranky without this regular expenditure of energy.
First, I had to get my head in the game. It’s only 14 days (it won’t last forever), loosen the rules (more screen time than I would normally accept), find some fun activities to make us laugh (Crazy yoga challenge), screen free activities (I packed a lot of craft) and routine (break the day up into segments).
With this mindset, I believe we made it through reasonably successfully, it wasn’t as bad as I thought it would be. The kids actually had a pretty good time and I think we will have some fond memories of our time in quarantine.
My kids love craft, they are quite creative and are great at repurposing ordinary objects. With this in mind I packed a few basic craft items in the suitcase (scissors, crepe paper, glue, washi tape, coloured paper, etc). Items we collected for craft whilst in quarantine included the airline socks from the international flight, toilet rolls and the cardboard boxes used to deliver lunch in the hotel. My kids love making clothes for their toys and teddies with the airline socks. Unfortunately I forgot to pack a needle and thread to sew the clothes, but my daughter improvised and still made a cute singlet for her teddy (she created a video to give you some ideas). We used the cardboard snack boxes for anything and everything. We created props for the kid’s tiny toys (and then filmed a few stop motion videos), we stacked the boxes up and threw some balled up paper at them to knock them down, etc. My son stuck the toilet rolls together to create a baseball or cricket bat, we scrunched a piece of paper to make a ball. An adapted game of baseball (or cricket, whichever you prefer) can be a good release of pent up energy!
Even in “normal life” screen time is hard to juggle at the best of times. For us it is even harder as my kids have friends who they chat to and play with in several different timezones. To make me feel a bit better about the time they spent on the screen, I struck a deal with the kids. If they wanted extra time to play with their friends, or to watch a TV show, I expected them to do some educational work. They did grumble a bit, but still did their part to get their “free time”. Luckily there are a lot of local resources online, such as interesting documentaries, educational shows and games. The kids knew I expected them to watch the mini lessons and do the exercises at their grade level. I did stay with them and worked through some of the lessons with them. Many of the documentaries were really interesting and lead to some great conversations and further research to learn more about the topic.
Exercise! Exercise for me is vitally important to my wellbeing and mental health. Throughout our whole time in lockdown in Brasil I continued with a daily workout (including Zoom classes with my gym), and I stuck to this routine fiercely during quarantine. The kids understood this and kept their distance during my workout time! We also tried to have fun activity together every day with our Crazy Yoga challenges. We would only spend up to 30 minutes, but it would lift our spirits and help get us through the afternoon. The kids would choose a few poses we could attempt, we would plan them, get the right camera angle, then try them out. Many were a massive fail and we often fell on top of each other in fits of giggles. This really helped ease the tension of being stuck inside and put us all in a good mood for the rest of the day. My kids also kept active by making paper planes and throwing them to (or at!) each other, and other games with scrunched paper and makeshift bats.
In all, the 14 days of Hotel Quarantine weren’t so bad for us. I think for families with younger kids it would be a lot more difficult. But just remember, it is only 14 days, the end will come. Have grace on yourself and your kids, and you will get through it together.
We travelled from Auckland to Brisbane on Wednesday (day 4) me my husband and 11 year old. And are so grateful for our accommodation. Rydges Southbank super organised. Large room with joining room for my son
On arrival we were invited to hop of the bus first as we were the only family with a child and given a conjoining room with a large balcony. We were given a double sided A4 letter with everything we needed to know. With a balcony we are able to have an enjoyable stay without having to leave the room. Very blessed. And worth the $4165 we have to pay best hotel we have ever stayed in. We have a microwave which is a bonus. Food is good but would recommend a Woolworths order as you don’t get to choose your food. The only advise I would give is to be prepared. Things we bought with us: Puzzles; Toiletries; Skipping rope; Laptop for our aerobic classes; Tea towels; Spray and wipe; Spray for bathroom; Cards; Plenty of paper and pens colouring in pencils; Plenty of GB on your phone for zoom and Facebook calls; A journal to write things down to reflect on; And I love my to do lists so when I get out I can make a list of things to do as there is plenty of time to yourself. Blue tooth speaker. For the ladies; Hair dye; Tweezers; Nail clippers; Straightener; Make up - I found dressing up and keeping up my appearance helped me feel a little bit of normality.
Ky-lee Stephens
We’re two days away from freedom. My advice. Plan ahead. Card games. Play dough. Large roll of paper & paint. Books. Kids work out videos (YouTube). Lots of sticker books & coloring books. A soft ball to play catch & THE MOST USEFUL ADVICE - have grace on them. This is tough for them. If they’re getting a little more TV time then usual - that’s okay. Oh, also pack snacks (healthy)! My kids are loving their Hotel stay as they’re getting chips & pizza for most meals :-)
Julia Collins
Mandatory hotel quarantine is hard. It’s a long time to be cooped up in a room for everyone in the family. Best strategy is not to hold on too tight to your daily schedule. I’ve just survived it with my teen daughter (16) and even though we’d agreed on projects for her to do, yoga workouts and so on, in reality she didn’t always feel like doing her projects and our room was too small for much yoga. I had to let go. I had to lower my parenting standards let her have “too much” screen time! It was also vital she stayed in touch with her friends and could FaceTime with them as much as possible.
Katherine Walker
All of these items assisted us everyday in making Quarantine tolerable... and even pleasant.
- Books and Board Games (we brought a lot more) and an Apple TV
- Dish sponge... there were no cleaning supplies at all when we arrived
- Coffee mugs and Aero press for espresso- we are coffee snobs and this saved us; and 2lbs of coffee; should have brought three (we didn’t account for jet lag tiredness)
Thin plastic plates, bowls & cups from the dollar shop. The kitchen items were sparse... we used these multiple times per day - 6 adaptors -used them all
- Camping cutlery - was used every day; a cheap knife from the dollar shop- it was great!
- Tea Towels - how else would we have dried dishes with no drainer?
- Finally - ONE of the funnest things we did was to bring some face masks and scrubs and make the first Saturday our SPA day! This was a huge win for a small space in my bag and helped us differentiate the weekend from every other day!
Elise Stamatopoulos
As we near the end of our Quarantine stay in a Brisbane hotel I look back and think of the things that have made our stay seem to fly by. Having 3 children aged 12, 13 and 15years old and being cooped up for this length of time, with only a window to peer out of and watch the world go by. We decided to played eye spy, cards, board games, colouring in and also just talk to each other. We sang and danced to the music channel, we also did hair and makeup on each other whilst watching hair and Makeup tutorials. The children also had their technology so they watched movies, YouTube and played online games. I think having older children who you can explain things too, to give them a better understanding of why we have to do this makes it easier as well. All in all a pleasant experience one we will never forget.
Sophie Kerr Azevedo
In early June, I flew into Australia with my kids (aged 9 & 11), and was required to quarantine in a hotel for 14 days, as are thousands of others who are entering Australia during the pandemic.
I was very nervous about this, as my kids and I are outdoorsy people, we love being outside in the fresh air, blowing off steam and being active. We all get quite cranky without this regular expenditure of energy.
First, I had to get my head in the game. It’s only 14 days (it won’t last forever), loosen the rules (more screen time than I would normally accept), find some fun activities to make us laugh (Crazy yoga challenge), screen free activities (I packed a lot of craft) and routine (break the day up into segments).
With this mindset, I believe we made it through reasonably successfully, it wasn’t as bad as I thought it would be. The kids actually had a pretty good time and I think we will have some fond memories of our time in quarantine.
My kids love craft, they are quite creative and are great at repurposing ordinary objects. With this in mind I packed a few basic craft items in the suitcase (scissors, crepe paper, glue, washi tape, coloured paper, etc). Items we collected for craft whilst in quarantine included the airline socks from the international flight, toilet rolls and the cardboard boxes used to deliver lunch in the hotel. My kids love making clothes for their toys and teddies with the airline socks. Unfortunately I forgot to pack a needle and thread to sew the clothes, but my daughter improvised and still made a cute singlet for her teddy (she created a video to give you some ideas). We used the cardboard snack boxes for anything and everything. We created props for the kid’s tiny toys (and then filmed a few stop motion videos), we stacked the boxes up and threw some balled up paper at them to knock them down, etc. My son stuck the toilet rolls together to create a baseball or cricket bat, we scrunched a piece of paper to make a ball. An adapted game of baseball (or cricket, whichever you prefer) can be a good release of pent up energy!
Even in “normal life” screen time is hard to juggle at the best of times. For us it is even harder as my kids have friends who they chat to and play with in several different timezones. To make me feel a bit better about the time they spent on the screen, I struck a deal with the kids. If they wanted extra time to play with their friends, or to watch a TV show, I expected them to do some educational work. They did grumble a bit, but still did their part to get their “free time”. Luckily there are a lot of local resources online, such as interesting documentaries, educational shows and games. The kids knew I expected them to watch the mini lessons and do the exercises at their grade level. I did stay with them and worked through some of the lessons with them. Many of the documentaries were really interesting and lead to some great conversations and further research to learn more about the topic.
Exercise! Exercise for me is vitally important to my wellbeing and mental health. Throughout our whole time in lockdown in Brasil I continued with a daily workout (including Zoom classes with my gym), and I stuck to this routine fiercely during quarantine. The kids understood this and kept their distance during my workout time! We also tried to have fun activity together every day with our Crazy Yoga challenges. We would only spend up to 30 minutes, but it would lift our spirits and help get us through the afternoon. The kids would choose a few poses we could attempt, we would plan them, get the right camera angle, then try them out. Many were a massive fail and we often fell on top of each other in fits of giggles. This really helped ease the tension of being stuck inside and put us all in a good mood for the rest of the day. My kids also kept active by making paper planes and throwing them to (or at!) each other, and other games with scrunched paper and makeshift bats.
In all, the 14 days of Hotel Quarantine weren’t so bad for us. I think for families with younger kids it would be a lot more difficult. But just remember, it is only 14 days, the end will come. Have grace on yourself and your kids, and you will get through it together.
Story gallery - flights
Thankyou to everyone who share tips for flying with children during COVID.
Bianca Waller
I am a former cabin crew so I have a few suggestions for you 😊I would strongly recommend that you bring your babies car seat, and do not use the bassinet. The downside to the bassinet is that they are not generally cleaned properly between flights, they are just put back in their stowage with a liner in the bottom. I would regularly see passengers changing their babies dirty diapers in the bassinet 🤦♀️ 🤢 You could bring your own blankets to line the bassinet with and be sure to sanitise the Velcro safety strap across the middle and wrap something around it.It is much safer to use a car seat and when there is turbulence the baby can stay sleeping in the seat unlike the bassinet. If you do choose to use the bassinet you must remove the baby from the bassinet every single time the seatbelt sign is on which is really frustrating when they are sleeping. You can only use the bassinet if the baby comfortably fits lengthwise and does not weigh more than 11kg (I think it’s 11kg, but that may have changed). After the crew have installed the bassinet for you, before you put the baby in to the bassinet, be sure to pull the bassinet towards you very firmly to make sure the crew locked it in correctly. 😊
Do not use the baby strollers in Dxb airport 😬. Bring lots of dettol wipes to wipe down your seat area, seat buckle, seatbelt, tray table, entertainment controls, armrests and screen before you sit down. If you are bottle feeding bring enough clean empty bottles for baby so you dont need to wash bottles during the flight or in the airport. Sanitise your hands after you leave the bathroom and always use a paper towel to close the door. The extension seatbelts are not cleaned either unless visibly soiled so if you need to use one for your baby during take off and landing be sure to wipe it down really well with antibacterial wipes/sanitiser.
Bring a big empty drink bottle for yourself and go to the galley during the flight and ask the crew to fill it for you. Bring a mug if you are in economy class and want a decent sized tea, coffee or hot chocolate. Bring a fluffy blanket and slippers for the flight if you can. They have earplugs available on request.
Children and babies are permitted to sit on the floor to play if the seatbelt sign is off (you can ask the crew for extra blankets to put down or bring one along with you)
There is baby food, diapers, baby wipes available on request in case you run out. There is baby Panadol available but it’s worth packing baby antihistamine just in case baby’s ears get blocked during the flight from allergies. Try and get baby to drink or suck on a pacifier during descent to help them clear their ears. The captain does a PA at top of descent so you will know when it’s time. Have a safe flight!!
I am a former cabin crew so I have a few suggestions for you 😊I would strongly recommend that you bring your babies car seat, and do not use the bassinet. The downside to the bassinet is that they are not generally cleaned properly between flights, they are just put back in their stowage with a liner in the bottom. I would regularly see passengers changing their babies dirty diapers in the bassinet 🤦♀️ 🤢 You could bring your own blankets to line the bassinet with and be sure to sanitise the Velcro safety strap across the middle and wrap something around it.It is much safer to use a car seat and when there is turbulence the baby can stay sleeping in the seat unlike the bassinet. If you do choose to use the bassinet you must remove the baby from the bassinet every single time the seatbelt sign is on which is really frustrating when they are sleeping. You can only use the bassinet if the baby comfortably fits lengthwise and does not weigh more than 11kg (I think it’s 11kg, but that may have changed). After the crew have installed the bassinet for you, before you put the baby in to the bassinet, be sure to pull the bassinet towards you very firmly to make sure the crew locked it in correctly. 😊
Do not use the baby strollers in Dxb airport 😬. Bring lots of dettol wipes to wipe down your seat area, seat buckle, seatbelt, tray table, entertainment controls, armrests and screen before you sit down. If you are bottle feeding bring enough clean empty bottles for baby so you dont need to wash bottles during the flight or in the airport. Sanitise your hands after you leave the bathroom and always use a paper towel to close the door. The extension seatbelts are not cleaned either unless visibly soiled so if you need to use one for your baby during take off and landing be sure to wipe it down really well with antibacterial wipes/sanitiser.
Bring a big empty drink bottle for yourself and go to the galley during the flight and ask the crew to fill it for you. Bring a mug if you are in economy class and want a decent sized tea, coffee or hot chocolate. Bring a fluffy blanket and slippers for the flight if you can. They have earplugs available on request.
Children and babies are permitted to sit on the floor to play if the seatbelt sign is off (you can ask the crew for extra blankets to put down or bring one along with you)
There is baby food, diapers, baby wipes available on request in case you run out. There is baby Panadol available but it’s worth packing baby antihistamine just in case baby’s ears get blocked during the flight from allergies. Try and get baby to drink or suck on a pacifier during descent to help them clear their ears. The captain does a PA at top of descent so you will know when it’s time. Have a safe flight!!
Family music time
A very big thankyou to Hullaballoo Music for a fabulous online family music session held on 6th July - in partnership with drummond street services and PlayGroup Victoria. Further sessions below.
Resources
Here are some general resources that may be useful
- drummond st services information for families in isolation: https://ds.org.au/info-for-families-in-isolation/
- drummond st services and Playgroup Australia online playgroups: https://ds.org.au/move-it-4-kids/
- drummond st services information: https://ds.org.au/support-for-families-and-individuals-during-covid-19/
Partners
This campaign is a partnership between the Kindness Pandemic and Drummond St Services.