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Ideas for activities for children this Chol Hamoed:
I told the kids we can play out in the yard for chol hamoed
it will depend on what stay a home restrictions will be lifted.
Keep them at home and safe. Given the trajectory of the past 72 hours, there is NO WAY that taking kids to parks and playgrounds during chol hamoed will be safe. Even if the yinglanch themselves may arguably be at low risk for illness (there have been two deaths of young kids in the past 48 hours) , they are walking petri dishes for the virus and wiill bring it home and infect their grandparents and anyone with a compromised immune system. Yes, it will be a challenge to keep the locked up at home for a month but anyone who thinks the risks are low or can be “managed” are delusional
Don’t promise anything. Assume that any lockdown provisions will be as much as they are now if not stronger (and possibly with enforcement) at that point. The earliest we can hope to see some freedom will be the end of the week following pesach. Maybe something will change between now and then, hopefully.
The only thing I can think of now is perhaps a scenic drive away. We stay in the car and then exit in a quiet spot next to a lake or similar, if its empty w no issue of distancing..
What wrong with a virtual tour of the Bais Hamikdush and or the Mishkon.
At the rate NYC is heading, I think come Chol Hamoad Pesach many Jewish families will be immune to the Corona virus and ready to roll (assuming any place will be open). I’m not saying this is a good thing, yet it may still end up being the silver lining for many young families.
“I think come Chol Hamoad Pesach many Jewish families will be immune to the Corona virus and ready to roll …”
Roll where??? This will be with us for at least another 6-8 weeks before we hit the peak….taking young children to any areas where there is a likelihood of infection is truly madness. I expect these kind of mindless predictions from our President but not from the normally rational readers here in the CR. Yes, it will pass, but all the evidence suggests the trajectory will be longer and there will be residual risks to the elderly even after the “curve flattens”. When the shuls reopen, do you really want to have younger kids who are asymptomatic carriers of the virus infecting the older daveners ??
Activity for the kids, young and old: Teach them some basic biology, physiology, and epidemiology so that they won’t be ignorant anymore. That way they are more likely to behave carefully next time there is an epidemic or pandemic and won’t be misled by ignoramuses.
They will also be able to understand the difference between winter flu (influenza virus) and more serious (Corona) viruses. Maybe they will also understand a bit about why after some viral infections the body attains a certain degree of immunity from infection of the same virus.Play virtual games with each other on the computer like chess.
Would a family outing to Bear Mountain be a corono-safe visit considering its great outdoors permitting sufficient social-distancing?
From the NYS Parks, Recreation and Historic Preservation Page (Bear Mountain is a NYS park):
COVID-19 UPDATE: New York state parks, trails and grounds of historic sites are open for open air outdoor recreation. Governor Cuomo is urging all New Yorkers to stay home as much as possible. If you do plan on visiting, it should be for a healthy nature break. For the safety of all visitors and to stop the spread of COVID-19, all State Park playgrounds, athletic courts and sporting fields are CLOSED. Please limit outdoor recreational activities to non-contact, and avoid activities where you may come in close contact with other people. If you arrive at a park and crowds are forming, choose a different park or trail, or return another time/day to visit. We appreciate your support and patience as we navigate this public health crisis together. Learn more about COVID-19 and its impact on NY State Parks. Visit: COVID-19 UPDATE
NEW: CAMPING UPDATE
Early Season Camping: Due to the global health crisis, all campgrounds, cabins, and cottages are CLOSED to overnight visitation through April 30. All visitors with reservations will be issued a full refund. We ask for your patience as refunds are processed.
Camping Reservations: New York State has suspended all new camping, cabin and cottage reservations for the 2020 season until further notice. We are assessing campground status on a daily basis. If you’ve made a reservation for the season beginning May 1, and we determine your campground is safe to open, your reservation will be honored. However, visitors who wish to cancel an existing reservation may do so and receive a full refund. Thank you for your patience as we work to protect the safety of our visitors and staff.
Joseph: from what I’ve read, the general consensus seems to be that once someone recovered from it they’re immune for at least a year, but they can’t know 100%.
Once testing for anti-bodies gets underway, people will be able to test whether they – and especially their kids which have a greater chance of being asymptomatic – are already immune AND THEREFORE CAN’T TRANSMIT THE VIRUS TO ANYONE ELSE. They can also derive a potential treatment from the blood of recovered persons.
The question remains whether with the medical community so overwhelmed, these blood tests will be administered in the near future or not.
My kids have been fully exposed. None of them got sick even with being locked up with the sick family
Members. The only reason they are locked up now is because they are carriers. In a couple of weeks I will not be worried about taking them out.There are reports of people getting this twice. Be a chochom.
The post-illness antibody tests are reasonably definitive BUT the testing materials and protocols won’t be fully available for 6-8 weeks minimum so I wouldn’t make any assumptions. This is serious stuff, and I just wouldn’t take the small risk for now until more validated information is available. Every few hours we read about another gadol or chashavuh rav being niftar from the Virus. Yes, they are older, but as others have noted, allowing our children to infect the elderly is reckless and mindless, even if the kids themselves are at low risk. Its hard to stop a child from running up to his rebbe from school or the shul or even grandparents trying to distance themselves.
The grandchildren and great nieces and nephews have all been ensconced in the CTL compound since schools even thought of closing. No one has been allowed in or out.
Chol HaMoed they can play basketball, tennis, volleyball, badminton, hopscotch, jacks etc in our yard and courts.
This year, I have decided that it may be cold, but I’ll open the swimming pool and crank up the heater.
Being in the fresh air is good for them. NO excursions to parks or public playgrounds. Just the family who is already here. No other members of the family will join us for Pesach this year, safety first.
I have planned some projects that will have the kids help prepare the gardens for spring planting. As part of math and science we’ll build a tree fort, calculating loads, figuring angles to cut and mitre, area for how much paint or stain needed to cover, etc.
This is a great time to teach life skills and self sufficiency.CTL
Most of us are not Zoche to have such property with a basketball court, Tennis court or in fact any other court
Most families are hunkering down and plan to spend chol hamoed at home. The local park systems in NYC, Lakewood and Monsey which annually are crowded with large numbers of frum families have all said they will be closed and police will be nearby to block any large gatherings that violate social distancing rules. Don’t believe anything you hear from the WH that by Easter Sunday the worst will be over and people will be crowding into their houses of worship. It MAY happen in rural Wyoming but zero percent liklihood in the NY metro area. Don’t get the kids hopes up by planning “outings” for chol hamoed. Explain the realities of what is and will continue to be the norms for the next several weeks, at least through Pesach.
Lakewood, Williamsburg, BP , Kiryat Joel etc is extra dangerous, You have large families living in close quarters near other large families also living in close quarters
Governor Cuomo, Johns Hopkins Public Health Institute (the nation’s top infectious disease research center) and the CDC are ALL predicting that the NY metro area spread in new cases, hospitalizations and deaths won’t peak for at least another 3 weeks which takes us past motzi yom tov. Keep your families at home….its not worth risking their lives and those of others for a “day in the park”. Yes, its harder for large frum families but the alternative, as we sadly read hourly on YWN, is a lot worse then bored and fidgety kids.
@ZD
There is one court. It has painted lines for tennis, and basketball. The poles and hoops are installed at each end. The poles for the net are set to handle tennis or volleyball or badminton.I make no bones about the fact that Mrs. CTL and I sank our money into improving and expanding the compound over 30+ years…doing much of the work ourselves and that our children and grandchildren spent their summers here, not shipped off to camp. The cost was far less than sleep away camp for all the children over the decades.
We bought our house for $110,000 back when. The main section was built in 1803 with additions in 1903. It was a fixer upper. I cut and hammered plenty of wood. Mrs. CTL and I hung and taped sheet rock and I painted and plumbed. Our fathers taught is these skills. They were homeowners here in CT, not apartment dwellers in NY dependent upon a super to do repairs.
The house grew as out family did….very common in this area, many homes in our neighborhood have additions that have been added over the years. Our mortgage is long paid off, so as we approach retirement, we own it for taxes, insurance and repairs. Last year, we added solar for electric supply. We are saving more than $8000 per year on that bill.
Everyone makes choices, we like living in small town CT and not in the city. We like having land and space to breathe. True, there are no local kosher restaurants, takeouts, etc. and the money not spent on prepared food pays for many amenities.
My parents were happy top leave NYC in 1950 and leave the hustle, bustle and dirt behind. They moved to New Haven which had a long history of Jewish schooling, mikvah, bakers, butchers and was a great place to raise a family.
Why doesnt YWN print the names of the niftarim to bring the problem closer to home?
Shaindel, who are you asking?
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