Darik Elwan: How to keep your preschooler engaged during quarantine

"In the middle of the night, my daughter collapsed. We rushed to her room to see her crying non-stop!"

This was the experience shared by Dubai-based Sujata Mato from her eight-year-old daughter's sudden reaction to home quarantine darik elwan. After some persuasion, the child told her parents that staying inside was getting too much for her - plans for her next birthday had flipped, and she simply wanted to go abroad to meet her friends.

"The explosion was very scary to me, as I had never seen her in that situation before. It may not matter, but as a father i broke my heart to see her that way."

At the age of eight, Mato's daughter was at a stage where she could express her frustrations and anxiety coherently, and her parents could have had a conversation with her to help cope with the stress she was experiencing. For children under the age of six, addressing these emotions can be much more difficult because communication and language are still at some stage of early development.

Schools, nurseries and higher education institutions were among the first public places to close as the authorities began their war against the new coronavirus darik elwan. This also means that children stay at home longer than any other family member.

Zeina Assam, co-founder and managing director of Creative Nest Nursery, spoke about how parents complained about clinging, bored or aggressive children.

"Nurseries are closed and parents are asking us how to keep their children busy and involved during quarantine. What some people do not realize is that nurseries provide a very rich learning experience for children; it is not just a day-care facility darik elwan. Every day in the nursery, the child is exposed to activities that stimulate development in one of the key areas of learning."