Thousands flock to teacher’s Facebook group for lockdown parenting tips

Thousands of parents have flocked to a Jewish teacher’s new Facebook group to share parenting tips during the pandemic.

Since it was created last Friday, the group “Family lockdown tips and ideas” has garnered over 175,000 members and receives more than 500 posts a day.

Claire Balkind, 36, from Barnet, who is currently in self-isolation, set up the group to find inspiration for activities to keep her two children busy amid looming school closures.

“It really was just a quick click on my iPhone to set this group up,” the history teacher told Jewish News on Wednesday. “I made this group and added some of my friends who I knew were parents and posted it on a few local groups to me, saying ‘share any ideas and tips and join if you want to’.”

The Facebook group quickly gained thousands of new members, with parents posting mindfulness tips, videos of yoga and exercise routines to keep active while staying indoors, advice about age-appropriate gaming and links to free printable educational activities.

“You don’t need lots of resources to entertain kids. You just need to have lots of good ideas and a plan,” she said.

“It’s already been proven to me that it’s an invaluable resource. I’ve had so many messages from people saying that this has saved their mental health, their well-being. For the working parent, there’s lots of tips for how you can work at home with your kids, having power hours, taking clear breaks, having activities for your kids,” she added.

The group has developed into a virtual community for parents and continues to be “moderated very closely so that everything that’s posted is going to be supportive and promote that message,” she said.