Rallying to bring online activities —and fun — to kids

When the novel coronavirus pandemic hit the U.S., schools and playgrounds were closed and Californians were ordered to stay home. For active children — and their parents — who had expected to have their days filled with school, sports and play dates until at least June, it came as a shock.

But local residents are nothing if not innovative, and soon Macaroni Kid Lodi had alternatives in place for its usual schedule of inperson activities.

Five years ago, Mary Campbell launched the Lodi edition of Macaroni Kid, a family e-newsletter and resource for parents.

“I had a friend in the Bay Area who had been doing it,” Campbell said. “I was home with my two little kids, trying to figure out how to work from home.”

She enjoys editing the newsletter because it allows her to support the local community and offer resources for other parents, all while spending time with her own sons, who are now 7 and 10.

Most of the time, Macaroni Kid promotes local events, such as Stockton Kings games and events at Micke Grove Zoo or the World of Wonders Science Museum. Campbell and her kids also like to take day trips.

“We go take adventures and share about them,” she said.

They also have the chance to host giveaways for events like Disney on Ice. Campbell loves being able to share fun perks with other parents.

“It’s a really fun work-life balance,” she said. “We’ve just been given so many amazing opportunities through Macaroni Kid.”

But in March, COVID-19 threw a wrench in the works. Event after event was canceled, and suddenly Campbell was scrambling to switch from reallife activities to virtual ones.

“If you go to the website, a majority of our stuff is event listings,” she said.

So she and other Macaroni Kid editors began collaborating, gathering activities parents and kids could do together at home. Campbell’s calendar switched from sports and zoo trips to virtual field trips, “Lunch Doodles with Mo Willems” (of “Don’t Let the Pigeon Drive the Bus” fame), shows by the Center for Puppetry Arts and Sierra Tango Fitness classes.

“There’s a lot of virtual resources now on my website,” Campbell said.

She and her fellow editors around the U.S. have been developing challenges and activities around Legos, cooking and tracking walks.

For parents, they’ve also been curating a collection of resources for parents who suddenly found themselves homeschooling for the first time. Campbell has linked to free educational resources, shared a listing of where parents can pick up free school lunches, created suggested daily schedules, and written articles about how parents can tackle subjects like reading and science.

“My favorite article right now is ‘Your Life in Color,’” she said.

The article includes suggestions for science, art and cooking projects that revolve around the theme of color.

Campbell hopes that the collection of ideas and projects will help local parents who are suddenly thrust into the role of teacher — many of whom are juggling work themselves.

“It’s OK not to be OK right now,” she said. “It’s OK not to know how to homeschool your kid.”

The nice thing about Macaroni Kid, she said, is that it gives parents a place to find support and see that they aren’t alone. And, when the local situation is stable enough that people can plan events once again, families will be able to find plenty of ideas for celebrating the return of their freedom.

Campbell has been editor of the Lodi website for five years, and has grown her subscriber base to just shy of 12,000 in that time, she said. When she first began, she did have a background in marketing and public relations, but learning about social media has been an experience.

But she has grown, adding Facebook Live videos and Instagram to her repertoire. She’s loved being a guide, both before COVID-19 changed the local lifestyle and during the crisis.

“We’re all just kind of building the plane while we fly it,” she said with a laugh.

She’s taken finding free and virtual things to do as a challenge, even as she looks forward to a return to normal.

“Just continue logging on, and I’ll keep bringing the best information that I find,” she said.

The e-newsletter is delivered to subscribers’ inboxes every Tuesday evening. For more information or to subscribe, visit lodi.macaronikid.com.