Table. Studies included in the rapid review and summary of findings about activities outside the home and childcare arrangements involving non-household members during school closures (n = 19).

Study, year and place	Participants	Activities outside the home	Childcare arrangements involving non-household members
Basurto-Davila et al. (2013), Argentina [28]	226 households; children aged 6–15 years from three schools closed for 2 weeks because of influenza A(H1N1).	67% of children visited public places at least once; 45% left the home several times.	Left with a relative or family friend (82%/88% depending on region), hired nanny (13%/5%), other special arrangements (3%/4%), left alone (2%/1%).
Braunack-Mayer et al. (2013), Australia [14]	Four school principals, 25 staff, 14 parents, 13 students aged 12–17 years; schools either partially or fully closed because of H1N1 (length of closure unclear).	Qualitative study indicating most people adhered to advised quarantine, but in the absence of clear instructions, many invented their own rules. Some parents quarantined their children to avoid being seen as irresponsible. However, many parents reported their children were home alone and so it was unclear whether they complied. Others reported seeing the closure as ineffective and did not quarantine their children. One student reported meeting friends regularly even though his parents believed he was at home.	Not reported.
Effler et al. (2010), Australia [20]	233 households; median age of children 11 years (range: 5–13); three schools closed because of H1N1; School A closed entirely ‘for the coming week’ while Schools B and C cancelled classes for grades 5 and 5–7, respectively.	74% participated in activities outside the home on at least one occasion, reporting a total of 860 out-of-home activities with an average of 3.7 out-of-home activities per student.	Asymptomatic students: with children other than their siblings (19%). Ill students: with children other than their siblings (6%). All students: left alone for at least some time (10%).
McVernon et al. (2011), Australia [29]	314 households; 33 schools; schools with confirmed cases of H1N1 in multiple classes were entirely closed for 7 days while schools with confirmed cases in only one class were instructed to close only that class.	43 households reported that a child spent at least 1 day outside the family home and mixing with other children occurred on almost half of these occasions (48.8%). Contact with children who were not immediate family members was less likely during days spent at home. No child visited a household in which another child was ill, compared with reported child visitors in 15.9% of 226 homes without a case.	Households with influenza: adult from outside the home (44.4% for households that complied with advice to remain in home vs 2.4% for non-compliant households). Households without influenza: adult from outside the home (28.3% for households that complied vs 4.0% for non-compliant households).
van Gemert et al. (2018), Australia [22]	99 students with laboratory confirmed H1N1; age 6–17 years; Seven schools closed for 3–9 days (not including weekends).	26% (21/81) who reported usually taking part in extra-curricular activities (not sports or religious activities) continued to take part in extra-curricular activities.	Not reported.
Mizumoto et al. (2013), Japan [26]	882 households; 25.2% in kindergarten, 24.8% in primary school, 25.1% in junior high school and 24.9% in high school; age range 4–18 years; ‘school closure or class suspension at least once’ because of H1N1.	20.5% left the home for non-essential reasons.	Another household member (64.3%), left alone (28.5%), special arrangement such as parental absence from work (7.3%).
Litvinova et al. (2019), Russia [18]	450 participants including students and their household members; School A for children aged 6–17 years and School B for children aged 6–15 years; schools closed for 7 days to mitigate spread of seasonal influenza.	There was a reduction in the number of contacts made by students (14.2 contacts/day when open vs 6.5 when closed). Students reduced their number of contacts with individuals under 18 years of age (75% reduction) and 19–59-year-olds (20% reduction), while increasing contacts with individuals aged 60 years and over (52% increase), although the absolute value remained low (less than one contact/day).	Not reported.
Chen et al. (2011), Taiwan [31]	232 households; school for children aged 5–12 years; school closed for 7 days because of H1N1.	13% went to public places or gatherings at least once, 12% visited relatives, 5% went to parents' workplace.	Parents (60%), other relatives (35%), others (4%), left alone (1%).
Jackson et al. (2011), UK [17]	107 students (only 46 reported how many times they visited public places during closures); children aged 11–15 years; school closed for 1 week, reopened for 2 days, then closed for another week because of H1N1.	98% visited more than one place. 73 students provided their typical number of contacts per day during closure and 35 also provided information for a typical school day. Mean totals of reported contacts were 70.3 and 24.8 during typical school days and closure respectively.	Among caregivers for whom information was available, 125/182 (69%) would have seen the student on a typical school day.
Borse et al. (2011), US [25]	554 households; median age of children: 8 years; schools closed for 5–7 days because of H1N1.	30% of students visited at least one locale outside their homes.	Not reported.
Epson et al. (2015), US [21]	35 households, representing 67 students; one elementary school and one junior and senior high school housed in the same building complex; schools closed between 29 January 2013 and 5 February 2013 because of influenza-like illness.	58% visited at least one outside venue.	Adult from outside the household (9%), work with parents (6%), childcare programme (3%), left alone (9%).
Gift et al. (2010), US [24]	214 households, with 269 children under 18 years of age; elementary school closed for 1 week because of H1N1.	69% visited at least one other location.	Home as main location (77%). The next most common locations were another family member's home, non-family member's home, parents’ workplace, vacation, daycare and ‘other’.
Johnson et al. (2008), US [23]	220 households, with 355 children; median age of children: 12 years (range: 5–19); schools closed for 12 days because of influenza virus B.	89% visited at least one public location and 47% travelled outside of the county.	Special childcare arrangements including grandparents, other relatives, other adults, taking the child to work, having older siblings watch them or using childcare programs (10%), one or more night spent outside the household (3%).
Miller et al. (2010), US [19]	63 parents of 176 lower school students (grades 5–8); 188 upper school students (grades 9–12); week-long closure because of H1N1.	Upper school: Mean number of days spent on activities: 3.42 any other outdoor activity; 2.44 eating at restaurants; 1.89 using public transport; 1.48 hosting a friend; 1.47 shopping; 1.47 any other indoor activity; 0.44 working at a job. Average number of friends seen per day: 2.53 on Wednesday, 2.06 Thursday, 2.59 Friday, 2.40 Saturday, 1.23 Sunday, 1.02 Monday, 1.05 Tuesday. Lower school: Mean number of days spent on activities: 2.77 any other outdoor activity; 1.34 eating at restaurants; 1.12 any other indoor activity; 1.05 shopping; 0.73 visiting a friend; 0.55 hosting a friend; 0.10 using public transport. Average number of friends seen per day: 0.30 Wednesday, 0.52 Thursday, 0.84 Friday, 0.83 Saturday, 1.17 Sunday, 0.74 Monday, 0.68 Tuesday.	Upper school: Proportion of caregivers: 0.62 parent, 0.24 sibling, 0.07 grandparent, 0.07 other, 0.06 nanny/babysitter, 0.07 friend's caretaker, 0.11 other, 0.88 self. Lower school: Proportion of caregivers: 0.85 parent, 0.30 sibling, 0.09 grandparent, 0.15 other family, 0.27 nanny/babysitter, 0.03 friend's caretaker, 0.06 other, 0.76 self.
Russell et al. (2016), US [27]	99 households, representing 197 children; students in pre-kindergarten up to grade 12; school closed for 4 days because of influenza-like illness.	77% of children went outside the home or visited a non-household member, participating in a mean of two activities (IQR: 1–4).	Adult from outside the household (20%); childcare programme (1%).
Steelfisher et al. (2010), US [32]	523 parents; ages and number of children not reported; childcare centres and schools closed because of H1N1: 10% were closed for 1 day, 19% for 2 days, 29% for 3 days, 15% for 4 days, 17% for 5 days, 9% for more than 5 and 2% didn't know.	56% reported their child participated in at least one activity involving people outside the household.	81% were cared for by an adult in the household, 20% by a family member outside the household, 1% by a friend/neighbour, 3% by a professional care provider, and 10% stayed home alone.
Timperio et al. (2009), US [30]	262 households, representing 480 children; ages not reported. Two schools closed because of seasonal influenza; one closed for 3 days and the other for 4 days.	43.3% visited strip malls or WalMart, the largest store in the area; 42.9% visited family; 38.7% went grocery shopping; 32.6% ate at restaurants; 30.3% either visited friends’ homes or had friends visiting their home; 29.1% attended religious services; 23.8% took part in sports activities; 17.6% went to public gatherings such as concerts, movies or festivals; 8.4% went to a part time job.	Not reported.
Tsai et al. (2017), US [33]	208 households with 423 children; school closed for 8 days because of influenza.	Not reported.	Childcare programme (3%), attending work with parents (1%), left alone without supervision (1%), old enough to care for themselves (15%).
Zheteyeva et al. (2017), US [34]	2,229 households with 4,247 students; kindergarten to grade 12; schools closed for 4 days in preparation for Hurricane Isaac.	Not reported.	Old enough to care for themselves (11.6%), went to work with parents (5.3%), childcare programme (2.6%), left alone without supervision (2.5%).

IQR: interquartile range; UK: United Kingdom; US: United States.