I was sick on the last two days. All I wanted to do was just lying down and watch TV. The fact that I had to worry about my husband’s lunch and dinner just made me feel worse. 🤢

And I thought about parents. What would they do with their children when they are sick?

Hmmm…… It will be “no problem!” if you have a babysitter or your partner can be home with your child. It will be still great If you have a family member or a close friend near you who can watch your child for a while. But, if you are the only one who can be with your child on the day, well, you have to find a way to survive.

I thought of some easy activities that you can give to your child when you are sick. Activities that don’t require much preparation or help.

Making a Pasta Necklace

Put some dry pasta in a bowl. Pasta that has a big hole such as rigatoni and penne is good for this activity.

Give paints and a paint brush. Child can paint the pasta and leave them on the side to dry; It’s better to put them on a tray. I left them on a piece of paper and some pasta ended up with little pieces of paper sticking.

You can ask your child to do something else until the pasta is dry.

If the pasta is all dry, give a string. You can also use yarn, plastic lacing or pipe cleaners. Don’t forget to make a knot at one end.

Child can thread pasta on a string and make a necklace.

One for herself/himself, one for mom, one for dad, one for brother, one for grandma…… 🤪

Sticky Wall

Tape a clear contact paper on a window. Make it big so your child can have a bigger space to work with.

Give paper shapes, straws, yarn or anything that are light enough to be sticking on the contact paper.

For the first set up, I put many different things out. But not all of them worked well on the contact paper.

Tip: You can print out your child’s favourite characters and add them to the activity.

Best materials for contact paper

• Anything made with printing paper (Peppa Pig printed out, paper circles)
• Thin yarn
• Straws cut short
• Foam dinosaurs (shapes)

Child can randomly put things on the contact paper or make a scene with a story.

When we work on the window, not on the table, it feels different. It can be a new, different, exciting experience. It’s even more exciting when it is sunny!🤩

Drawing on the Wall

Similarly, you can tape a big white paper on the wall and let your child draw on it.

Put a plastic vinyl or tablecloth under the paper, so the wall doesn’t get stained by art materials.

Give colouring materials like paints, markers and crayons.

Q-tip Painting

Search Q-tip painting templates from Google.

Here is a template that I made. You can print this page and use it if you want.

Prepare some Q-tips and different colours of paints.

Show your child how s/he can paint the picture by making dots with Q-tip.

You can find many different templates on internet. Give choices to your child. 🙂

This is another template that I made.

I think it’s totally okay to give a little extra screen time to children when you are sick. But if you have some energy to set up things, try these, too.

I hope these are helpful!

Missangela🎀