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How to entertain a toddler when you’re ill

June 20, 2014 by Emma Edwards 27 Comments

When you are unwell the last thing you feel like doing is entertaining your toddler. That’s why it is easy to turn to the virtual babysitter – television.  However, there are alternatives.  Here are 14+ activities that require no preparation, are suitable for toddlers and do not involve lots of cleaning up afterwards.  The activities also promote independent play to enable you to curl up on the sofa and recuperate whilst your child has fun.

Adventures of Adam toddler cup stacking

1. Stacking Cups – grab some plastic cups and have fun stacking cups. How many different ways can your toddler find to stack the cups?

Adventures of Adam Guttering Fun

2. Guttering Fun – bring old guttering inside for a ramp. Explore what objects can go down the guttering – cars, balls, musical instruments etc

Adventures of Adam pom pom mirror drop

3, Pom Pom Mirror Drop – drop pom-poms through a bottle or kitchen roll onto a mirror. Your toddler will be fascinated by the reflections.  Cut the bottom off of the bottle so that the poms poms are easy to remove.

Adventures of Adam coiled pipe cleaners

4. Coiled Pipe Cleaner Drop – work on those fine motor skills by picking up coiled pipe cleaners with tweezers. Can your toddler drop them into another container?

Adventures of Adam big threading

5. Giant Threading – enlarge the fun by threading toilet rolls onto a broom. Placing the broom upright means they have to stretch high to get the toilets rolls on.

Adventures of Adam non messy paint mixing

6. Non-messy paint mixing – Do your children still want to paint? Place paint in a zip-loc bag and watch them explore the paint – mess free!

Adventures of Adam fabric tissue box

7. Fabric Tissue Box – place fabric squares in an old tissue box to save your actual tissues from your toddler.  Adam love pulling them out and putting them back in.

Adventures of Adam masking tape pull

8. Masking Tape Pull – simply overlap masking tape to a baking tray and let your toddler try and peel it off. Easier said than done.

Adventures of Adam pipe cleaner posting

9. Pipe Cleaner Posting – see if your toddler can post pipe cleaners through a colander.  Adam preferred pulling them out of the colander.

Adventures of Adam peg drop

10. Peg Drop – grab your pegs and let your toddler drop them into different baskets. It’s amazing how long toddlers will concentrate on transferring activities.

Adventures of Adam cotton wool fun

11. Cotton Wool Fun – putting cotton wool balls into a baking tray can be lots of fun. Keeping the activity in a box means you don’t get cotton wool over the carpet.

Adventures of Adam DIY reverse kerplunk

12. DIY Reverse Kerplunk – make holes in a kitchen roll and get your toddler to post straws through them. Can they get the straws to stay in place?

Adventures of Adam pom pom and pipe cleaner drop

13. Poms Pom and Pipe Cleaner Drop – a great way to use a dishwasher basket is to drop pom poms and pipe cleaners through the holes.

Adventures of Adam coin drop

14. Coin Dop – dropping coins (real or plastic) into a money box is a fun way to practise fine motor skills. To make it easier initially, take the lid off.

Here are some other non-preparation activities to keep your toddler occupied from the Kid Blogger Network:

Adventures of Adam Kid Blogger Network

 1. Cardboard Tube and Elastic Bands from Craftulate – thread some elastic hair bands onto a strong cardboard tube (from kitchen foil rather than kitchen roll) and get your toddler to take them off – easier said than done.

2. Water and chalk board painting from The Four H’s Household – fill up a cup with water, give the child a brush and a used/dirty chalk board and watch them create a masterpiece.

3. Pipe Cleaner Fun from Sugar Aunts – cut some pipe cleaners in half and put out an empty small water bottle and watch as your toddler posts the pipe cleaners in.

4. Block Activity For Fine Motor Skills from Hands On As We Grow – this block activity helps to promote fine motor skills for toddlers. Can your toddler use the kitchen tongs to pick up the blocks?

 

Are you looking for more toddler friendly play activities to use when you are ill? Then take a look at our HG friendly play activities – no preparation for maximum distraction.

Adventures of Adam HG friendly play activity

Filed Under: Activities suitable for Hyperemesis Gravidarum sufferers, Independent Play Activity, Play Activities, Super Quick Play Activities Tagged With: Activity round ups, Busy Bag Play Activities, Cupboard Resources, Hyperemesis sufferers activities, Independent Play Activities, Non-messy activity, Super quick set up

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Reader Interactions

Comments

  1. Heather Meek says

    June 22, 2014 at 7:51 pm

    My three year old would love the gutter ramps coming down from the couch.
    ~Heather
    The Meek Moose

    Reply
    • Emma Edwards says

      June 24, 2014 at 9:11 pm

      We have ramps everywhere at the moment – keep a look out for more ramp play soon!

      Reply
  2. Michelle Cannon says

    June 24, 2014 at 8:56 am

    Isn’t it funny that even being sick means we have to be creative and on top of things?

    Reply
    • Emma Edwards says

      June 24, 2014 at 9:12 pm

      The job never ends! 🙂

      Reply
  3. Vesper Meikle says

    June 24, 2014 at 5:15 pm

    When we were children the network of neighbours would take care of the children

    Reply
    • Emma Edwards says

      June 24, 2014 at 9:14 pm

      Community spirit is a wonderful thing.

      Reply
  4. Diana says

    June 24, 2014 at 5:37 pm

    Great ideas!

    Reply
    • Emma Edwards says

      June 24, 2014 at 9:15 pm

      Thank you. Always best to have some emergency play activities up your sleeve!

      Reply
  5. Mummy Whiskers says

    June 24, 2014 at 10:09 pm

    I need to make some fabric tissues tomorrow for G, he’s always playing with tissue boxes!

    Reply
    • Emma Edwards says

      June 26, 2014 at 7:12 am

      Save those tissues!

      Reply
  6. Mary P says

    June 30, 2014 at 1:19 am

    Great ways to keep the little guy quiet for a while.

    Reply
    • Emma Edwards says

      June 30, 2014 at 9:34 pm

      Minimum input = maximum distraction!

      Reply
  7. Susanne Remic (@Ghostwritermumm) says

    June 30, 2014 at 6:25 am

    Thank you for this. I am pinning this for my bad days. x xx

    Reply
    • Emma Edwards says

      June 30, 2014 at 9:36 pm

      Hopefully there won’t be many more bad days BUT the activities can also be used for when you are feeding your little one and need to occupy the others.

      Reply
  8. Karen S. says

    July 6, 2014 at 6:35 am

    These are nice ideas, but I hop everyone can get a friend, family member to help out while they’re ill! Send them to this page 🙂

    Reply
    • Emma Edwards says

      July 8, 2014 at 10:51 am

      It would be wonderful if everyone had friends and family members close by to help out when you are ill. However, peoples circumstances means that this is not always an option. Even looking after a toddler when you are ill for half an hour seems an impossible task at times!

      Reply
  9. jessica says

    July 7, 2014 at 8:10 pm

    Love these ideas. Thanks for sharing!

    Reply
    • Emma Edwards says

      July 8, 2014 at 10:53 am

      Thank you

      Reply
  10. Taz W says

    July 8, 2014 at 6:15 am

    thanks for the ideas

    Reply
    • Emma Edwards says

      July 8, 2014 at 10:54 am

      I hope they help in some way.

      Reply
  11. Joanne Higgins says

    July 8, 2014 at 12:54 pm

    great thanks, but i would use these even if not ill xx

    Reply
    • Emma Edwards says

      July 9, 2014 at 8:53 pm

      Certainly do – I use them as emergency play activities when you need to distract a toddler for a few minutes.

      Reply
  12. Ronald G says

    July 9, 2014 at 11:16 am

    You are a very creative person.

    Reply
    • Emma Edwards says

      July 9, 2014 at 8:56 pm

      Thank you. You can take the teacher out of the classroom but not the classroom out of the teacher!

      Reply
  13. Karen Chayne Sanchez says

    July 9, 2014 at 2:48 pm

    cool! love these ideas in entertaining our toddler. I would also love to do these even if I’m not ill.

    Reply
    • Emma Edwards says

      July 9, 2014 at 8:59 pm

      No preparation activities are my favourite!

      Reply

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Welcome!

Emma and Adam

During a difficult pregnancy suffering from Hyperemesis Gravidarum (HG) Emma vowed to make every day an adventure once she had recovered. Adventures of Adam is the outcome of completing a 100 day play challenge with Adam as part of that promise. Emma has a section dedicated to HG friendly play activities so that Mums can still be part of their children’s play whilst they are ill.

To learn more about Emma and Adam click here.


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