Sick Day Stations

So Babs is just coming to the end of one of the many upper respiratory infections we have battled this year. However, overall it hasn’t been a horrible cold and flu season for us. We just finished snuggling our way through week three (and hopefully the last week) of being sick. ☺ My motto is always…it could be worse. Any of you who have had a sick toddler know how hard it can be to keep them engaged, while at the same time trying not to have them over exert themselves. This is when I came up with what I call the “Sick Day Stations”. These are just four simple and easy activities you can put together so your child has something new and engaging to do while they aren’t feeling good. The stations include: color matching box, diy ribbon dancer, pom pom tubes, and laundry basket bead slide. The key to being able to use these over and over again is to put them away after they are feeling better. Then when you need them again you can pull them out and your toddler will fall in love all over again!

Here is a quick run through of how to make them. 😆

Color Matching Box

The materials you are going to need include a cardboard box, multi-colored balls, marker or duck tape, and scissors or a box cutter.
We chose to use four different colored balls so our box has four holes cut into it. Once you cut four u holes in your box you can either colors around the whole a with marker or you can use duck tape. We used marker since we are out of colored duck tape at the moment. Their should be one hole for each color ball. Hand it over to the little one and you are done. ☺

DIY Ribbon Dancer

Babs loves playing with ribbon dancers in gymnastics so we decided to make one at home! The materials you are going to need include a hair tie of some kind and ribbon. We have tons of ribbon in our gift wrapping box. The scrunchie I used came with Babs leotard. I figured since her hair is STILL not thick enough to use it we could use it for this. Cut ribbon to the length you want. Ours are about two and a half feet long. Tie the ribbon to your hair tie. The more ribbon strands the better! Turn on some music and away they will go!

Pom Pom Tubes

Grab some pom poms and old toilet paper or paper towel rolls that I just know you are secretly saving for a project like this…lol! We have an old dresser downstairs in our storage room that is dedicated to recycled materials and craft items. We have so many toilet paper rolls I am always looking for new ways to use them. Tape a few of them to the wall in the same general area. We use masking tape or painters tape because it doesn’t mark up our walls. Place some pop poms in a container below the toilet paper tubes. Show the little ones how they can drop the pom pom in the top of the tube and it falls out the bottom. It is still amazing to me what a hit this one was!

Laundry Basket Bead Slide

For this one you will need a laundry basket, ribbon, and beads. Thread the beads on the ribbon. Babs helped with this. Then tie them across the laundry basket in different ways. They can then slide the beads around anyway the like. Needless to say my laundry basket was out of commission for a few days. Good thing I have multiple. ☺

Please keep in mind these activities should also be done supervised. Some of them have small parts that can present a chocking hazard.

Hope this helps keep your little ones busy when they aren’t feeling good or when you need a sick day now and then!