At home with a sick child? Kids’ playfulness rarely takes a break, even if they’re ill. But as a parent, you might prefer that they stick to calmer, indoor games until they’re feeling better. We’ve brought together our best ideas for kids who need to rest but still want to have some fun.
A soft lump of magic dough in the hands triggers the creative desire of children and adults alike. Making it is easy, and you probably already have the ingredients at home. You can make magic dough into almost anything: friendly monsters, scary, weird animals, or maybe even imaginative sculptures for someone you love!
To make magic dough you need:
100 ml water
200 grams flour
100 grams salt
1 tbsp oil
Food colouring
Mix all the ingredients together and start kneading! Be careful not to put the dough in your mouth, as it contains a large amount of salt. You can store it in the fridge in an airtight jar. If you want, you can dry the magic dough figures you make in the oven. Set it to 100 degrees celsius and let your creations dry for 1-2 hours depending on their size. When they’ve cooled, you can paint them in beautiful colours!
The zoo’s just opened and there’s a parade of all the exciting and exotic animals! The head zookeeper is thrilled and has invited a crowd of visitors to an exclusive preview event. In quirky safari clothes, he takes a seat on the stage and presents the animals one by one.
To play you need:
Paper
Pen
Tape
The zookeeper tapes a piece of paper to the wall and starts drawing the first animal. When someone thinks they know what it is, they shout their guess. Is it a crocodile? A crow? A horse? Or the family cat? When someone guesses correctly, it's time to start with the next animal.
Extra idea! In addition to all ordinary animals, sometimes there are a number of very special hybrids of two animals that the zookeeper is extra proud of. These are the animals that are most difficult to recognize… Is it an elephant dog, a Dalmatian gull, or a lion rat?!
Construction dominos and building blocks can be made into almost anything, and are just as fun for older kids as they are for younger ones. Pour a pile of construction dominos and building blocks on the floor or a surface that’s sturdy enough for a large, beautiful building. And just get going!
Build a fort in which teddy bears can protect themselves from dangerous dragons.
Arrange construction dominos in a line and see how they knock each other down.
Build a road for toy cars to drive on.
Make enclosures for toy animals.
Or see how high a tower you can build without it collapsing!
In the seven-seater sofa sea, there are plenty of floor fish to catch, but watch out, it's stormy! The master fishermen on the tiny fishing boat M/S Sofa Cushion have got their work cut out if they want to land some carpet salmon, floor plaice, or rug roaches. And as if the weather wasn’t challenging enough, there’s something really ugly lurking down there…
To play you need:
Lots of beautiful fish
A seriously ugly fish
Fishing rods (sticks with wire and bait in the form of a golf ball-sized ball of really sticky tape)
A sofa to fish from
The master fishermen draw and cut out lots of nice paper fish and one very nasty looking one. They lay the fish on the floor in front of the sofa with their backs facing up. Each fisherman takes their own rod, sits on the sofa, and starts fishing by sweeping the tape ball across the floor. If a fisherman catches the ugly fish, he has to throw his entire catch back! The game ends when all the fish have been caught.
What's missing? This is a simple game that you can easily make challenging for your child. Three objects are enough for the little ones, and it gets trickier and trickier the more objects you add.
Lay out toy animals, cars, or other small items on the floor or a table. Let your child look at the objects and memorise them. Then have them close their eyes while you remove one of the objects. Let your child look again. Which of the objects is gone?
Soon you’ll have the whole family scratching their heads! Who will be the family's master of memory? When you’ve chosen the winner, hand out a nice certificate and arrange an award ceremony!
Oh no, the toys are poorly! The doll doctor calls in one patient at a time, examines them carefully, and makes a diagnosis. The toys will be on the mend soon, but for now, what seems to be the problem?
TEDDY BEAR CRAMPS
Most commonly recognised on tired ears and paws. A loose head and dusty eyes are also common symptoms. Teddy bear cramps are cured with kisses, but in some cases, a warm bath is also recommended.
DOLL FEVER
Dolls left on their own and under beds and sofas often suffer from this disease. It’s also called forgotten toy stress and can easily be cured by surrounding the doll with the company of other, more popular dolls. A little warm magic tea is also beneficial.
TRUMPET TONGUE
This disease mainly affects stuffed animals, but also dolls with visible tongues. The cure is to sing to the patient for five to ten minutes.
COUGHING TOY SYNDROME
Children's favourite toys can catch a cough after excessive play. This is common among toy cars and trains. The cure is to put all the cars and trains in a long line and drive them.
How fun is a little milk and some food colouring? Very fun indeed! This experiment is super quick, so is great for impatient, curious young children. Get your lab coat ready, and let's pretend we’re all brainy researchers!
For the experiment you need:
A mould with high edges
Milk
Food colouring
A little washing up liquid
Toothpick
Pour about 1 centimetre of milk into the mould. Add a few drops of food colouring, preferably lots of different colours. Dip the toothpick in the washing up liquid and then touch the food colouring. What happens?!
