Sick Day Activities for Kids

I know. Sick days are not holidays. However, they are a time when we need some fun activities for kids and, with flu season still a possibility, I thought you might be able to use some tips I remember from my childhood.

Start with a very mild breakfast of tea and toast. For a child, “tea” should be made with a bit of decaf tea, a ton of milk and some honey. (A straw is mandatory. You cannot be sick and drink a beverage of any kind without a straw. It allows you to really be dramatic about how exhausted and sick you feel because you can sort of lean back against the sofa while you sip at the drink.) Cut the toast into fun shapes, like teddy bears, and then lightly butter them and dust with a cinnamon sugar mixture. The whole meal should ideally be presented on a tray with a napkin and a get well soon note from any kids who aren’t feeling sick.

Once the kids have managed to have breakfast, move on to card games. It is surprising how popular Go Fish, Crazy Eights, Memory and Old Maid are with sick kids. (If you have a table that can pull right up to the sofa, you could try a simple board game like Candy Land, but card games really seem to work better because they can play without really sitting up. We were especially fond of Old Maid for some reason.)

Next, watch a lame t.v. show that is a bit too babyish and embarrassing. The show makes kids feel like they are doing something, but while they’re trying not to act too interested in it, they fall asleep and get some more rest.

After they wake up, they get lunch, which involves soup and more toast cut into shapes. This time, my mom held the cinnamon sugar coating.

Then, it is time for afternoon sick day activities:

• We got out the craft scrap box and made bizarre creations, like purple fuzzy toilet paper roll monsters with one big button eye.
• We would pull a box of older toys out of storage and root through it.
• Tell a story or read a book. Literacy bags from the library are really awesome because after you read the story, the kids can act it out with puppets. Seven Blind Mice and Mouse Count are favorites at my local library. If you don’t have any puppets around the house, you can cut out simple shapes, like mouse silhouettes, for them to use.
• Quiet games, like I Spy or Guess the Animal wind down the afternoon so that they can rest again before dinner.

By now, if it is a 24 hour bug, they’re basically back to normal. Unfortunately, since they rested all afternoon, they aren’t very tired and won’t go to bed early. You, on the other hand, are worn to a crisp and spend the next week doing deep background checks on everyone you plan to visit. (You say that your child hasn’t had even a sniffle all year, but your cousin three times removed coughed while talking to you on the phone yesterday? Why don’t we postpone this play date until May?)

What do you do with your kids on sick days? Or if you don’t have kids, do you have any childhood memories of sick day activities?

photo by me