Make a Bedside Entertainment Kit
In a lightweight bag, store crossword-puzzle and word-search books, stickers and sticker books, pencils, crayons, markers, colouring books, modeling clay and pipe cleaners — and any other things your child can choose from to keep quietly busy. She can work with her modeling clay on a plastic tray to keep her bedding clean.
Make a Collage
Make use of those old magazines and create a fun collage. Have your child cut out pictures she likes, according to a theme or to tell a story, and have her glue them to construction paper. She can make one for herself and one for a friend, a grandparent or her teacher.
Write a Book
Children love stories, and often love to create their own. Using either a blank-paged journal or a stapled, homemade booklet, help her get her own story on paper. She'll get to be the author and the illustrator! Note: Don't limit her to just crayons or markers — she also can use stickers to tell her story.
Make Tissue-Paper Flowers
Not much is cheerier than huge, brightly coloured tissue-paper flowers, and they're easy to make!
Here's what you'll need:
- Coloured tissue paper
- Chenille stems (or pipe cleaners)
- Scissors
- Ruler
- Cut tissue paper into 5-by-7-inch sheets.
- Stack six or seven sheets of paper.
- Working from the 7-inch side, accordion-pleat the paper.
- Wrap a chenille stem or pipe cleaner around center.
- Gently draw the "petals" of tissue paper forward to form a flower.
Have Bath-time Fun
Adults sometimes forget how fun it was to play in the bathtub as a child. Just add bath bubbles and toys, and she'll have an hour of good, clean fun. And don't forget the bathtub crayons! She can create works of art and write messages on the tile, and simply rinse them away.
Don't Forget Her Schoolwork
She'll be much happier when she does return to school if she's kept up with her classroom assignments. You'll both be more likely to remember if you set aside a regular time each day for her to complete her homework, so she doesn't fall behind in class. Note: Check with her teacher to see if there are any projects she can do at home for extra credit, or reading she can do to get ahead. It may not seem fun at the time, but she'll thank you for it later!
