Guest guest Posted November 24, 2008 Report Share Posted November 24, 2008 --- Janeene McGrandy wrote: > > > Just the other day, my 4 year old had to sit and watch 8 hours of movies, and accepted that even though she was " sad because she just wants me to play with her " , because I could not move because of my pain level that day. I felt like a complete failure! Janeene - I feel for you. You are NOT a failure. But maybe we could brainstorm some ideas of things you could do to interact with your daughter that wouldn't involve you moving. As long as she has your attention, she will be happy - she doesn't need you to crawl around on the floor or run in the yard to " play. " I'm going to throw out some ideas - maybe others here would pitch in some of their own? I know Gwen has posted some great ideas here from her own experience - she isn't posting much these days, but perhaps she'll see this and add to the list. Can you have her lie gently next to you in bed and read stories together? This is a great age where they want to hear the same stories over and over and over again - hours can pass doing this, and you're helping build her brain and teach her reading skills at the same time! You could even try making up stories together - another great brain-builder. You could let her dress up and do a fashion show for you that you watch and applaud from bed. You could both draw with crayons - you on a lapboard in your bed, her on the floor - and share your pictures and the stories behind them. If you have a CD player near your bed (or can use your laptop to play them) listen to age- appropriate music together and learn the words and sing them together. Or let her perform for you after she learns a new song. She could put on a play for you - you could come up with the story together and then she could act out the parts. I spent at least three hours on the bed one day recently with my four-year-old great nephew (he calls me " Uncle Cheryl " - hasn't got the gender thing worked out yet, isn't that adorable!) pretending it was a " raft. " We sat lookout and pretended we could see all kinds of things from our " raft " as it floated through the ocean. We " fished " off the edge of the bed (with imaginary fishing poles) then we landed at an " island " and he built a tent with a blanket and a chair on the floor and built an imaginary fire and " cooked " and served the fish. We ate imaginary fish off imaginary plates - no cleanup! All I had to do was lie there and pretend to " fish " and give him the " fish " to put in the imaginary bucket - he did all the work and never noticed that I never moved off the pillow! At that age, they have so much energy and so much imagination. If you just give her suggestions, she'll probably create an entire world for you, and you'll never have to move. She'll love fetching things to create the fun, as long as you're giving her attention. Does anyone else have other ideas for free, fun things to do with a child this age that can be managed from bed or the couch? Cheryl in AZ Moderator Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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