20+ ways from my experience and 1 life hack
This article is about
- how to spend useful leisure time with a child if you find yourself in a confined space and the usual activity is minimized;
- how to captivate a child without having any helpers at hand (for example, toys);
- how to turn a gadget into a means of development, and not a waste of time.
The information is useful for both moms and dads. It will be useful for grandparents, and all people interested in the development of the child. I believe that these methods can be easily adapted to any conditions in which the child is eager to be active, but there are physical difficulties in space.
No one is safe from the hospital room. But it’s one thing to lie on your own (one adult). And quite another — with a child. It is one thing to lie with a calm, obedient, submissive child. And it is quite another thing to lie with an active, inquisitive, inquisitive fidget. The latter case will be discussed today. Interesting? Then go ahead!
Before, I was in the hospital with a newborn baby — right after the hospital. This experience was wonderful: the child sleeps, eats, periods of wakefulness are small, gradually increasing. The question of spending time arose only for me. And she easily coped with this task: she drew, wrote, read, communicated. This summer, a situation of a new kind took place: how to get around boredom with a child, if we were going urgently, unexpectedly and at night? The thought of taking the toys never crossed my mind!
That’s how I was lucky enough to be with a child in the ward without all the materials at hand that are available at home.
Children-neighbors sleep, eat, + accompanying actions on the potty, cry and in a new circle. My child is extremely active. The disease in no way interferes with the activity and curiosity of my 2-year-old child. Yes, you can turn on cartoons. That’s what my neighbor mom did. The video, without a doubt, fascinates the child. And at the same time, it inhibits the ability to imagine, imagine, think, absorbs physical activity. My task is to raise my daughter as a thinking, developed person. The desire to move is a natural property of a child. During movement, the brain develops. It was the movement that helped to remove the frightening diagnosis of cerebral palsy. I will write about this experience another time.
And now about how creative thinking saved me once again.
Here is a list of selected and invented actions:
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Active motor help reduce physical activity, as energy is expended:
- pour water (we were given bottles and cups) — helps to develop dexterity and coordination;
- jump in bed
- roll the bed (if there are wheels by the bed). You can roll in the child’s bed. A side effect of this action is that only the parent’s power is wasted;
- spin, squat, somersault — do exercises on the floor;
- roll/move the chair around the ward;
- perform articulation exercises. If you don’t know how, do any antics with lips, cheeks, tongue, masks of emotions. We had cotton buds. Therefore, gymnastics was with complicating techniques. This daughter was amused. A nice bonus for mom: helps to keep the face youthful;
- knock / clap / stomp N times, ask the child to repeat. Additionally, it develops hearing, a sense of rhythm, attentiveness, counting, and smoothly moves on to the next group of exercises.
Cognitive-developing help to increase attentiveness, the ability to count, analyze, develop speech:
- look out the window with the child and count the objects that are visible from the window. You can organize something like a competition. For example, ask how many men/women do you think will pass the window today? Everyone puts forward their own version. At the end of the day, the person with the closest number wins. We had a lot of different houses and cars outside the window, so the following item arose:
- compare objects: large and small houses, cars and trucks, small and large trucks, etc. objects/features;
- consider carefully any object, name its features, invent stories about it. Variations of questions help with this: What happened before? What will happen after? It develops speech, thinking, and imagination.
The next day we had paper and felt-tip pens, beads. This greatly increased leisure! And it led to the emergence of a group of activities that help develop fine motor skills, coordination, and imagination. Named her artistic and aesthetic actions:
- draw something just like that, everything that comes to mind, in traditional ways. Interest in it passes quickly. It is more expedient to encourage non-traditional ways of drawing. For example, when one of the felt-tip pens was disassembled into parts, we began to draw with a soft rod with paint. They poked, smeared, squeezed, knocked. There were traces of various kinds. As a result, the drawing «Fish over the Earth» came out:
- draw doodle drawings. It helps to develop imagination, invent, remove barriers in drawing (information for adults who are eager to draw, but there is a harmful thought “I can’t”). This technique was practiced by Leonardo da Vinci, he also invented it. My daughter got a dog like this:
- take pictures of drawings and process them in photo editor or any other photo app. Helps develop hand muscles if you can draw on the screen with your fingers. This lesson lasted about an hour (the longest). This paragraph shows how the gadget turns into a means of development. Some of our options for such an undertaking:
- tear paper. You can look at the pieces and figure out what they look like. Pieces can be sorted by size. There is a roll call with the previous group;
- cut paper (if you have scissors), draw something on paper and cut it out;
- stringing beads on a thick thread (they were given to us, but I found yarn as a needlewoman).
Can add cognitive and developmental effect and:
- invent stories with the heroes of the drawings;
- make homemade books from a sheet of paper, examine them and read.
If you add to a sheet of paper active-motor component, then the variations are:
- crumple the sheet into a ball and use it as a ball. There will be more classes. Since we all know a considerable number of such ball games, I will not mention them;
- make an airplane and let it fly, catch up. If you make two airplanes, then you can arrange competitions. You can organize a master class for children on folding any origami figure.
This list goes on. For example, now variants of games with hands came into my head. Turn your hand into a boa constrictor and talk to the child. You can explore the shadow theater and make a performance. Draw an animal, cut it out or tear it out of the sheet, make holes for the index and middle fingers, and now the figure can move. With older children, come up with poems. Reincarnate yourself in animals, repeat their movements, imitate their sounds. Play pantomime. The list is endless.
Life hack. I decided for myself: it’s good to have a list of important things (memo) if you have a long stay with a child in a confined space. It would be nice to create a kind of saving chest-bag with gizmos that can be used in different ways. In case of emergency fees for hospitalization with a child, this chest will be a great helper.
Here’s what I would put in such a bag:
necessarily
- sheets of A4 paper (a notebook / album is also suitable, but neat books can be made from a sheet without using scissors);
- colored pencils and a sharpener (felt-tip pens are also suitable, but a small child can draw on the walls, bed, table. Pencils minimize such consequences);
- a pen (you can draw eyes, a mouth on your finger and it’s no longer a finger, but the hero of a story / fairy tale. If you take simple felt-tip pens, then the face will quickly be erased);
additionally
- small cubes / designer;
- scissors;
- maybe a few small plastic toys.
This list will be different. My child is 2 years old and this list is quite relevant for him. Focus on the age of the child, his interests and your wishes.
Have you been in the hospital? Then share your story in the comments about how you spent time with benefit.