Day 14: Entertaining My Bored Toddler

She is mostly recovered from her surgery, but still has restrictions. She is not allowed to sit up straight or be on her tummy. So her play options are limited. She was a very active toddler before the surgery, so keeping her occupied and entertained while she's in her cast is important and difficult! It's also important for me as her Mom to find ways for her to play by herself or with someone else without depending on me constantly for comfort. I think I've found a couple of solutions that work well for short periods of time that are not TV or iPad related (yay!). Admittedly though, we still spend a lot of screen time, and I don't see a way around it at least for now.

The Moms on the Hip Dysplasia USA support group pointed me to a couple of Pinterest boards for DIY sensory bins. They're great if your toddler is allowed to sit up straight by themselves. Plus I don't have the energy to contemplate the clean up required for a box full of sand - I'm a lazy Mom! I did use those ideas though to create a couple of colorful boxes to put things in for her to play with. All it took was a cardboard diaper box or a plastic wet wipes box and colorful duct tape. It's been quite the success!

Bonus points for leftover colorful duct tape rolls which make very pretty bangles :).

A chalkboard and some colorful pieces of chalk are always entertaining. Though she doesn't have the concept of drawing down yet, it provides an opportunity for a few minutes of independent play. It's not half as entertaining as the sensory box though!