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Sick Day Activities
A Little Fun for Toddlers When They're Not Feeling So Well
By Amy Henry
What's more fun than a barrel of monkeys? Well, the answer probably isn't a sick toddler, but there's plenty you can do to keep your little one entertained when she's under the weather.
Getting food down a sick child can be challenging. "When you're sick, you don't usually feel much like eating, and that's true for kids, too," says Dr. Peter Blier, a pediatrician and father of two from Amherst, Mass.
That's when you switch it up and serve "breakfast for dinner," suggests Ann Douglas, an Ontario, Canada, mom of four and author of numerous parenting books including The Mother of All Toddler Books (Wiley, 2004). French toast and pancakes are toddler favorites. "You can add blueberries and call them chicken pox pancakes," Douglas says.
Amity Gaige, an Amherst, Mass., mom, solves the problem by making food fun. Her 2-year-old son loves it when they cook together, and it takes his mind off his woes. "We make simple things, like banana bran muffins," Gaige says. "I pre-measure the ingredients while he's resting, then he dumps it all in. He plays with the soft flour and the raisins, and he loves to mash the bananas."
Every child loves a tea party. Served in style at the dining room table with placemats decorated by your toddler, it's an event bound to inspire both appetite and smiles. Make the "tea" a juice-based smoothie and your child will get the fluids Dr. Blier says are all-important to prevent dehydration.
