Stuck in the House

Honestly, when my kid's sick, we have comfort food and movies. She has a little tent (or you could make one out of blankets and pillows) and she gets to pick movies.

Puzzles. Start a big jigsaw puzzle because it's something you can do together that doesn't involve electronics. You can also start & stop. Ask a neighbor to lend you one if you don't have any. But they are inexpensive to pick up and have on hand.

Card games teach strategy and numbers, and they are fun! Get a book of games if you don't know how to play, or google the rules.

Build a fort. Push some chairs together and use some old blankets or sheets and some clothespins to make a tent. Have a snack inside the tent.

Have a picnic in the den - put out a picnic cloth or an old sheet, and use picnicware or paper plates to snack or have lunch on the floor.

Have Upside Down Day - have pizza or hamburgers for breakfast and cereal for dinner.

Have Crazy Dress Day. Wear your clothes inside out. Put together silly combinations. Take pictures to send to Grandma.

Tell stories about your family - your grandparents, what you remember as a kid or what your parents had. Share stories of TVs with no remote controls, typewriters with no auto-correct or delete, real books, only one car to a family,
playing with neighborhood kids instead of distant/organized play dates, birthday parties at home instead of with 50 kids at a venue.

Have a scavenger hunt. Or put a bunch of random items on a tray, have him study them, cover with a cloth, and see how many he can remember (you write them down as he comes up with them). Try: keys, scissors, paper clip, spoon, bandaid, hairbrush, shampoo bottle, Q-tip, lego, matchbox car, candle, safety pin, rubber band..... use your imagination. OR, put 10 items on a tray, have him study it, then remove one item while he covers his eyes and see if he can guess what's missing. Then he does the same thing for you.

You'd be surprised at how much fun you can have without a computer, TV or video game!

By the time you get this done, he'll be able to go out.

But these are good ideas to have in your "bag of tricks" for future sick days or power failures.

Make a fort in the liviing room w/blankets & pillows.

Have an indoor picnic on the floor of the living room on a blanket.

Make an indoor "fair" complete w/a bean bag toss (be creative in what to use if you can't make 3 sm bean bags from scrap fabric & beans), fish game (makeshift pole from anything, string & a clothespin for a hook, have him throw it over the sofa w/you behind. You attach sm prizes to the clothespin. Use dollar bills, quarters, bar of candy etc. Whatever you can gather together from around the house.).

Make cookies

Make home-made Christmas cards

Make a graham cracker "gingerbread" house. Make your own frosting.

If you have any scraps of material around the house, make him a small, cute pillow for his room. Hand sew 3 sides, stuff w/whatever you have around the house that you can spare.

Play cards

Watch cartoons, a Christmas movie on tv etc.

Sorry he's sick... bronchitis is the worst!!

Make some crafts:

Salt dough ornaments are easy and fun!

http://followpics.com/better-than-salt-dough-12-cup-corns...

Coffee filter snowflakes:

http://heartofwisdom.com/blog/easy-cheap-winter-craft-pap...

Here's a blog dedicated to kid's crafting:

http://www.redtedart.com/kids-crafts/

Just turn off the gadgets/tv, and tell him to play.
Kids on their own, can come up with things.
It uses their creativity.
"You" do not have to, entertain everything for him.
My son is now 6, and he is GREAT at coming up with things on his own. He invents games with his figures and super heroes and boxes and empty toilet paper rolls, and HE will take the lead and tell me how "his" game works... and we play.
Or he will tell me he wants to just play by himself.

Let him... just come up with things, himself.
And you do not have to do it ALL day.

Give him a bunch of empty boxes.
Let his imagination run.

Then, since your son is sick, he may need to just nap.

My son is a go-go-go ADHD type. When he's sick I superglue his tush to the couch with a movie marathon just so he can rest and recuperate. "Sick Rules", in my house, just being completely different than normal rules.

If he's feeling well enough not to be laying down all day, just set up some fun things for him to do on his own while you get stuff done:
puzzles, Legos/blocks, play doh, paint/paper, etc.
Things you can do together:
READ to him, play a game, let him help you cook dinner, bake a batch of cookies, do a toy clean out/organize his room
Hope he feels better soon!

You have gotten lots of great ideas! Reading a fun book is fun too. Most kids love to be read too! Make a fun video of someone would be fun too.

Blanket pillow fort time!
Make some popcorn and watch a movie in it.
Then snuggle up and read to him as many stories as he wants.
You can break this up with a warm steamy bath (have him cough as much as he can while steamed up in the bath to get that phlem up and out) a few times.
I hope he feels better soon!