With Monkey being poorly recently we have spent a LOT more time at home than we do normally. First it was a nasty bug where he was very poorly and spent a lot of the time in bed or slumped on the sofa poor thing. Then it was Chicken Pox, which he actually got off pretty lightly with. He didn’t have too many spots and for the most part wasn’t that poorly with either. But because he was contagious we were still pretty much consigned to the house – but with a full of beans toddler! Never an ideal situation for me and even 6 months ago I would have hated the thought of being stuck at home with him.
He is older now and easier to keep entertained, and more able to amuse himself thankfully, but we have still had to come up with a number of activities to keep him busy and out of mischief while we have been stuck at home! We have:
..made a Den and played Big Bad Wolf (thanks to Bing Bunny for that idea!)
and ran cars up and down the “hill”.. 
..jumped up and down on some bubble wrap..
..been cooking Pizzas and baking some yummy cupcakes using this recipe..
..played in his tent and tunnel and had snuggles and silly selfies in there..
…and made some lovely super simple Mother’s Day cards for Nanny and Granny..
I basically let him loose with some glue and sparkles (loose-ish anyway) then cut a hole in a card like a window and stuck his sparkly collage on the inside.
We have also been watching a lot of TV. Thankfully he likes DVDs now and I have finally managed to persuade him just how wonderful Disney films are. So far he likes Wall-E, all of the Toy Story films and Cars but he is much less keen on Up and Monsters Inc which is a shame. I love some of his random TV viewing positions, they do make me chuckle even if I would prefer it if he wasn’t quite so close to the TV!
There has also been lots of drawing, we tape a big bit of paper to the floor and let our imaginations run wild – at the moment it is usually him telling me what to draw but that is still good fun and then he plays with the scene we have created – seascape, road, etc! Stickers and painting are always good too and as he has improved we have been out in the garden a lot too.
How do you keep your toddler entertained if you are stuck at home?
Some great ideas here! It really is hard keeping toddler busy isn’t it!
It can be so hard being stuck indoors with little children, but it looks like you managed to have some fun still. Here looks happy on that bubble wrap!
Thanks for linking #LetKidsBeKids
Being stuck inside is hard. I think you did beautifully. You really kept him busy! Crafts, stories and playing pretend are my go to when my kids are sick. Thank you for sharing 🙂
Some fantastic ideas, I must let the toddler loose with den building, not sure why I’ve never thought of this before!! #toddlerapprovedtuesday
As you can imagine our favourite thing to do when stuck at home is cook! But they also love to draw – love the idea of sticking a big piece of paper on the floor, they’d love that. #ToddlerApprovedTuesday
What a great list of ideas! I find it so difficult to entertain poorly toddlers, it’s exhausting! You look like you did really well, well done! 😀 I hope he’s feeling a bit better now though 🙂 Ray xx #ToddlerApprovedTuesday
http://www.lukeosaurusandme.blogspot.co.uk
Love the blanket and the cards! Looks like he was a busy boy! x
Playdough is my go to if we have a day where we have to stay indoors. Always guarantees at least an hour of peace! Love the TV watching positions #ToddlerApprovedTuesday
Fab ideas, firm favourites here, too. Funnily enough my two are poorly today so it’s been a day of keeping them entertained here. We’ve had colouring, crafting, the playtent, dancing, Sleeping Beauty DVD and trains. The latter’s still happening, so I’ve sloped off to blog comment! x #LetKidsBeKids
Great ideas, I let them play on their own for a while, but we’ve been doing some role play to day with a blanket as a boat on the floor and we take turns to rescue each other! 🙂 x
We always turn to play dough, board games and crafting when we need to stay in.
Some great ideas here, I love the jumping on bubble wrap 🙂
Thanks so much for linking to #toddlerapprovedtuesday xx
Lucas says – Monkey!!! This is, like, your BEST Mini Creations EVER!!!! So many cool things to do when you’re stuck inside with the Chicken Pox. I think your base camp is very MEGA!!!! Thanks for linking to #minicreations
haha thanks guys! xx
I love these activities! Proper good old fashioned fun! You can see from the photos that despite being ill he is clearly having fun! Hope Monkey is feeling better now and you are allowed to venture out of the house. Thanks for linking up with #playathometuesdays