Pregnant Mom on Bed Rest Looking for Things to Do with 4 Year Old. HELP!

I just bough a really fun art game involving mosaics. It has little magnetic circles of different colors and a magnetic board and instructions with ideas for designs. The one I bought has an aboriginal theme with patterns and designs from that culture - really cool! So if you like that fine motor skill type stuff its great. (I took it on a trip where there would be no electronics and I enjoyed it as much as my 5 and 12 year old) Its called Mosaic Dreamings by the Orb Factory. They have other similar stuff. I bought it online - just google the name. Good luck getting thru to the end!

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I have some games you could do outside with her.

Red Light, Green Light. You can sit there and be the caller while she runs. If you have a remote control car or something, that could run for you if she wants to be the caller.

What time is it Mr. Fox? This is fun. You'd be Mr. Fox. She asks you what time it is. Give her a time and she takes that many steps. If you can close your eyes or turn around that's good, but you probably don't want to take your eyes off her outside. When she gets close enough and asks for the time, you tell her it's Lunchtime! Now, typically, you'd chase her and when you catch her it'd be her turn to be Mr. Fox. Perhaps you could tickle her or something instead.

Simon Says would work if she's a good listener. You could maybe borrow a wheelchair from someone and have her push you around. Hang in there! Not much time left!

My almost 5 year old girl has many quiet activities we enjoy together...we play her Disney Priness matching card game, Princess Yahtzee, and Dinosaur Bingo. She also loves to play with her Barbies and changing their clothes to go shopping or to the fancy ball or to the beach. We do homework books together...practicing writing words and doing easy addition and reading the beginner books. She also loves when we paint our nails together or put on "makeup" together. Good luck...it sounds like you are almost at the finish line!

BTW - you might want your new baby to have a present waiting for big sister at the hospital. When our son was born we had a gift for big sister (a Cinderella dress for her and a matching Cinderella barbie to play with) from her new brother. She still says that dress and doll are from him when she plays with them.

I was on bedrest when my son was 5. I was on strict bedrest and delivered in the summer so I placed in a daycamp at the YMCA. He absolutely loved it, he never felt like it was taking time away from me because he was having so much fun. Does your local YMCA have a tumbling or swimming program for preschoolers? I bet she would enjoy it and you could sit back and watch. We also played alot of computer games while at home. Also if you have family or friends willing to help out by taking her to the park etc, utilize it! Good luck

I had modified bedrest with my first. And that can be pretty boring. If you have any old magazines, or can get some, you could do a project with her. Cut out pictures and make little scenes. You could even incorporate the way life will be with the new baby. This was a project we did in class when I was little and it passed the time pretty quickly.

A friend just told me that she and her daighter are going to make a "movie" this weekend. Her d is almost 5. She is going to be in charge of the camera and they are going to play in the yard and make stuff around the house. That is something you could do with her, even without getting up. Then you could watch it together. Silly faces, music is all you would need. Daddy could get involved too.

My son loves board games like Candy Land and Hi Ho Cheerio. We also get a magazine called Playroom (redan.com) that we like to do together. It is nice because the magazine is always new. We do these things during nap time for my youngest when we cannot make too much noise or go out side. Legos, Lite Brites, Play doh and coloring are also fun.

Do you have neighbors with kids your daughters age who could take her out with them? What about a preschool she could go to a couple days a week? Just something for her to do so you don't feel bad that shes "stuck" at home. I dont know where you live but I am happy to introduce you to some families with children your daughters age.

Hi D.,

Hang in there you're almost done! With my boys, we play board games. My boys were taught Monopoly since they were four. They like counting the money and can be educational without them knowing it. Any board game you have should be enjoyable. I usually play with them on the floor, but you can play on the floor while you lay on the coach too. Another suggestion is that she can read to you, that way she is also learning or you can read to her, it doesn't matter as along you are engaging and spending time with her. Does she have barbie dolls? Play dress up barbies, paint fingernails, brush each others hair and play beauty parlor; these are things you can do sitting down.

Guessing games....

"I'm thinking of an animal...I live in _____ and I eat _____....etc...."

Get a bunch of rice or beans, put it in a box sit outside and play with it at a table with cups, etc. like a sandbox.

Get a jump rope. You sit and hold one end and wiggle it like a snake. See if she can jump over it. Make the wiggles bigger and bigger.

Have her compete in Olympic Events. Just tell her she has to do the "High Jump" or the "10 foot dash", or "Olympic dancing" etc....hold up cards with numbers to judge her score...

Puppet shows

Let her raid your jewelry box while you sit with her.

Look at your wedding album with her....my daughter LOVES this because everyone is in their pretty pretties.

Print out free mazes & coloring pages from the internet.

Hire a teenager in the neighborhood to play with her after school for an hour a day. You can pay them $4/hr and they can give her some good run around time.

Shaving cream painting outside. If you have an outdoor table cover it in shaving cream and let her make designs.

Or make goop...One cup of cornstarch and a small amount of water. Makes sticky goopy stuff to play with on a table or tray. You can add food coloring to make it pretty.

Starfall.com and PBSkids are great websites that you could talk through while you sit and it's a little better then tv because they are more interactive and she can learn some things from them.

Also, don't feel guilty! Sounds like you are a great mom. Everyone in a family has to adjust to changes.She really will be fine. I remember worrying about my 1st with my 2nd coming too.

~H. M.

I second the games. My 4yo daughter loves Pretty Pretty Princess and Dominoes-I like them too!

Another idea is puzzles. Start out with the 24 piece ones and once she gets good, move up to a 100 piece-she'll need more help from you then.

Congratulations on the new baby!

Is she reading yet? This may be your best time to work with her on learning to read. It will help her going to kindergarten next year and she'll feel good about herself accomplishing something new. There are also lots of things you can do with art and music that will benefit her later.

Don't feel horrible about your lack of ability to play with her. Just spending time with you, even crawling in bed and playing a board game, cards, drawing, watching movies are all helpful. You can even hire a neighbor girl to take her to the park, in the afternoon. Just to have mommy's undivided attention - it's priceless. There will be a lot of time, soon, to be active.... lovely long walks in the Fall await you!

What's important here is that YOU stay off your feet and take care of yourself. I was on complete bed rest for two months and, even then, my healthy daughter came two early.

And, just a thought... when my second child, (a son), was born, he bought his "big sister (who was 3 years old)" a beautifully wrapped present (children's song video and a book). She just thought that was "so nice of her new brother to do that!".... It's a great time in your lives and I hope everything goes well for you.

Best of luck.

I haven't read the other responses, so sorry if this is a repeat. She's at the perfect age for board games. Chutes and Ladders, Candy Land, Zingo, Hi Ho Cherrio, Cooties and on and on are some of my daughters favorites (she is also 4). Try reading longer, chapter books, with some pictures, and talk about the story as you read to keep her interested, and get some other new books. You can cuddle and watch movies/cartoons together maybe with a special treat as you cuddle under the covers. You can even bring Barbies/dolls into the bed if she's interested in that. My daughter loves to pretend the bed is a boat and you have to pack and prepare for the trip etc - talk about what you may need on a long trip away from home and have her pack it up and bring it to the "boat." Clothes, food, get the dollies packed too etc. Good luck and I hope you are well.

1. Where are you located? I think the best thing u can do is have friends over, like have a playgroup or friend with their child come to you because then the child is occupied with visitors and the visitors can move around more than you. If you're near Jefferson Park I'd love to come by; I used to teach 4 year olds til lmy own baby was born last year!

Also, here are some ideas for stuff you can do alone with the child (when I was pregnant and had morning sickness teaching preschool and K was a challenge and I had to learn all the tricks so that I could lie down and teach without killin myself!)

1. obviously DVD
2. books
3. the kid tells you a story and you have to act it out (which you can do lying down or use a puppet) and then you tell a story and she acts it out
4. the same as above but the story must be sung-- rock style, country, popstar, opera, etc.
5. puppets
6. you can hide something and play "hot and cold" and she has to find it (this is good cuz SHE'S walking around but you're not and you can limit it to 2 rooms so you can see her)
6. I Spy (like I see something green do you know what it is)
7. instruments (teach her some piano or recorder or xylophone etc.)
8. blocks
9. pipe cleaner, sticker, or other kind of no-spill/mess crafts without a lot of pieces or parts to get lost, no glue or paint
10. coloring with crayons
11. computer games (there are lots of free educational ones online

LYING-DOWN GAMES TO PLAY WITH MORE THAN 1 CHILD
-anything from the list above
- sleeping lions: the kids lie down and you see who can be totally still the longest
- the kids put on a play for you
-charades (we play a simplified version called "animal charades" in which one kid acts out an animal and the kids have to guess which one etc.)
- food preparation (like the child can cut her own bananas with a butter knife etc.-- see a montessori preschool activity webpage for more ideas

OUTDOOR IDEAS
- have her bury your feet in sand or dirt and then you do the same for her if possible
- chalk
- make designs with rocks
- sun paper stuff-- that special paper where you put a leaf or something on it and then put it in the sun and the sun makes an imprint on the paper
- back yard scavenger hunt where you give her a list of things to look for and she finds them for you
- teach her how to weed (some kids like it)
- bug hunt if you can stand it haha
- sprinkler or baby pool... she can practice going under water if that's new for her or snorkling or something

Maybe so she doesn't feel like the baby's taking her away from you, you 2 can make something together for the baby and make a big deal out of how the baby's big sister made it. Start teaching her how to be a big girl since she'll need to be soon anyway. You can teach her how to "sew" like with yarn and one of those grate-looking thingys they sell at Michael's crafts. Weaving and sewing with yarn and a kid-needle that's not sharp is easy, time consuming, you can talk or sing or listen to music while you do it, and you guys can make decorations for the baby's room and her room that way.

If she feels like she's contributing to the baby's happiness then she'll feel like you and she are in this together and not like it's you and the baby and she's cut out of your you-and-baby-world ya know?

Good luck! Let me know what happens!