3 Year Old in a Half Body cast....need Gift Ideas

My cousin was in a half body cast back in the 1960's due to a car hitting him while riding his bike. His parents made him something to get around on that looked like a wide wooden skateboard. He would lie on his stomach and wheel himself around using his arms. It gave him some mobility along with a bit of fun.

oh my goodness. i have a son who will be 4 in July and I can't imagine how hard that will be for him! my son is very much into trucks and trains and building things. maybe something to do with building stuff with his hands...like a lego set (the larger pieces not the small ones), lincoln logs, board games like candy land, etc. coloring books, paint sets, activity books to practice writing letters & numbers. my son also loves playing electronic hand held games. we have ipods/iphones with apps & games on them for toddlers & preschoolers that are very educational and my son would play them for hours if we let him! Some movies may not be a bad idea either! good luck and here's hoping for a speedy recovery!

Picture books...stories that he enjoys so someone can read to him.
They have this Leappad Reader book with a pen that helps him learn how to read for if the folks are busy trying to say, make lunch.
Aquadoodle can rest on his lap, lap tray and coloring books with those triangle crayons (so they stay put).
Small cd player and kid stories and music...
Hope the wee one feels better soon.

Nobody has mentioned Color Wonder yet, either. My almost-3 year old LOVES her big sister's Color Wonder markers (they only write on special paper). I don't buy them often because they are expensive, but because she is obsessed with markers, we do get them from time to time b/c they are so much easier than cleaning up the mess later. . . .

i know people have mentioned similar things but the leagfrog TAG reading is system is so great. my 3 year old LOVES it. the system itself is $50. (for the pen and a book) but if he already has it mabye you could get some more books for him. Or go in with another friend. it is so great. the latest technology and i would highly recommend it. I got my three year old the 4-7 one instead of the younger one. she does great with it.

My daughter has a friend and at 3 she was in a half body cast and unable to move. We took her flowers with lots of balloons! It brings the feeling of outside in when they can't get out to smell the outside. I feel that smell has a lot to do with healing. Plus she had fun laying in bed or in the wheel chair and playing with the balloons. Also we made sure to go over and see her at least once or twice a week. They would color together, play games or play with different toys. My daughter was so willing to help and would get stuff for her all the time and pick stuff up that she dropped. She got very board with watching movies and coloring but having someone there with her helped the time go for both her and her parents. Both of her parents could see a huge difference after we left and said she actually became sleepy because it was something different for her.

Hope this helps!

Oh, wow. Poor little thing. Let's see...my son is a little older (5 y o), but it seems that he liked pretty much the same things when he was 4... Everything listed below was great... I'd also get him a cool new movie (Planet 51, Cloudy with a Chance of Meatball) or hand puppets (my son loves playing with and watching puppet shows). Those Duplo (sp?) blocks kept him busy for hours. Playdough...that will keep him busy! Board game that his parents can play with him... Hope those ideas help!

Awwww...poor kid! That will be tough for him I'm sure. When my son was 3, he used to like the interactive books with sounds (they have a "pen" pointer attached with a string). Also he might like the little Leap Frog toy that teaches how to write letters, simple pictures, etc. (Sorry-can't remember the name--it's about 5x7 in size with a small screen). Also story CDs would be great for passing time. Hope he's better FAST!

I have a 3 year old son who was in a half body cast (spica cast) this fall after he fell and broke his femur. Yes, 6 weeks in a cast like that for a child that age is about as tortorous as it sounds. For my son, we did a lot of movies and books. We also had some creative friends who brought over stuff. We borrowed a Leapster from my best friend - that helped a lot; he really like that. I also found that any magnet game/puzzle was great because he could play with it lying down. After a few weeks, they learn to become a little mobile so my son learned how to play action figures with his older brother, even in his disabed state. Feel free to email me if you have more questions - ____@____.com.

VTech makes a good handheld game system. It's called the CyberPocket. They also make the VSmile and the VSmile Motion (not sure if the motion would be good or not..no idea how much Motion it actually requires.) We have the VSmile and it's great for a 3 year old (my dd just turned 3). The games are all educational and come in different age ranges. You can find them used on eBay for about $10 a game. Puzzles, books, crayons and coloring books, fingerpaints, action figures. My suggestion would be to not give him a ton of new toys at once. Maybe one every couple of days, that way when he starts to lose interest in the toy, he'll have a new one to play with.

Sticker books, Etch a Sketch, magnetic board with letters, legos, Game Boy, etc.

Puzzles! Lots of puzzles and coloring books! Also, go into the hands on museum and they have a little pocket volcano, my 4 and 3 yr old LOVE it. Good luck! (Maybe his doc will let him sit in a wheel chair and go through the Henry Ford Museum)

Markers! With all that cast space, there is bound to be some great opportunities for doodling and drawing on that thing either by the child, friends or family members!

It might also be fun to get a nerf shooter. Something with a target that he can aim at and shoot with limited motion.

What about buying him one of those trays for coloring or eating on. They are at Owl's Nest and Learning Express. You can have them personalized.