9 At-home activities for sick kids

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4. Busy bling

Your child can make a necklace or bracelet to pass the time while she's recuperating. Set up a TV tray in her bed and supply her with some pretty beads and thin elastic thread. Tie one bead at the end of the thread, then let her string other beads onto the elastic in a pattern. Tie the two ends of the elastic and trim off the excess.

3. Puppet show

Pull out some old socks, random buttons that have fallen off shirts, plus some fabric scraps and fabric glue — and let your child's creativity run wild. Once you have finished making your sock puppets, put on a little puppet show with your child.

2. Draw yourself

Have your child lie down on a long piece of butcher paper and trace his outline with a black magic marker. Then let him decorate his likeness however he chooses.

1. For the birds

Clean out a milk carton, glue the top closed and help your child build a birdhouse. Cut a dowel twice the length of the milk carton, and then cut a hole just large enough for the dowel to fit through on either side of the carton at the same level. Slide the dowel through and apply glue where the wood meets the carton. Cut a few other holes in the carton large enough for the birds to get through. Poke two holes in the top of the carton; thread a string through it, then tie it. Fill the feeder with birdseed and hang it from a branch outside.