Bedrest Activities 1.0

I've been trying to come up with some new and interesting activities that I can do with Burkley while laying on the couch. Since I have to be on my side for 4-6 hours a day, my two year old is getting very restless. I know it's a combination of him being two, it being winter, the impending family changes, and me being very inactive that are causing his odd behavior lately, but he is getting kooky and fairly aggressive. To combat this, I'm trying to be more intentional about engaging him in activities that he finds enjoyable while I still get my required number of hours in a horizontal position without using all of that time to watch movies.

I did some Googling as well as sifting through old bookmarked websites and found some great activities from various Busy Bag idea sites like this and employed the use of our new printer we got for Christmas. I went to Kinkos and did some laminating (I've got to get myself a laminator!!) and he's really been liking these new activities!

The $1 Spot at Target has plush pom poms for sale right now. I grabbed a few pockets with the idea in mind that I had seen on a few websites. There are printables for this activity, but I just drew circles by hand and colored them in with markers that matched our pom poms. We call it the "Pattern Train" game and he can play it anywhere. In this picture he was playing it while I cooked breakfast. But, it's a great one he can do with me on the couch or on the floor while I lounge.

He is an eager-beaver when it comes to letters, so I knew this one would be a hit. Again, I got the printable online and laminated this activity. He closes his eyes, randomly chooses a letter, then finds the upper and lowercase of each letter on the mat. Easy peasy and he loves it. I have him tell me the letter he sees and the sound it makes, if he knows. He likes this one for about 8ish letters and then he wants to throw the bin of letters around the room, which is fine... :)

I don't know that I've ever mentioned that my child is OBSESSED with dinosaurs. He absolutely loves all things dinosaurs and is becoming a little expert on them. I knew this game would be a hit. It's pretty obvious that you just match up the dino halves. He also likes to create silly dinosaurs like a "stegaceratops" or what have you. 

All of these "sitting" games have been good, but I also need him to keep moving throughout the day. As an active little boy with a mama who's couch-bound, he has taken to climbing and jumping on ME to expel his energy, which is obviously not okay. I found these great printables for making dice and I happened to have some leftover wooden cubes from a Christmas gift I made, so I printed them, cut them out, and Burkley helped me glue them on. Obviously there are six sides, but I figured you got the hint well enough for me to not need to show all the sides. :) Anyway, we call it his "Action Block" and he loves to roll it (throw it) and see what shows up. He then acts like the animal that's facing up. The idea is to "jump like a kangaroo 5 times" or what have you, but he's not into the counting part of this game, he just wants to be the animal for as long as he wants to do it. This is a great game for him to do that still allows me to lay down, but allows him to get out his wiggles!

 I have a few more installments of "Bedrest Activities" coming, but in the meantime, I'd love your ideas for keeping your little ones entertained when you can't participate in the ways you usually can!