sick kids and playdough

The kids and I are home today as they are both a bit under the weather.  Natalie came down with a fever last night and Joey is still recovering from his ear tube/adenoid removal surgery.  This is the sixth straight day that the kids have been together with very little outside interaction.  They are restless. They are kind of tired of being home together with nobody else to play with.  Bored kids can be difficult.  Bored, sick kids fight and whine and make me a little bit crazy.  They have been fighting over everything, but they especially fight over who gets to sit on my lap.  This is where the element of distraction comes in.  Yesterday, I put them in swimsuits and took out their kiddie pool and sprinkler.  That did the trick.  

Today is a different story, with Natalie's fever and all.  I'm not so sure about stripping her down and sending her out to play in cold water.  Is this a good idea or not?  She seems to want to stay inside. And fight with her whiny brother.  Is this how it goes with everybody's kids when more than one of them aren't feeling good?  Maybe other people's kids lie in bed in their cute pj's and look at picture books all day.  Not the case with my kids.  So, I have to get creative.  Or see if I can find some cheap Valium on the street.

Today, I went with creative.  I googled play dough recipes and found a neat one that has no cream of tartar in it, since I forgot to buy more after I made play dough for Natalie's birthday party.  I found this great play dough recipe.  I made a double batch thinking that it didn't look like much. It made a lot.  The kids each got 3 big globs to color and do with whatever they pleased, except throw it at things.  It worked great.  I had their attention for the entire cooking process, about 10 minutes or so, and then we dyed it and they played for about another 30 minutes or so.  Long enough for me to take a few pictures and upload them at least.

Joey made a dragon.

Natalie made marbles.

If you'll notice, their fingers are nicely colored, as are mine. Gel food coloring is very strong stuff.  You may not need to add as much as I did. Should you find yourself in this tie-dyed state, don't worry.  It washes off after a few tries.

And now, the best part.  They both fell asleep. I'll call this one a win.

What low key activities do you do when your kids are sickly and restless?