Any ideas? feel like we're in prison!

[tulips]

make some cookies or muffins
at-home manis and pedis

[dcn]

Bake cookies
Rent a new movie and pop popcorn

[VillainV]

Can you go for a drive somewhere? Build a blanket fort in the living room? Write a play?

[hermione]

Is 7 too old to play car wash in the sink?
Let her be in charge of making lunch - the whole thing.
Make a present for Daddy.
Wash the car.
Work on holiday presents for grandparents (if applicable)

[imojoebunny]

If the fever keeps up tomorrow, go to the movies. During the day, there is no one there, so you can sit far away from others. We also go to Michael's and get a couple of inexpensive art kits, Do some bathtub science experiments (food coloring mixed with water in paper cups, and the sick kid takes a bath while they mix them to see the colors, play with shaving cream, you can google bathtub science.

I have also given DD my camera, and had her set up scenes with her stuffed animals, take pictures, then sort them, and write captions (I typed what she said, until she was a good typist) and made online books. It is a calm activity, aside from the taking of pictures, but she gets absorbed in it.

I try to do things that are restful, but fun, then have the kid chill and rest.

[oswin]

Board games? Reading out loud? Card games (like gin rummy)? I don't know, I mean when I'm sick with a fever you can bet I watch more than 3 hours per day of tv (usually movies), so I wouldn't feel too bad about extra screen time. It's hard to fill the time with much else when all you want to do is lie on the couch and do nothing.

[lilac05]

Check Pinterest for easy science experiments or craft projects. I'll look through what I have pinned and see if any of it would be of interest at her age.

Off of the top of my head:
Baking soda & vinegar volcanoes
Putting celery into a cup of colored water (the leaves turn that color...but it takes awhile)
There's something about soaking M&M's and their letters float to the top.

[lilac05]

Science Ideas:

buggyandbuddy.com/baking-soda-and-vinegar-science-dancing-rice/ (we also chose a few other things and guessed whether or not they'd "dance")

ourbestbites.com/2010/09/kids-in-the-kitchen-glow-in-the-dark-food-magic-colors-and-giant-bubbles/ (we did magic milk)

www.coffeecupsandcrayons.com/candy-science-kids-mm-experiment/


Art:
laclassedellamaestravalentina.blogspot.com/2011/09/un-pennello-un-po-speciale.html (pictures are self-explanatory. Painting with Q-tips)

www.cometogetherkids.com/2011/01/kool-aid-playdoh.html

Let her cook in the kitchen. Make lunch, prep dinner, or bake cookies for someone. She could make dirt cups on her own. (Link, since apparently this is not common everywhere: www.ohnuts.com/blog/dirt-pudding-cups-with-gummy-worms-recipe/)

[lilac05]

And yes, TV limits are non-existent when someone in the house is sick. Find something educational, if it makes you feel better!

[namasteak]

Finger paint in the bath tub

[vamoose]

Have a picnic at a park (far from other people)? Getting out of the house is key for us if my kids are well enough to be up. I take them for walks in the stroller, do picnics in the grass at the park, do nature hints to find supplies for art projects and bring crafts outside.