Post by imojoebunny on Dec 9, 2018 21:31:26 GMT -5
My son has a friend we have known his entire life, 9 years old, who has a highly treatable cancer, but it sucks to have to go through abdominal surgery and chemo. I am trying to think of things to keep him entertained during the months he will not be able to be around other kids, and will not feel well. He was initially, misdiagnosed, so has been feeling bad for a long while.
He cannot be around other kids, but we are working on virtual play with google hang outs and games that allow multi-player, but anyone have any tried and true suggestions for fun things for a 9 year old who will be pretty much quarantined for the next several months? Bonus, if he can do them on his own. He is not into crafts. I am willing to spend about $100. He has an ipad, so I am thinking more in line with multiple things, like activity books, treats, and toys that do not require a lot of movement. Ideally, I would like to give him 8-10 gifts, some bigger, some small, he can open, when he is feeling down.
Definitely an itunes gift card so he can buy apps and whatever else strikes his fancy. not sure about treats only because not sure how he will be feeling, though maybe things he can suck on? a small lego kitor one that you can build into a few different things.
Post by usuallylurking on Dec 9, 2018 21:37:23 GMT -5
What a tough situation! And how sweet of you to think of them.
Search “find it game” on Amazon. It is like iSpy in a tube. Fully contained and not a mess. You can race a clock or just search for all of the items. They have quite a few themes to choose from.
Are there any books he likes? Puzzles? My kids have been into coloring lately as well as activity books that have mazes, word searches, word scrambles, etc. I bought a Jurassic World one for my DS1 (8) for Christmas.
Post by usuallylurking on Dec 9, 2018 21:40:50 GMT -5
Also we just got Kanoodle, which my DS1 has enjoyed. It’s a small game where you stack things and work on spatial skills. How about those miniature handheld electronic games? I remember playing Yahtzee that way a lot as a kid. Way better than dealing with the dice and scorecard manually.
3 months of Kiwicrate is $40 right now I believe. I would do that. Does he have anything other an an iPad? Switch/DS3 or whatever? My kids would be using those a fair amount if we were in that situation. Make sure your son can FaceTime him easily and often, that will help.
What about a fairly difficult puzzle they could do as a family? Or a series of books he could get into that might be new to him. Books on CD or something he could listen to?
Months is a long time, you are good to be thinking of him and trying to do stuff for him.
My son and his friends have an app called Game Pigeon where they can play checkers, pool and some other games with each other. My 9 yr old also enjoys the Paint by Stickers books. Maybe an Etch a Sketch and I tunes card?
That’s really thoughtful of you so do this for him. Maybe if you’re friends with his parents too use some of your allotted funds for something they would find relaxing, or that would be a good distraction or treat. I can’t imagine how stressful it would be to have a seriously ill child, and I’m sure they’re putting all their thoughts and energy into him right now.
Post by Poeticxpassion on Dec 9, 2018 22:25:56 GMT -5
I’m sorry to hear about your friend. I second the idea of a lego set. If you know his interests you can find a themed set (Star Wars, pirates, Harry Potter, etc.) Does he have an Xbox or ps? I know you said you are working on multi player games. A headset or Xbox live subscription if needed?
What a tough situation. I love the idea of getting him several smaller gifts. If you know how many treatments he will have, you could do one for each treatment. (Maybe find out if certain times before/after treatment are harder than others and plan around that.) Or if he goes to a hospital to gives kids beads for different procedures, you could mark them for when he has gotten a certain number of beads. You could also just say that they’re to open on the 1st and 15th of every month or another set date. Then it’s something positive to look forward to rather than having them there for tough days.
My son would probably love an old school pen pal in that situation, but he LOVES writing notes in the first place. Lego Creator sets would be well loved, especially since you can make three different things. Slime-making supplies. Book of logic puzzles and word puzzles.
I think the biggest thing is just to keep in touch. FaceTime, phone calls, dropping off a card signed by friends, a big poster from kids at school, etc.
Post by fancynewbeesly on Dec 10, 2018 4:33:00 GMT -5
So my daughter who is 7 has cancer. I would say for about 80% of the past year she wasn’t allowed by kids. What really helped was the length that her friends parents would go to keep in touch. She is constantly FaceTiming her friends. She also uses the Facebook messenger app for kids.
Her immune system was up a couple times unexpectedly when she can see friends and those parents literally dropped everything to bring their kid over for an impromptu play date.
Some of her favorite things she received was: LEGO sees, a joke book, DVDs of her favorite movies. (When she was in the hospital we had a DVD player for the tv). She loved board games and cards. Things that pass the time. She loves to draw so she had received some amazing art supplies.
But mostly it was her three best friends always keeping in touch that made her day.
Post by Leeham Rimes on Dec 10, 2018 7:08:31 GMT -5
I know you said he doesn’t like crafts, my 8 year old doesn’t either but he loves wiki Sticks. They’re these slightly sticky, moldable sticks. I got a car activity kit once two years ago and he still plays with it.
Just a thought in case with the treatments, screens make him sick to his stomach. That happened with my SIL and MIL (obviously, depends on the cancer and treatment)
I need ham like water Like breath, like rain I need ham like mercy From Heaven's gate Sometimes ham salad or casserole or ham that’s free range, all natural I need ham
Her immune system was up a couple times unexpectedly when she can see friends and those parents literally dropped everything to bring their kid over for an impromptu play date.
This made me teary. I’m glad your daughter has had such a great support system during this time!
Post by wildfloweragain on Dec 10, 2018 7:45:57 GMT -5
Another suggestion - if you know he likes a certain thing, is an big book about it that he can look things up in. Foe example, when a student of mine broke his leg and had to be in traction, I brought him a lego figure (might have been starwars, can't remember) book of characters and their details. It ended up being a biog hit for him and could entertain him for a long time.
Or my daughter has this zodiac book based on birth date (not just month) that describes everything about a person, and of course some of it ends up being spot on, the way it is designed. So she meets someone or thinks of someone and looks them up.
And look up on amazon or there is a section in walmart for smaller games (where the uno is, etc.) Card games, stuff marketed for kids going to camp or cars.
Words with friends - not something for you to buy, but has both the ongoing game aspect, can pick up where he left off when he feels like it, can have multiple games going at once and also has the chat/message feature.
Also the things to suck on suggestion made me think of something like preggo pops (ginger suckers) or hopefully one like that that doesn't suggest the boy is pregnant?
Good luck. This is a terrible situation but has the possibility of teaching empathy, the diversity of friendship and the value of what's really important at a key time for these boys. You are doing a good job of fostering that and making this kid's life more bearable at the moment.
The game/puzzle Rush Hour is very portable and has kept the interest of both my kids for a long time (I think my son got it when he was 6-ish and still pulls it out to play with now at 10.
Actually anything from Think Fun has been good. I think my daughter is going to get their Roller Coaster challenge for christmas. All their stuff is single player, or you could do it collaboratively if the parents wanted to help.
39 Clues books? I've heard really good things about them. They are mysteries with an online component by Rick Riordan.
For game, the game Left Right Center is an easy, quick mindless game that they could play as a family. It has been a hit with my kids, and is small and cheap. Exploding Kittens was a huge hit when my son was 9-ish (also a card game, portable).
My son likes things like the kid versions Guiness World Record books.
He also likes logic puzzles.
Maybe a deck of cards (with a cool/funny design on them?) and a book with the rules for different card games?
Thank you. Her support system is amazing. Her friends are so kind and love her just the way she is. It literally makes DH and I’s grinch heart melt everyday.
One day she visited her class and her BFF told her mom she was so excited that she almost started doing cartwheels she couldn’t contain herself.
These parents are definitely raising their kids right.