How to Entertain Your Child While Lying Down
“Just rest,” I said to my daughter at the moment when she started walking and wanted me to play with her here, then there, then again here, then again there, all day, every day. The child never learned to rest.
The energy level of children is wildly out of proportion to that of adults. You struggle to keep up, but there are times when you just can’t – say, if you’re not feeling well, or if you’ve woken up every hour with a crying baby the night before, or if you’re 40. Luckily, if you have some smart games and activities in your arsenal, you can encourage your kids to play with you while you lie down on the couch or floor. Experienced parents call this “horizontal parenting.” I call it bloody brilliant and I got my parents to tell me all their secrets.
Here’s how to give birth horizontally:
Newbie
Activities that require minimal effort and mental ability.
- Read books. Basic, but you really can’t go wrong.
- Play a quiet game. Who can be silent the longest? You know, a parent, nanny, or teacher played this with you.
- “Walk on my back.” Ideal if you have small children. They practiced balancing and you did a back massage.
- “Guess the letter on my back.” Take turns writing letters or words, placing your fingers on each other’s backs, and guess what it is.
Average
It takes a little more attention, but you usually get more downtime in return.
- “Camping.” Do the same as above (and other activities), but do all of this in a tent in the living room or in your backyard so that it feels like you are on a hike.
- Play doctor / restaurant / hotel / baby girl. You are, of course , a patient, a restaurant visitor, a hotel guest and a child.
- Games salon / hairdresser. Grab nail polish, makeup, combs, rubber bands / hairpins, imitation razors and warm wet towels and let your kids make you beautiful. Don’t use real scissors.
Expert
This is the master level guys.
- Sofa games. Move the sofa so that there is free space behind it, and have your children run around it in a circle. You lie down or sit on the sofa and become a “monster”, catching and tickling one child at random intervals.
- “Come find me ____.” My mom named Julie told me about this. “I used to ask my son to bring me something from his room:“ Bring me something blue, ”“ Bring me something that looks like the unicorn poured it, ”etc. He always came back with something- then. Part two: I would tell him to bring it back to where he found it, exactly the way he found it, because I can tell. ” Bloody genius.
- Build your own ball pit and lay in it with your child.
- Ninja training. Here’s another one from Julie. (“I’ve had so many of these ‘games,’” she says.) Close your eyes and have the children try to walk past you as quietly as possible. If you hear them making sound, send them back to the starting line.
- Hockey Pokey floor. Play the song “Hokey Pokey”, but play it while lying down. When it’s time to turn around, have your kids do the job and get you started.
- “Mom’s feet are roads.” “Let the kids roll their toy trucks on your feet,” my friend Mindy advises. “It’s kind of a relaxing massage, depending on the size and type of truck,” she says.
- “What’s on my ass?” Have your kids put random household items on your bottom and try to guess what they are. Children love to hear the word “butt”.