30 min
Write a Real Letter
A letter, an envelope, a stamp, and a reply that arrives days later.
🩹
Toy Hospital
Bandages, a clipboard, and every soft toy in the house admitted for treatment.
Especially good on a sick day, when a child needs to be the one giving care rather than receiving it.
What you need
- soft toys
- bandages or strips of cloth
- paper and pen for records
- a blanket
How to do it
- Set up a corner as the hospital, with a blanket as the ward.
- Admit each toy and write down what is wrong with it.
- Treat them: bandages, rest, a drink of water.
- Do a ward round and report on each patient.
- Discharge them one at a time with instructions for home.
Why this is good for them
Role playing the carer rather than the patient lets a child process an experience from the other side, which is why this works well when they are unwell or after a hospital visit. Recording symptoms and reporting back is also real, purposeful language use.
Adapting by age
3 to 4 yearsBandages and cuddles. Skip the paperwork.
7 to 9 yearsKeep proper notes with times, and do a handover to the next shift.
Keep it safe
Nothing wrapped tightly around necks or faces, including on toys, so the habit stays safe.
Cleanup tip
Discharging the patients is the tidy-up.
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