1. Gather your materials. You will need a large box, some black, read and white construction paper, scissors, red glitter paint, white paint, a large sponge, and glue.
2. Start by cutting the box so that you have one open side. Cut a door or two into it. We made 2 one for the emergency ward and one for the main doors.
3. Grab the white paint and sponge and start painting. Do not expect toddlers to stick around to paint the whole thing, encourage yes but don’t force. My son did one side , took a break while I did the others and joined me for the last.
4. While the white paint dries write out the word hospital and emergency in uppercase letters. I did this on the cardboard I cut from the box. BAD choice, the cardboard was too think and I have a blister from cutting the letters out. Learn from my oops and use plain construction paper.
5. Add red glitter glue and spread it to cover the letters.
6. Make some crosses and do the same.
7. Cut out some dark colored windows in squares and rectangles.
8. Make a helipad if you wish – it was a must for out medieval copter!
9. When the white paint is dry, add glue for the helipad.
10. Add the helipad.
11. Add the windows and the Emergency ward sign.
12. When the glitter is dry cut out the letters for the hospital sign and crosses.
13. Add your sign and crosses. Let dry.
14. Grab some ambulances and get to playing!

Pretend Play!

It’s all the rage in our house right now. Take a few dolls and have your little doctor give them a check up. I was amazed at how well my son knew the routine procedures, considering he’s normally fidgeting on my lap when he is the patient. Have fun and take times like these to ask questions and calm fears.

Books

“Harry Goes to The Hospital” by Howard J. Bennett MD is a wonderfully informative book. It’s long , I read each page but skipped some of the text while reading it to my 2 year old. Of all the what to expect when you are going to the hospital books I’ve read I think this is the best. What makes me say that is that Harry goes into the ER for dehydration after throwing up, which is a very common reason. He gets and IV , some tests but nothing else is wrong with him. It goes into great detail about everything and is really geared towards 4-5 year olds. Still the pictures and info can easily be used with younger kids.

” When Vera Was Sick” by Vera Rosenberry is a look at the day to day reality of a little girl with the chicken pox. Unlike the previous book this one doesn’t deal with a hospital , just with what to expect when you are sick at home. Trying not to scratch, feeling exhausted but wanting to play and the boredom. My son loved this book, especially the fact Vera was in her PJs for the majority of the book. I like how realistic it is , yet it manages to be interesting and sweet as well.

“How Do Dinosaurs Get Well Soon” by Jane Yolen is another favorite. I like the whole series and think this book is a great one to read before doctor appointments especially if you have a child like mine who is never happy to go! I love the details in Mark Teague’s illustrations and never tire of reading this book, even when my son grabs it again and again.

1. Gather your materials. You will need 4 letter sized envelopes, a large sheet of construction paper, some scrap paper in different colors, a paper punch or scissor, markers and glue.
2. Start by coloring your envelopes. I took the opportunity to ask my son what we put in envelopes, we talked about the post office too.
3. While he was coloring or rather picking out which markers to use ( this took longer than coloring did) I cut out some circles and added the letters onto them.
4. Next add your glue. I added it so that my son could see he letter. Normally I draw out the letter as the first step but there was no need today, so instead I snuck it in here.
5. Pop the envelopes on the glue.
6. Add your letters. This was by far my son’s favorite part. He was in a goofy mood this morning and kept saying ” Hello baby e, you go right here with your mama”as he popped the letters in. To make it more challenging for more advanced children you could put all different letters on the circles and have the child sort out only the letter e. Let dry.

1. Gather your materials. You will need 2 pieces of paper , a marker, some watercolors, a toothbrush, scissors, dish of water and glue.
2. Start by drawing a simple tooth brush with your marker on one piece of paper. If your child is able to draw a toothbrush ( and by able I mean they can tell what it is even if you can’t) then they should do this step if they want.
3. Hand it and the toothbrushes to your child. We used water colors for two reasons, most other paints will goop up and you’ll end up with a huge pile of paint that will take forever to dry. Also when the brush ends up in their mouth like all paint brushes in our house do even when they aren’t tooth brushes, water colors leave much less paint on their teeth.
4. Paint ! Let dry.
5. Cut out the tooth brush, if your child is able to have them do this step.
6. Glue it onto the 2nd piece of paper. Let dry. If your child is forgetful about brushing this craft can be added onto a chart . Simply make a box for each day ( big enough for 3 small stickers) and after each brushing add a sticker.

” I Stink” by Kate and Jim McMullen was the bain of my existence in my Pre-K class, the kids loved this book and I really liked most of it, but there are some gross things in it like puppy poo, dirty diapers and kitty litter but we put all those things in the garbage so they are totally appropriate. Just know that they will also get a group of 4 and 5 year olds giggling and repeating the words for days on end. Overall though the book is effective and I own a well read copy. The garbage truck is sarcastic and rough, and the alphabet of garbage is creative.

“I Am A Garbage Truck” by Ace Landers is my son’s favorite toy right now, he kisses it good night and it’s the first thing he asks for when he gets up in the morning. The book itself is okay, the story is a little disjointed, when my husband read it to him for the first time he looked over at me in my son’s bed and said ” Am I reading this the right way? It seems like I should have started from the last page?” my son didn’t care, he loves the illustrations and the way the book is in the shape of a garbage truck. I like that it covers both garbage and recycling!