Waiting Your Turn: Keep The Kids Occupied at the Doctor’s Office

Waiting to be seen at the doctor’s office with children in tow can be a highly stressful situation for parents. They squirm, climb on furniture, ask a bazillion questions, and can’t sit still, causing other patients to give you that dreaded look of disapproval. Next time you are at the doctor’s office with your kids, arm yourself with the following activities and keep them busy while holding on to your sanity.

Surprise Activity Bags

Tap into your child’s curious mind by giving them a surprise grab bag to investigate while you are waiting to see the doctor.

According to The Children’s Workshop, surprise activity bags will peak your child’s interest as they dig in and discover new and wonderful treasures. Create a bag with a simple assortment of activities and toys based on your child’s interests that are easy to clean up once they are done. Surprise bag items can be picked up from novelty shops and dollar stores for inexpensive prices and can be disposed of after a short period of time so you can keep the bags stuffed with fresh items for future use.

Coloring Apps

Smartphones are a brilliant invention and have paved the way for new and marvelous forms of entertainment. No longer do you need to lug around coloring books and crayons to keep your kids occupied thanks to the Color Book for Me and Mandala app. Try this app, and let them color without all of the mess. Your child can learn about geometric shapes, animals, how colors mix and match to create interesting designs, and more. There are a variety of different virtual pages to color that will keep them entertained.

Fantasy World Games

Teach your kids about commerce, agriculture, nature, and adult life by installing fantasy world game apps from Toca Boca on your smartphone. You can go to the website and get ideas of which games are best for your kids. Your kids can create virtual worlds in which they can grow crops, make decisions, and practice critical thinking skills while staying occupied as you wait for appointments.

Pen and Paper Activities

You can also go ol’ school (our personal favourite) and entertain your kids with good old-fashioned pens and paper. Draw out tic-tac-toe boards, hangman games, Mad Lib sentences, portraits of the world around them, or help them identify spelling words by writing correct and incorrect variations of a word on paper and seeing if they can identify the correct spelling. The key is to work on several different projects so they do not grow tired of repeating the same activity.

Make your next visit to the doctor’s office with your kids a pleasant experience by keeping them engaged in activities that will make the waiting time fly by. Try out child-friendly smartphone apps as well as new and exciting games and toys that promote new discoveries and excitement.

By Christopher Blackburn

Christopher Blackburn shares his thoughts on parenting. He has a 14 year old daughter and a 7 year old son so finding activities that the whole family can enjoy together can be a challenge.