The flu hit our house this week! And it has not been fun. It starts with fever and aches, and lasts about 5 days total. All of us have had it in some form or another, with Owen just starting with the fever today…

Needless to say, we needed some quiet ways to fill our time this week – well, in addition to watching TV until our eyes fell out!

I bought Gresham this Schleich tortoise as a get-well present. He likes turtles, but we are not getting a pet one anytime soon because I do NOT need something else to clean up after! However, a pretend pet could be fun!

We used a shoe box to make a home for him! We added raffia grass that was left over from a project, and we used an orange juice bottle cap as a food dish – complete with real lettuce and a carrot slice! Gresham was really impressed with the real food. We didn’t do a water dish since Gresham was laying on the couch, but a little dish of water could make this really fun!

We also added a door so that he could go in and out (safe to do, since he’s not a real pet!).

This little turtle and shoe box ended up providing several hours of entertainment over the course of a few days! It was a great activity for a quiet day because Gresham sat in his booster seat at the table for almost two hours! and played with his turtle.

We named him Tank, by the way.

Or, make a home for a stuffed toy or animal that you already have! Or a home for a pet rock!

Linked to Works for Me Wednesday

4 Comments

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  1. Aimee Jan 22, 2011

    We have spent the week making "crates" out of old boxes for all kinds of stuffed animals...I think we currently have about 6 laying around!

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  2. Angela Jan 23, 2011

    What a great idea! We made mail boxes out of shoe boxes once and the kids busily used up lots of paper making little notes to leave in each others boxes! A little imagination goes a long way! :)

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  3. Judy Jan 26, 2011

    We love cardboard in our house! Every time the UPS man comes, my son starts rattling off everything he wants me to make out of that box :) Cardboard is so frugal, fun, and it doesn't matter if it breaks because you can just make a new one!

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  4. nina Mar 6, 2011

    we did this but with a pet dog!fun right?

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