Toddler off nursery unwell- what can we do except YouTube?

[wefly]

2 year old off with ear infection. Grizzly and fever which I'm keeping control of with calpol.

She's not up to any outings really. Would rather she mainly chills out but equally I don't like the idea of a full day of TV (which is what we did pretty much all day yesterday)

Any ideas of what I can do for quiet entertainment rather than 8 hours of YouTube?

If she's up for it, and you can, I would take the opportunity to just read to her. Read and read and read.

For non TV ideas...

Fishing net and floating toys in a bucket
Potato printing
Help with chores like sock sorting

I'm obviously old fashioned but I wouldn't consider it normal for a 2 year old to be watching youtube. When mine were that age screen entertainment was cbeebies or dvds of their favourite shows (peppa pig etc)

But our default when ill would have been loads of stories and cuddles. Playdoh/stickers/toys etc if up to it.

But what's the difference?
You can watch a children's programme on YouTube on the tv
It's like saying you object to Netflix over a DVD

We used to turn to CBeebies when the kids were ill and for people saying what’s the difference between that and YouTube or Disney, for me it was the fact it is curated by professionals with an eye to childrens development and it has a variation and rhythm to it - it follows the routine of the day, and there will be a show about music, a show about numbers, a show about well-being, a story etc rather than 20 episodes of Peppa Pig in a row. This was some years ago though so maybe it is different now.

YouTube has adverts, streaming services don’t (eg iPlayer). Most of the content on iPlayer is in general a bit educational, content on YouTube could be anything including highly unsuitable things. And things auto play so when a selected program ends, literally anything may follow. I’d be inclined to put on numberblocks, alphablocks, something which will sneakily teach her something 😂

Agree with this.

It's like saying you object to Netflix over a DVD

I do a bit tbh, I don't like the nature of Netflix/YouTube for children as they are constantly chopping and changing what they're watching, and can select the exact thing they want to see at any time. At least with a DVD, once one is chosen that's what's on. I can't see most parents allowing kids to constantly switch DVDs in and out.

I feel like the availability of everything on demand for children is surely bound to affect their attention span and drive to do things outside of watching screens as they're never bored when they can switch to something else at any time.

Agree. We're noticing it in schools.. children cannot sustain focus anymore. It's absolutely dire.

8 hours of YouTube is fine if that's what she needs right now. Normal service can resume when she's well again.

She's unwell with a fever. I don't think jumping in puddles and baking will be what she wants to do. Just let her watch tv. Nothing bad will happen.