Hobbies And Interests
Maternity Ward
"Maternity Nurse," "Daycare Nurse" and "Baby Nurse" all are basically the same game, which is available online on websites like Gamesgames. For an offline version of Maternity Nurse, kids must try to tend to babies as carefully and efficiently as possible. Have the children perform a list of tasks associated with childcare, such as feeding, diapering, dressing and rocking. Call out these tasks at random to keep the children on their toes. Alternately, assign a specific order to the tasks and see who can complete all the baby-care duties the fastest. If you really want to be silly, pick a few children or ask for volunteers---these children can play real live babies. Actions like dressing and diapering may be done over clothes with large clothes and towels. The "babies" don't have to actually eat real food when "fed," but the nurses must go through the action of providing nourishment.
Medical Mysteries
Medical Mysteries appears in online form on the Game House website. The objective of the game is to solve a medical mystery through taking samples, noting symptoms and looking for possible contaminants. For an offline version, try giving symptom cards to patients. The patients must relate their symptoms to the nurse, who must try to guess what the disease is. You also can place cards around the house to represent specific types of germs---for example, if symptoms were nausea after eating, you could place a card in the refrigerator to represent salmonella or mold. The nurse could read information about the disease from these cards after a card hunt. Let the children have fun pretending to have their symptoms and dressing up to display them; for example, use a washable marker to create a rash.
Patient Chart
Patient Chart is a simple nurse game that mimics a real nurse's duty of gathering patient data. Give the nurse a clipboard, some paper and a pencil---if your child is old enough to use a computer, you can open a basic word processing document instead, since most clinics and hospitals rely on digital technology for patient records. Show the nurse how to use a stethoscope, calculate pulse rate and take height and weight. Then have the nurse perform these tasks on the patients and collect basic information like age. The nurse should then note all of the information on their paper or in the word processing document. Children can take turns being the nurse. This game improves writing and typing skills while letting children practice nursing basics.