Smartphone free ways to survive long appointment waits with small children.

As the parent of a special-needs child who had over 200 doctors appointments in her first 2 years, I know a thing or two about spending extended amounts of time in doctor's waiting rooms. My longest wait on record being 6 hours. Brought to you by Yoplait Petit Miam.

As a result, I have developed the ultimate list of tips for surviving long waits and keeping toddlers and young kids happy and entertained in confined spaces without just handing over my smartphone. The following tips will have you wowing fellow "waiters" with your children's behaviour, avoid them playing with the germ-infested pile of waiting-room toys and have you all enter the doctor's office cool, calm and collected.

1. Think like a Scout- Be Prepared.
A little considered item for your nappy bag is a roll of "not-too-sticky" masking tape. Trust me! Masking tape is the ultimate in simple and cheap distraction. Plus, it helps children to develop their fine motor skills. Simple masking tape games include ripping off small sections to place on their fingernails and counting each finger as you go.

Then remove them all, one by one and start over. You can also craft moustaches and earrings and all kids of creative attire, with this cheap and easy creative play thing. Kids can also be absorbed for a surprisingly long period of time just trying to find the start of the tape. It's important that you find a brand of tape that isn't too sticky, because no one enjoys having gaffer tape ripped from their skin. Do test it out at home before relying on it as young children can have sensitivities to the glues used and of course, you need to supervise that it doesn't end up in the mouth.

2. Mess Free, Tasty Snacks
Great snacks make for absorbed, silent and happy little ones. Travelling with a little cold-bag of mess-free snacks that will delight is essential. Mess free is the key. No receptionist appreciates cleaning up biscuit crumbs. Yoplait Petit Miam is perfect for this. It's a snack you can feel good about giving them and toddlers enjoy the mastery of feeding themselves which leads to moments of blissful quiet. The little single-serve pouches allow the yoghurt to go straight from pouch to mouth, avoiding the terror of toddlers with spoons.

3. MacGyver it.
Sometimes even the most prepared parent finds themselves confined to a waiting room with nothing on hand prepared to keep little ones entertained. In these instances, take a deep breath and use what you've got.

Socks: Your dear one's socks can make terrific toys by teaching them how to turn their socks into hand puppets. Give them one and you the other to create animals or people they know and put on a puppet show. You'd be surprised at how entertaining your kid's imaginations are and the waiting time can fly by quickly.

Wallet: When the sock puppets lose their charm, go through the cards in your wallet or purse finding which have matching colours or for older kids, finding particular letters on each one. These games are great for language skills and visual observation.

Heads, shoulders, knees and toes: Sit little one on your lap and pull out your favourite songs with actions- you'll be surprised how many friends you can make in the waiting room with the Playschool classics like "Five Little Ducks", "There's a House with a Floor…" and "Heads, Shoulders, Knees and Toes."

4. Chat and Tell Stories.
Kids thrive on individual attention, particularly if you have multiple children. Simply taking the time to pull your child onto your lap and really talk and listen can turn the dullest of waits into quality bonding time. Kids love hearing funny stories from your own childhood and thrive on hearing about specific things you notice about them. Keep observations positive and specific so that your child feels really seen, such as "It made me so proud of you when you were kind enough to give your little sister the clothes you had grown out of this week. I can see you are becoming a generous person." Or tell them about things they wouldn't remember, like the day they were born or what you used to sing to them when they were small.

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