When Pollen Count Is Too High for Kids With Allergies

For the thousands of children suffering from seasonal allergies, rising pollen counts mean symptoms including nasal congestion, itchy eyes, irritated throat, and fatigue.

That’s why the experts at the American College of Allergy, Asthma & Immunology say a key way to cope is to keep your kids away from allergens like tree, grass, and weed pollen.

On days with particularly high pollen counts, experts suggest you keep allergic children indoors. But what do you do with bored, cranky kids all day?

To help, WebMD gathered tips from the experts -- parents and allergists -- to help you keep tots and tweens entertained when the pollen count keeps them inside.

Tots: 14 Tips to Entertain Young Kids With Allergies

1. Delve Into the Dollar Store. Stock up on crafty supplies of every sort at your local dollar store. With as little as $10 or $20, you can get lots of entertainment for indoor play when the pollen counts are keeping kids with allergies inside.
2. Hunt for Treasure. Bring out your child’s inner pirate by putting together a treasure hunt. Hide kid-cool swag like small puzzles and toys around the house, then give them hints as to what they’ll find.
3. Get Jiggy With It. Jigsaw puzzles can offer hours of entertainment, especially if the puzzle’s image is of something your child adores. Think characters from a favorite animated movie, dinosaurs, even themselves. You can find companies online that will create a photo jigsaw puzzle with an image you provide of your child.
4. Make Greeting Cards. All you need is craft paper, colored markers or paint, a little glue, glitter, and maybe a few fabric scraps and your kids are on their way to creating charming hand-made holiday or birthday cards for friends and family.
5. Get Artsy, Big Time. Cover one of the walls of your child’s bedroom with lots of craft paper and let them go to town creating their own mural. And when the kids tire of their artwork, you can help them cut it up into wrapping paper for future gifts.
6. Make Jewelry. Gather buttons, beads, uncooked elbow macaroni, ribbon, and string and let the kids make bracelets and necklaces.
7. Create Holiday Haberdashery. Whether for Easter, Halloween, July 4th, or another festive occasion, get the kids ready by helping them make holiday hats, headbands, or vests with fabric paint, sewing scraps, and old shirts. Or design decorations for the next holiday: Think snowflakes, four-leaf clovers, flags, and Christmas trees.
8. Make Balloon Animals. Grab a bag of long balloons and encourage the kids to make animals or other interesting shapes out of them. You can find instructions for creating fun balloon animals online.
9. Play Balloon Volleyball. After the kids are done creating balloon creatures, blow up a few big round balloons, divide a long hallway with a rope or belt across the floor, and get them moving with balloon volleyball.
10. Put On a Show! Have your kids put on a play. Encourage them to write a story, create a stage -- maybe a corner of the living room set off with a blanket -- and design costumes (combining their clothes with a few of yours perhaps?). Then when they’re ready, sit down, and enjoy the production.
11. Plan an Indoor Picnic. Get the kids to put together a picnic, complete with blankets, plastic ware, home-made paper ants and flowers, then you provide the edibles.
12. Build a Fort. With a few chairs, the back of the couch, pillows and a blanket, encourage the kids to build a secret hideaway where they can read, tell stories, enjoy snacks, or just lounge around.
13. Invent a Superhero. Have your kids create their own girl or boy superhero -- then draw a comic book telling the hero’s story and adventures.
14. Go to the Beach, at Home. It’s time for the kids to slip on swimsuits, slap a little sunscreen on their noses, and get splashing -- in the tub. With a little cool music, some fun foods like frozen grapes, strawberries, or ice pops, and a bit of imagination your kids can pretend they're grooving on the beach. Bonus: They’re getting clean, too!