Instead of expensive character Band-Aids, decorate plain bandages with stickers

I love this hack (especially during skinned knee season) because those character Band-Aids are always too small. This gives you a lot more flexibility in terms of size and shape. From MEarly:

This isn't really my hack; I got it from my daughter's preschool, but I thought it was such a great idea I stole it right away. Instead of buying expensive character adhesive bandages, they buy regular plain ones and stock up on reward stickers from the dollar store. They have a bunch of different characters like Dora or the princesses and Pooh and also generic smiley faces, stars, etc. They let the kids decorate their own bandages, which distracts them enough that they usually stop crying.

Related:
How to remove a band-aid painlessly
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Comments

[Heather]

Sounds like a good idea for older kids, but my 2 year old wound up in the ER after she stuck one of those smaller stickers up her nose. Character bandaids are certainly cheaper than a $100 ER co-pay.

[Nathan Rudy]

Or you can just tell your kid that bandaids are medicine, and that the characters and stickers don't make their boo-boos any better.

My daughter likes Disney Princesses a LOT -- which makes me nuts -- but she only gets the movies. All the licensed character stuff like bandaids is forbidden.

We just ask her if the picture makes the product work better. She's learned the answer is NO, and that's OK with her now.

The characters are welcome in our house when telling a story, but when they are put on a product to sell instead of tell, they are toast.

[Sachin]

You can oil paint or dye those also, use sketch pen to make those attractive for kids

[Steph]

I just wanted to thank Nathan for his comment about "characters are welcome in our house when telling a story." He put into words my gut instincts about advertisement. Don't have a problem with Sesame Street, have a problem with Sesame Street everything!