Activities for children?

swizzle123

Ive started to look after two children daily.. the girls are aged 5 and 8. I havent got much ideas for activities I can do with only two children as most of the activities I have would be for groups of children... anyone got any ideas?

Cat Melodeon

Arts and crafts are great: drawing/painting/clay modelling/making puppets and putting on a show/making costumes & dressing up etc). The puppet show is brilliant as it can take up heaps of sessions. First, make a theatre out of old boxes and bits of material. Then pick a favourite film or story and recreate the plot. Make puppets out of any old rubbish. If you have a digital camera with a video function, you could film them performing the show and give a copy to the parents (maybe ask for permission first as some parents can be funny about you taking photos or making videos).

If you don't have any materials or toys, you can get stuff really cheaply on ebay or even use old newspapers etc for paper maché etc.

If you are in a town, you can take trips to the library, play park, pet shops etc for free entertainment. If you are going to shops, make it clear you're not buying anything, just going for a look.

If you have a garden, help[ them to make a flower bed and sow flowers & veg.

Watch out in Aldi for cheap books and games.

The easiest way to organise yourself is to draw up a timetable for yourself and stick to it every day. Something like some form of arts and crafts in the morning, then snack time, outside play or activity (even when it's wet!) then lunch, unstructured play for a while then storytime. The parents might be happy with a certain amount of tv/dvd time, and if they are good to entertain themselves, you'll only have to supervise their activities rather than properly lead it. Having the day structured makes it easier for you and less boring for them.

Breag

It won't help as a regular activity, but if you're in Dublin and want to spend an afternoon somewhere different Airfield farm can be lovely if you get the weather. They have a special promotion on family tickets running at the moment, if you're interested.

LadyMayBelle

Why not try baking?

Start with queen cakes, get them to do all the mixing/weighing and then the messy decorating! Fun treats to take home and not expensive.

Also make dough for cookies, so so simple. You'll get fun cookie cutters in the pound shop.

Make them making mala. Great sensory and hands on fun.

All these are great skills for kids to learn, baking, patience, with sense of achivement at the end.

What sort of stuff are they into anyway?

Carroller16

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