A few tried and true things I've used to occupy my niece and nephew.
1. Create their own drawing book
Get an ordinary spiral notebook and some foam stickers (can get at any craft store) to decorate the front cover.
2. Nature scavenger hunt
Write about 10 or so nature items (pinecones, rock, flower, clover, leaf, etc) on a piece of paper. I made a chart on Microsoft words and used pictures. We walked around the yard and crossed off the items we found. It was a hit!
3. Measure things
I pulled out a tape measure and showed my nephew (5 years old) how to use it making sure to line up the 0 with the end of the item, then we looked at what number it went to. He loved measuring all kinds of things.
4. Hide the Heart
On Valentines Day, I made these heart shaped bean bags with them. Then they hid them and I tried to find them and vice versa. This was a HUGE hit!
5. Bath
When all else fails, they love taking baths. A good way to burn about 20 minutes!
6. Photo session
Just taking pictures (maybe even having them dress up) is always a hit. I also use this at restaurants waiting on our food arrive. Or once I used it waiting outside a store for his mom to get finished.
7. Ball & slide
This is so simple but I was surprised at how much they loved it. We took an ordinary ball. Kind of like a mid size ball...bigger than a tennis ball, but not as big as a kickball (does that make any sense?!) Anyways, the goal was to roll it UP the slide and try to get it to stay at the top. The slide was similar to this one, so it wasn't as hard at it sounds.
8. Baking cookies
I mean this one goes without saying. I just use the break and bake kind and let the kids put them on the baking sheet. They think they're "cooking"! Shhhh....don't tell them otherwise!
I haven't tried these two yet, but they are on the agenda for tomorrow while momma has a hair appointment!
9. Photo puzzle
I'm excited to do this with them!
10. Coke floats
A good ole fashioned coke with ice cream. I hope they like them!
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3 comments:
You are so creative and fun! Move to KC to watch my daughter, please? ;)
These are great! I like to make I spy games to play with the kids. It's an hour drive to get my niece so either playing that, or blasting the music is good enough for us! :D
I love the valentine one! Sounds like a fun new tradition to me :)
Seriously great ideas. I love the heart bean bags. I know my girls will love them. When they were younger, bath time was always my go to activity. It's like a play-pen but better :)
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