Well, they are not your child and may not even be someone you knew before this.
How in the world could you start your connection with them when it’s just your first day of babysitting?
Even worse, you can’t expect a child to sit still for a certain period without doing nothing. If that really happens, not just the kids but also you will be in trouble and bored for the whole day.
You know what,
Children get bored quickly and can become fussy especially while being babysat by a total stranger. But still, their brains are ready to learn new things fast. By that, ignoring their desire to learn is such a waste. And to make sure you use this opportunity, keep them learning during playing or do some activities so they can develop creative thinking.
Question Mark!! How to start?
The first thing to do is find out what the children like to do. Each child has its favorite thing to do or activity that he or she prefers most. So asking should be the first thing to do and see what the child has to say.
Then, analyze the choice and see if the timing and conditions meet with what kids wanted. If it is not possible, make sure you explain to the child why it isn’t possible, making another suggestion for spending the time.
And that is what this article is all about.
Right after this, we gathered fun things that you can do while you are babysitting. These ideas are not only fun but also will develop good thinking of children. Keep reading and see how each activity can be fun and why is it a good idea for making your babysitting job fun and entertaining.
1. Drawing and craft projects
Drawing is the simplest activity you can do together. You just need some sheets of paper and colors. Or maybe just buy some books of their hero. Make sure that there is a wide diversity of colors since children love coloring. Just creating a drawing with a black lead pencil will not get the interest of the child.
So make sure you have all the colors of the rainbow, and try to see if the child knows the colors. Crafting is also fun, but it may require some materials to start. Also, if the child is still very young, try to choose activities that do not involve sharp objects, like scissors or needles.
For many other ideas, you can get inspiration from http://www.education.com/activity/kindergarten/arts-and-crafts/
What’s best about this site is that they not only offer ideas but also instructions on what we need to make it happen.
Some of projects that we found interesting to start:

Making a family tree. You better know their parents now.

Bake Alphabet Cookies If they parents allowed.

Shake It! A Number Recognition Game Be prepare

Buried Treasure Game You better control them
By the way, you can also get inspiration and ideas from YouTube.
With YouTube, the instructions will be clearer and you can just follow along with the kids.
Click here for crafts ideas from YouTube
This may quite new for some people, Click here to know what is it.
2. Outdoor games or a visit to the local zoo
If the weather outside is nice, there is no reason to keep the child locked in the house.
If you have a backyard, play ball, jump rope, play with toy trucks, play catch or other fun outdoors games.
In case the house does not have a garden, you can still enjoy the weather by visiting the zoo or the local park.
If you are babysitting someone else’s children, do make sure the parents give you permission to take their children out. Deciding what will be the activity for outdoors might be a bit tougher. Browsing Google for outdoor activities to do may be harder than it looks.
And it even takes time to achieve.
For example, these 27 ideas might look very attractive to do but there was only one that we thought would be relevant to a babysitter: Giant Jenga.
Anyway, if you still want to try to do outdoor activities and still have plenty of time between you and them, then this site from Kidspot AU has some really nice outdoor play option to choose from. Even better, you can select by choosing based on preferred categories and ages.
3. Storytelling
This is might need your extra skills to do.
Every child appreciates a good story, and storytelling has more benefits than you might think. Both scientists and pediatricians acknowledge the great contribution storytelling has on children, even on newborns and toddlers.
While listening to a story, children enhance their introspection and imagination, learn language skills and improve vocabulary while working on their memory. Dr. Michael Lockett is a teacher, educator, and writer of numerous children’s books, always encouraging parents to read with their children.
The best storybooks are the ones with beautiful pictures because children are also able to see the scene as you read it to them, helping them in the comprehension process.
And for benefits of storytelling:
Enhances listening skills and verbal proficiency of children
- With listening skills learned, they will also sharpen their memory
- Introduces new vocabulary to children
- Storytelling can encourage development of emotions and feelings in a child
- Encourages Creativity And Imagination Power
- Encourage them to love reading In a nutshell, storytelling makes the children more creative and dynamic.
4. Read together or teach them to read
Now, this is an activity for children that are a bit older. But even if the child didn’t start going to elementary school, that doesn’t mean you cannot teach him to read. It is an excellent exercise that he will enjoy and that will improve the brain’s performance.
Not to mention that he will be able to read stories on his own. You can excite the interest of the child by proposing to find out together how the hero of the story managed to deal with his adventure and read together the story until the end. If the child has never read before, it is highly advisable to pick books that have a smaller number of pages and a large writing style.
Thus, the child won’t get bored by reading a long story, and the letter and words will be easier to spot and recognize if they are larger.
According to Uloop, those students that love reading will have higher GPA’s compared with those who don’t. Dr. Anne E Cunningham, University of California Berkeley, has shown through studies that reading enhances analytical thinking, “Readers improve their general knowledge, and more importantly are able to spot patterns quicker.” (Stansberry) By the way, the book should contain a lot of images as well so that the child can make the connection between words and image, helping him in the reading process.
5. Play dough
Play dough is one of the most favorite toys of the majority of children. They like it because it is soft, colorful, and they can use their imagination to create so many things with it. We can easily assist them to come up with creative ideas.
And for best ideas with play dough, I recommended you spend time on this resource page made by Jean from ArtfulParent.com. Her posts are a great point of reference and resource. Below are some nice and easy projects that you can follow: Moving on,
As you see above, play dough is great to use as a printing material, making leaf shapes or a great diversity of patterns. There is no limit when it comes to playdough.
Use cookie forms and other utensils, which are not harmful, to create shapes. Use small eyes, pieces of cloth, feathers, sticks, candles, and other materials and let your imagination roam free.
Start with something simple and bait the child to create something. You will soon navigate into fantasy universes and have a lot of fun as well. Still, be careful to choose high-quality play dough for your children to avoid harmful chemicals.
6. Teach them old classic songs
Every child likes singing and dancing, so teaching them songs is an excellent way to spend your time together. I believe you can still remember that when you were the same age, your mom used to sing some of the old songs she knew. Most of us are not even sure when it all started.
If you can still remember a few of them, you may just start singing right away. For example, songs like “Twinkle, twinkle little star” or “London Bridge is going down.” But, of course, if you want to have more options then these are some of the top baby songs you can try: • Twinkle, twinkle little star
• London Bridge is going down
• The Ants Go Marching
• Itsy Bitsy Spider
• Marry Had a Little Lamb
• Oh Suzanna
• Old Macdonald
• Pop Goes the Weasel
• She’ll Be Coming around the Mountain
• Who’s Afraid of the Big Bad Wolf?
Maybe you can suggest a few in case we might have forgotten to include it. Or maybe what we included is not what you remember.
Yet, with Youtube you can just watch with them cool animation that already evolved right after we adults https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yCjJyiqpAuU
7. Blow Bubbles
Kids just love blowing bubbles. We loved it when we were children, and this generation enjoys it as well. With most bubbles less than 10 bucks to buy, I believe it’s more than a good enough option for you.
And yes, I can also guess what you might have in mind right now, and that is the floor will become sticky and in need of a wash, right? That’s because of how the composition is made, but not all ingredients have to be the same when it comes to this type of products.
These are great brands of blowing bubbles you can use, which are not sticky and will not hurt the child’s eyes, in case they rub them with soapy hands. Or you can just mix with water and soap if you want to. How to Make
Homemade Bubbles
8. Smartphones or iPads
It’s not just work for you, but also them too.
Think about the fact that this is a new generation of children, who are very drawn to technology and devices.
But a great game for mobile devices can be an excellent choice to keep them learning something. And since mobile game developers know that today’s children love to play on smart devices, they have developed a broad range of games you can choose from.
From setting their mind on solving complex issues to critical thinking solutions, all of that you can download for free. Here is a list of games you can download immediately and enjoy with the child:
• Super Why! - a great game to learn words and make connections in sentences.
• Monkey Preschool Lunchbox - children can learn fruits, colors, shapes, and letters.
• Polar Bowler - a fun game of bowling.
• Cut the Rope - an intriguing game that develops logic and strategic approach.
• Angry Birds - one of the most popular game of all times, which also needs a bit of figuring out how to pass to the next level.
9. Watch movies that kids love
A great animation movie is a very pleasant way to spend time. Not to mention that children will stay put, as they will be absorbed by the action and characters. Of course, you should pick a movie that is appropriate for the child’s age.
And, if possible, choose one that will also teach them something. “Dora the Explorer” animation series, made by Kiki Thrope, is a great option, as children can travel along with Dora and explore the world and learn. Also, children love superheroes, so letting them enjoy an animation with their favorite superheroes will be a lot more fun.
They can learn all about justice, honesty, loyalty, and friendship. But still, pick one yourself that doesn’t have too much fighting, violence or robots.
Hi-5 episodes are also fantastic since they can have fun with singing, dancing, and learning new exciting things. It is a show full of energy, which will catch the interest of children of all ages.
Another great idea is to watch the kind of lesson that kids can follow along.
For example, one of the most popular stories is Peter Rabbit.
Below here is one of the episodes of Amazing Mom.
Peter Rabbit - Amazing Mom - Moms Precious Things
You can just watch them together with them because nowadays, they design the story with a much better graphic to impress kids.
Below here is another great example to watch:
Hare vs. Tortoise race (Disney 1934)
10. Lego or Barbie doll games
Lego and Barbie may have been present in our childhood as well, but they never came out of fashion. Kids these days still enjoy them.
Lego is much appreciated by boys, as they can build aircrafts, machines, robots and buildings, and play along. Girls prefer the Barbie doll, as they get to style them, dress them nicely, and forge a beautiful fairytale story while playing. You must know that Lego usually comes in small pieces, so it is not recommended for very young children, who have the habit of putting everything into their mouth and can therefore easily choke.
But, for both small and bigger children, you can try a bigger Lego version, just like this. As you can see, you will never run out of ideas of how to spend time with the children anymore.
There are so many fun activities you can do together, laughing and learning new things about the world. Play is a crucial aspect in the development of a child, which will offer him a great childhood and help him develop in a balanced way.
Childhood doesn’t last forever, so we should take advantage of every moment to enjoy it together with our children or even with the ones that we are babysitting. Thus, they will always remember the good times they had. Any other ideas?
Resources Teach Kids How