Children will look forward to having you as a babysitter if you provide them with activities that allow them to use their imaginations.
If you babysit frequently, then you know what a nightmare it can be to watch bored children. You and the children will all enjoy your time together more if you come prepared with activities that will keep them entertained and even help them learn. Put together a kit to take along on all of your babysitting jobs. You can include various activities to help keep children occupied while you babysit. There are also activities you can do that don't require any extra supplies at all. Does this Spark an idea?
Crafts
Children often enjoy a chance to use their imaginations and create something. Bring craft supplies along on your next babysitting job. You can bring pieces of felt cut into shapes, foam shapes, pom-poms or beads. Help the children create designs on a poster board with the felt, or animals with the pom-poms. Girls might enjoy stringing their own jewelry with beads. Check your local craft store for age appropriate craft ideas for each child you babysit and help the kids create a keepsake to show off when their parents come home.
Read
Ask each child in the family to choose a book. Each child probably has a favorite book. Read each book in turn. Be as animated as possible while you read. Do character voices or facial expressions. Show the children the pictures after you finish reading each page. You can even bring books along from home if you are afraid the children might be bored with the books they already have. If you frequently babysit an older child, start reading a chapter book together. Bring the book along each time you babysit and read another chapter or two.
Picnic
Having a picnic will help the children enjoy mealtime more by turning it into a game. You can do this outside in the grass, or indoors on the floor if the weather is cold. Spread a blanket on the ground and set up paper plates for each child. Make sandwiches and pack them, along with drinks, fruit, cut vegetables and a simple dessert (such as fruit snacks) in a basket, even if you are just going into the next room. If the weather is good and you have the parents' permission, you can even take the children for a real picnic in the park. Let them enjoy some time on the playground after the meal.
Build, Color or Write
Give the children another chance to use their imaginations by bringing play dough or crayons and coloring books along. Help the children build models out of the play dough. Give each child a coloring book of his own to scribble in, or make custom coloring books by stapling together blank pages and allowing the children to draw their own pictures. You can even help the children write stories to go along with their illustrations.
Act It Out
If the children have a favorite movie or storybook, assign each child (and yourself) a part and act the story out, as if you were in your own play. You can even make simple costumes out of dress-up clothes or household items if you want. This activity will allow the children to use their imaginations, play the role of a favorite character and expend some extra energy. Try acting a movie out along to a soundtrack. For example, if you have the soundtrack to Disney's Mulan, use the songs as a script to help you act out the movie with the children.
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