AyiConnect Staff, Jul 07, 2022
There’s no doubt that hiring a babysitter to care for your school-aged child might raise anxiety levels of both you and their babysitter. Your kids may be reluctant to listen to the babysitter, and the babysitter might not know the right activities to keep your kids involved. The only way to fix this situation is to seek out creative and fun activities for your babysitter to do with your school-aged kid. These activities must be safe, age-appropriate, and fun enough to pique the interest of your child.
Here are some examples of the activities your babysitter can try out:
Fun paper crafts for school-aged kids
This is perhaps the most common activity babysitters engage in with kids. Even if not everyone is artsy or creative enough to make fun paper crafts, this is not a problem. There are videos and posts online that teach simple and fun paper crafts that babysitters can make with the kids they watch. These paper crafts could be calendar-themed; for example, if it's Christmas, your babysitter could make Santa Claus-shaped crafts with your child, and, if it is Valentine's Day, they could make heart-shaped crafts. There's so much to do! This activity could eventually become a routine completed once every day or a specified number of days a week. Apart from keeping the child happy and engaged, these crafts can also promote a child's creative side.
Make fun birthday lists or holiday lists
This could be another fun activity for the babysitter to do with your child. Creating a birthday list could be both fun and engaging for a couple of hours. All that is needed is a plain white sheet of paper and either a few pictures or catalog that you can find. The babysitter must ensure that the pictures or catalog are simple enough for the child to understand. Help them cut out the pictures they need to make the list and watch them have fun for hours.
Play a fun game that involves finding hidden things
This is one of school-aged kids’ favorite games, even amongst themselves. The babysitter could get the child's favorite toy or doll (any object the child loves playing with) and hide the toy somewhere in the house or the backyard, tasking the child with finding it. The child can even be equipped with a small basket or a bag in which to place the objects they find. For older school-aged kids, you could give them a map and turn it into a proper scavenger hunt with clues littered all around the house. This could help the children to develop cognitive and motor skills as they search through the house or yard for their favorite toys. Just make sure that the toys are not so expertly hidden that they will be practically impossible for the child to find. Making them easy to find is a way to increase their willingness to participate. You could also select a suitable reward for winning this game, which could be anything from sweets to the bedtime story of their choice.
Play with blocks, Legos, or other child-friendly construction toys
Children love building! It does not matter what exactly they build; it could be a tower or just a meaningless stack of materials, as long as they express themselves through these construction toys. Alternatively, the babysitter could utilize picture-based manuals that show the child detailed steps for building something meaningful. The babysitter can also help guide the child during this creative process by offering tips and suggestions to ensure that the child has a great time building.
Playing paper and pencil games
This is another great activity for your babysitter to try. Paper and pencil games could include anything from matching shapes to tic-tac-toe, depending on the child's age. Your babysitter must ensure that he or she makes the experience as simple and as fun as possible. These games should be centered around the child, so it's okay to let the child win most games, as long as they don’t make it look too obvious or easy.
Conclusion
Most of these activities are indoor activities in which your babysitter can engage your child. For outdoor activities, your babysitter could try soccer, frisbee, jump rope, or any other fun activity that your child enjoys. These activities must be safe and childproof to ensure accidents are avoided.
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