Where are you Mary Poppins?!
So I'm a nanny and have been for a long time and I absolutely love it. Aside from summertime, this is one of my favorite times of year when it comes to playing with the kids I nanny. Why?? It's after the holidays and things are starting to set back into more of a normal schedule and the kids are still really excited to show off their Christmas toys, which then keeps us occupied for hours.
Eventually...those toys will still be "cool" of course, but we will need to find some other activities to keep us busy throughout the day. And then comes the question, "Genevieve..I'm bored....." Now most of the time I want to say something back along the lines of that there are SO many other things to do or even other words we could use besides "bored", but that's why I'm there! To show them there really are so many other things to do. And that's where "the list" comes out.
"The List" is something I have compiled over the years of babysitting and being a nanny of things and activities I have found that are instant crowd pleasers or in this case, kid pleasers:) I've worked with different families of all ages and I thought I'd share a few favorites if you're looking for something different to do!
Classic go-to's:
- Turn up music and dance around the house
- Build a fort out of blankets, pillows and cardboard
- Take different parts of board games and make up a new game (Yes...this was definitely inspired from the TV show Gilmore Girls with "Candyship Battleland")
- Picnic! (outside in the summer or on a blanket in the house)
- Puppet show (sock or shadow)
- Dress ups
- Accents - this is a real favorite, especially for older children. We dress up as whatever and then we choose which accent we'll talk in and it usually all ends up being the same accent by the end, but it's funny.
- Obstacle courses
- Tea Party
I've been dying to make ice cream in a bag and being in college, I didn't think any of my friends would be up for it, so I decided to try it out one day at work. This was a huge success and kept us busy for a good amount of time. Instead of me shaking the ice cream bag, I had some helpers help throw the bag back and forth.
And here's the recipe! Ice Cream in a Bag
So if you're like me and have those moments where you wish Mary Poppins would come flying in, try some of the above ideas.
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