Babysitting

Hey, everyone- I wanted to post something really quickly- then I have to get back to school...so this will be brief, but I REALLY wanted to post!

So, I don't know about you, but I find that babysitting is one of the easiest ways for me to get money. Even though it can be exhausting, it only lasts a few hours and (hopefully) leaves you with a good chunk of money. Sometimes, though, when I babysit somewhere we run out of things to do. Then it's hard. The kids are bored. You're bored. And they expect you to find them something to do. Usually when this happens, the kids' activity of choice ends up being something like running up and down the hallway as fast as they can, doing flips off the end of the bed, or something else that may result in a visit to the ER. So, here is a list of quick, go-to babysitting activities that are truly easy and that you most likely have the supplies to make. This is not a list I copied from someone else's site...like most babysitting activities usually are. I have searched long and far for these activities. And the best thing is, I have actually tested these things on kids and they loved 'em! Here we go:

1. "Science experiment"- Yes, I have tried the volcano thing with a couple kids...it was an utter failure. I don't recommend it. I have tried some other science experiments as well, a couple cool ones, a couple more utter failures...but the "experiment" below is the best by far- the kids love it. I love it because it's easy. Everyone's happy. :)

Supplies:

• Coffee filters (white ones work best)
• Black/green Crayola markers
• Water

What to do: Draw a ring in the middle of your coffee filter with either a black or green marker. Then, dab the coffee filter with water. That's it...you're done- but the kids might want to do it again, as did the ones I babysat. So...what happens? Well, when you dab the coffee filter, the marker bleeds, creating a beautiful "tie dye" coffee filter. Plus, you can use it as an opportunity to teach the kids about primary colors. I suppose you could try this with other colors as well, but the site I got it from (familyfun.go.org) recommended black or green. Anyway, see how simple that is? And however boring it may sound to you, the kids I tried it with absolutely loved it and would have used a whole package of coffee filters if I had let them!


2. Ornaments- Looking for a good Christmas craft? Look no further than Sculpey clay. That stuff is da bomb! I believe it's nontoxic (but I'm not sure, so don't try to eat it!), it bakes hard, and you can paint it! A couple years ago, I tried this with 3-5 year-olds. Even the boy loved it. All you need is:

Supplies:
White Sculpey clay
Cookie cutters
Oven
Paintbrushes
Paint
Ribbon

What to do: You may want to soften the clay for the kids a little bit before they start rolling it out- Sculpey does tend to get a little hard. Then, let the kids roll out the clay. After it is rolled out, cut it into shapes- no more than 2-3/child. Write their names with a Sharpie on the back so you don't get them mixed up. Poke a hole in the top of each ornament. Take them home and bake them in the oven as instructed. (I am assuming you're going to see the kids again sometime soon.) The next time you see the children, bring paint, paintbrushes, ribbon. Let the children pain their ornaments (this could get messy!) and let dry- you may have to take the ornaments home again depending on how fast the paint dries. Tie a ribbon through each of the holes and let the children take their ornaments home- this is a great gift for Mommy or Daddy, or just a fun keepsake!

That's it for now...more coming later, hopefully!