Leagro

I’m looking after my 2 (& a bit) year old niece for a weekend & could do with some tips\suggestions on how to keep her suitably entertained.

Rather than just trying to sit her in front of the TV & bribe her with chocolate to stop crying because her parents have left her, I’d like to do some interesting activities so she (& I) actually enjoy it.

So, any suggestions?

We’re going to a firework display (already checked she doesn’t scream & cry at fireworks)

I’ve always got my usual banker – going to petsmart!

Any other outdoor suggestions?

What about entertaining her indoor? Painting (perhaps not a good idea)?

I will of course try to educate her in the art of watching a football match, but I don’t hold out much hope of successfully getting through 90 minutes.

Cheers

Poor Guy

kids dvd?

Chip Sengravy

half life 2

Poor Guy

OMG! what a game. is the bit with the uprated grav gun near the end?

RON

Let her lose on the internet, knowing kids these days she'll probably teach 'you' a thing or two!!!

Nexuas

Painting/play dough/chasing a ball round the garden/local play park (c/w swings and teenage chavs...)

Pretty much anything that is not sitting around, and if you do loads of energetic stuff in the morning, by afternoon kick off they will be ready for a couple of hour sleep if you are lucky

boxst

Hello

Plasticine is good, as is painting and drawing. Children's video's or CBBC/Playhouse Disney on Sky for some of the time.

I'd keep the chocolate on stand-by though!

Steve

mart360

beware they have teeth and bite!!

my nr 3 year old gave me a nip last night while having a play rough and tumble..

it hurts!!!!


failing that tickle the little blighters.. play donkey rides... chase...

anything very messy!!!!!


Mart

turboman786

(tongue in cheek)(pardon the pun!)...just do what people used to do in the old days...show em yer puppies!

SPEN555

Give her some matches to play with, hours of fun there

Lee247

Tumbletots is good, wears them out, so guaranteed kip in the afternoon

hedgehog

I agree, children love fires and the bigger the fire the more the kid will enjoy it. They also love to watch the fire engine and the firemen.

I think cruelty to animals is something else kids go big on so perhaps you might have some thoughts along those lines as well. Pulling the legs off spiders will probably only work for 5 minutes so think big.

stevem2k

Here's what works for my 2yr old



Bankers ( when you *need* half an hour of relative peace ):

The Wiggles
Dora The Explorer

(buy/beg/steal/rent a dvd , or Nick Jr is on Sky 618)

Interactive Indoors:
PlayDoh ( old sheet / shower curtain reqd for your sanity )
Crayoning
cooking ( angel delight is always a winner )

Outdoors :

Park for swings etc
Train Ride ~ dunno why, they seem to be fascinated
Feeding ducks @ pond/river


HTH
Steve

Apparition

God...you lot don't have a clue do you ? ...... just look at all the TV/DVD/Goggle box suggestions.
There has to be a kiddies farm nearby, or a play centre like Zooby Island or Whacky Wharehouse.
You can get big BIG pieces of card for pence and a few paints or crayons, do some hand pictures...blow the mess. Mess can be cleaned up.
Make a cake or if you aren't very good at cooking buy a kit..there's loads of Barbie cakes etc nowadays.
Make your own playdough. Recipes here online. Just flour, oil and salt IIRC. Go one step further and make some dough people. OR Christmas tree ornaments.
Get a few shoe boxes from the local shoe shop, make a house out of them. And card board people to live in the house.
Give her some pans and stuff out of the kitchen, and some spoons... = one percussion section of a band. Oh I'm sure you have paracetemol in the cupboard.
List is endless.......... see how long you can go WITHOUT the telly on !
Guarantee one thing...... you'll sleep well !
Yve

Iwan

I was going to say Wildlife Park if there's one near you, kids love animals and the more cute/exotic the better. The one near me (Cotswold Wildlife Park) has the usual big stuff (Lions, Rhino's, Ostriches, Monkeys etc.) as well as cute stuff that kids can go and play with and pet (lambs, rabbits, hyena's etc.).

joney

Go out in the garden with her and tell her you need to know how many worms are living in the veg patch so you can tell how well the plants will grow cos worms help etc. She will then proceed to dig up your entire veg patch, counting the worms as she goes ,so won't realise she's done the whole garden. Hey presto you have a veg patch ready for the spring, and 1 very tired toddler who just needs a bath and bed.

ok so maybe it won't work- but if you mess around in the dirt for a while and count worms she might get tired and sleep anyway- go the whole hog a couple of years down the line; guaranteed to work when she's about 6!!

Big Den

Feeding the ducks at the local park/pond if you have one.

Trip to your local Bear Factory Shop (warning could get expensive)

Suppose she's a bit young for colouring books (do kids still do this?)

Jay m A

iTrader: (2)

She's old enough to know colours, remember names and descriptions and stuff, so you can impress her parents by teaching her a few things new

By the end of the day you could have a conversation like this

'What car does Uncle Leagro drive?' A Subaru
'What colour is it' blue
'Where does it live' in the garage
What noise does it make?' rumble rumble.

And of course you could have her singing loads of Man City songs - but only if dad is a Man U fan

If the weather is good, a Farm is a winner as is a park with a decent playground. If raining (or dry!) toddlers time at the leisure centre,

I'm sure she'll bring all her favourite toys and teddies round, but a new puzzle and/or book will go down well.

When it comes to food time, bath time, bed time etc try to stick with her usual routine.

Good luck, especially if she's potty training ATM

stevem2k

Speaks the voice of experience It's immensely frustrating , hope you are doing better than us onder2:

MJW

There's loads of family friendly pubs about nowadays. Throw her in the ball pool and get yerself a pint. Find one that has a good view of the footy on telly as well as the ball pool. Just be prepared for immediate dust-off if she needs the toilet / bangs her head / bites a chunk out of another kid, etc.

Painting is also another good one. Go to http://www.bbc.co.uk/cbeebies/ and print out some pics of her favourite TV characters so she can paint them. There's some interactive stories and stuff there too which can be entertaining for the little 'uns.

If you have any friends with kids roughly the same age, pay them a visit. Or if you're feeling brave take her to the swimming pool.

Don't just rely on the TV, 2 year olds don't have enough attention span to sit cabbaged in front of the telly for long periods of time. And don't worry about mess - if you try to tidy up as you go along you'll fail - leave it all till after she's gone to bed. As other people have posted, try to stick roughly to the same bedtime routine she has at home.

Good luck !

cookstar

iTrader: (6)

One thing to add, enjoy yourself too, kids know when your bored/enjoying it and it rubs off on them.

Any of the above really for activities. Pubs with ball pond etc are cool.

You will have a wicked time.




Will expect update on thread to let us know how you got on


Cookie

Cool Chick

As mentioned earlier, you cant go wrong with just playing in general! I babysat my friends one year old last week and we had a great time! Come the end of the day we were both pretty knackered and fast asleep when his parents returned home later that day! lol

Leagro

Ok, thanks for the tips. There is one of those "wacky warehouses" near us, so I think we'll go there. There is a small zoo-type thing also close, which I may try out if the weather is ok. Park's another option (it's just opposite the pub!!!).

I may go with the worm counting suggestion - with the added bonus of digging them up, counting them & then feeding them to our chickens - everyone's a winner!

One thing I won't be involving myself in is the "toilet" side of things - that's what I have a wife for! Although I'm on my own for the first few hours in the morning, so I've already decided if any "emergency" happens, I'll be out the front door offering £20 to the first passer-by to come in & do the nescessary.

Might also pop down to toys-r-us, purely for the childs pleasure of course (cough, cough).

I think I'll try to educate here in the correct choice of music - being her mum still listens to spice girls- type trash. Must sort out some playlists with Nirvana\The stones\The who\White stripes, etc

Jay m A

iTrader: (2)

I doubt it! She thinks its a game, so does all the roleplay etc with the potty, but when she actually needs to go - won't tell us / doesn't get it.

We're not brave enough to leave her 'sans nappy' for a couple of hours - yet!

Something for the New Year I'd imagine

stevem2k

Nothing like prevarication then ...

We're up to about a 30% success rate at the moment , but it was only last week that we got moving in the right direction

r32

Give her a couple of cardboard boxes, works really well ............

Mick

iTrader: (1)

Big wrapped up box - doesn't matter what is inside - it's the crunchy paper and building your own house with the box that is the important thing

Have fun

Mick

Leagro

Well, the weekend passed off without incident!

Went to the local park (slides & swings)
Took the dog out for walks
Set up a "den" under the dining table
Went to a fireworks display (much enjoyment)
Many nursery rhymes singing \story telling

Had to get up at 6:30 on Sunday, but even that was ok as the cricket was on!

We hardly had any kiddies tv on, so that was mission accomplished.

Has this experience changed my mind on wanting kids of my own - No Way!