Experienced babysitters and nannies know that having ideas for arts and crafts up your sleeve is a must. Keeping kids busy with fun, creative activities is the best way to prevent meltdowns when mum and dad walk out the door. Even better, a childcare provider who takes the lead and entertains the kids with imaginative play is a fail-safe way to be a favourite babysitter the kids look forward to seeing again and again. When babysitter night becomes a treat, everyone wins!
Read on for eight fun-filled ways to keep kids of all ages happy in your care.
1. Do the magic milk science experiment
One of the most fun activities around, kids will be mesmerised by this simple experiment that uses a handful of common household items. Simply pour a thin layer of milk onto a shallow tray or plate, then let the kids drop food colouring all around. They can dip a cotton bud in dishwashing liquid, then place it into the milk and watch the magic rainbow craft unfold. Older kids are most likely to appreciate the science behind what makes this experiment work, but even little ones will be wowed by the colourful effect of this activity.
Materials: Shallow tray or plate, milk, liquid food colouring, dishwashing liquid, cotton buds
2. Newspaper koala craft
A great way to use up old newspaper and one of the best crafting ideas for little kids is to make cute little koalas! All they need to do is cut out a few easy shapes to form the ears, face and body of the koala (this is also a great way to teach the kids about shapes and how to use scissors safely), paste them down onto a piece of paper, add wiggly eyes, draw a mouth—and that’s it! It’s easy, fun and bound to please the kids, and they can hang it up on the fridge afterwards.
Materials: Coloured paper, newspaper, optional koala template, black paper, wiggly eyes, coloured markers or oil pastels, pencil, glue
3. Make soap slime
This super soapy slime activity gives new meaning to the phrase “good, clean fun.” It also happens to be one of the best ideas for sensory play. Watch what happens when you combine warm water and soap flakes (which you can buy by the box or make yourself with bar soap and a grater). Kick it up a notch by adding food colouring, making several different batches for a rainbow effect. Then sit back and watch while the kids enjoy the sensation of squishing and stretching the slime.
Materials: Soap flakes, hot water, food colouring, bowl, handheld blender or whisk
4. Make a gum leaf collage
If you’re in need of ideas for nature arts and crafts, look no further than this gum leaf collage. This is a great all-round activity: The kids get to go outside, connect with nature and their senses, and choose their favourite gum leaves, and then they get to top it all off by creating a fun drawing with their leaves stuck down onto it. And if you don’t have an abundance of gum leaves in the backyard, you can head to the local park or reserve where you’ll find leaves in bountiful supply. You can also use sticks, flowers, or whatever you find! Easy nature crafts for pre-schoolers don’t get much better than this.
Materials: Sticks, leaves, pencils, markers, crayons, glue
5. Set up a puppet show
Indulge children’s theatrical sides with this activity that’s sure to become a favourite. Start by making your puppet show theatre out of an old box, inviting the kids to paint the outside while you cut out a square for the “stage”. Then help them create characters out of any leftover cardboard and paint. When they’re done for the day, fold everything back up into the box and set it aside for later.
Materials: Cardboard box, paint
6. Wordsearch for animals
There may be days when you just don’t feel like making a huge mess, but you still need a fun and educational way to keep the kids entertained. On such days, we recommend doing an animal wordsearch with them. You can make the activity even more fun by helping the kids draw each animal as they find it.
Materials: Printable animal wordsearch, paper, colouring-in supplies
7. Craft dinosaur paper plates
Dinosaur crafts meet paper plate crafts in this winning activity. Kids aged 4 and up will love the opportunity to let their imaginations run wild while turning paper plates into their favourite dinosaurs. You can use templates or help them cut their own dinosaur face shapes from the paper plates—either way, this activity has plenty of creative freedom. Once the face parts are glued down, lets the kids draw the rest of the dinosaur’s face and colour in as desired.
If dinosaurs aren’t their thing, you could instead turn it into jellyfish craft, or any other animals they like! The options are limitless.
Materials: Paper plates, coloured paints, scissors, PVA glue
8. Play with playdough
There are many fine motor activities for pre-schoolers involving playdough that can encourage the development of fine motor skills and learning. Whether it’s practising their ABCs, constructing vehicles or playing classic games such as noughts and crosses with the dough, children can have fun while they enhance their fine motor skills and knowledge of the world.
Materials: Playdough or other modelling clay