If you’re babysitting a 1-year-old toddler, play games like peek-a-boo or hide-and-seek with their favorite stuffed animal. If the toddler is closer to 2 years old, try making patterns using blocks or rolling a ball back and forth across the floor. If you’re babysitting an older toddler, try games like Simon Says and Hot and Cold.
Find out from their parents if they have any special naptime rituals you should follow.
Play with them on a big ABC mat. Play with letter tiles. Hold up a tile and have them guess what letter it is. If they get it right, give them the tile. Play memory with a deck of cards. Spread all the cards out face down and have them flip the cards 2 at a time. The goal is for them to flip over 2 cards that are the same number.
Don’t forget to clean up when you’re finished. Make sure the preschooler you’re babysitting doesn’t try to eat the playdough!
Have the preschooler you’re babysitting play with stickers. Give them a sheet of paper and help them peel off the stickers and stick them to the paper. Give them paper and crayons to draw with. Crayons aren’t as messy as markers or paint, so you won’t have to worry about a big clean up afterward. Have them draw shapes and then you cut them out. Then, let them position the shapes on a sheet of paper. You can tape or glue the shapes to the paper for them.
Go outside and draw with sidewalk chalk. Prepare some bubbles and let the preschooler you’re babysitting play with them outside. Walk them around the backyard and teach them about the different plants and animals you encounter.
Make sure you get permission from their parents before you watch something with them. Ask the preschooler or their parents what their favorite TV shows are.
Try board games like Candy Land, Chutes and Ladders, and Guess Who if you’re playing with a younger gradeschooler. If you’re babysitting an older gradeschooler, you could play board games like Monopoly, cards, and Yahtzee.
Play catch. Get a softball or wiffle ball and you can toss it back and forth. If they have a wiffle bat lying around, you can make bases and start a baseball game. Run around outside and play tag. You can try different tag variations like freeze tag. Have a scavenger hunt. Hide a bunch of items in the backyard and have them try to find them all as quickly as possible.
Try making flip books. Give them a notepad or stack of sticky notes and have them draw a slightly different image on the bottom right corner of each page. Then, when they flip through the book, their drawings will look like a short animation. Make jewelry. Bring a jewelry-making kit with you with thread, yarn, beads, and other things they can use to make bracelets or necklaces. Build molecules using cotton swabs, cotton balls, and glue.
Teach them how to play chess. Play a strategy card game like Hearts or Rummy. Play strategy board games like Risk and Mastermind.
For example, if their parents told you they aren’t allowed to use the family computer, check to make sure they’re not using it.
For example, if the kid you’re babysitting is playing video games even though their parents said video games are off limits, you could say something like “Hey, your parents said you’re not supposed to be playing video games. Turn them off and let’s find something else to do. Want to order food?”
