What was the most creative babysitting crafts to do with children?

Question

All ages. Parents are there ideas that you have done with your children or have seen your babysitter do? Babysitters what was the most creative things you did with your charges? Thanks so much. No hurry, just looking for some new ideas.

Answer 1

Visit your local craft store, theres usually lots of isles with crafty kits for little kids. They're generally pretty cheap, colorful and fun. Some I've seen are plastic "stain glass" kits, jewelry bead kits and jar painting kits and packages that you can paint little clay animals.

Answer 2

One thing that I always enjoyed doing both as a child and as a babysitter was taking small paper bags, scrap paper and other miscellaneous household stuff (bobby pins, bells, crazy eye balls etc) and making puppets. Once the puppets were done, we would have a puppet show.

Answer 3

make little boat sandwiches for lunch or a snack(toothpick and napkin 4 sail) lol!

make a fort out of pillows and couch cussions... but put them back!!! lol!

read a book, then make finger puppets of the characters... the reanact!

hope i helped!!!!!!

Answer 4

try finger painting or making a scrapbook, you can do the cutting and then let the kids glue or stick everything together. anything that enocurages creativity will keep kids interested.

Answer 5

If the parents have recycling at their house dig through it and collect everything and see what the kids can make out of it. Gather other things like paint, feathers, googlie eyes, construction paper, glue, glitter, small pieces of fabric, etc..

Make musical instruments out of a coffee can and put uncooked beans or popcorn kernals in there and put the cover back on and have them decorate it. This can be the maroccas. or have them use a paper towel tube and cut it in half and have them decorate it.

Answer 6

scrap booking can be fun , easy and inexpensiveive

Answer 7

One of my kids favorites are making Christmas ornaments for the tree.  I know it's a little early to start thinking about that right now but tuck it in the back of your mind for in a few months.  

Blow up small balloons.  Get a little dish of white glue and add a little water to it.  Pass different colors of crochet cotton (you can get Christmas colors, or find gold thread...)  through the glue and run it through your fingers to take off excess glue.  Wrap it around the balloons, let them hang to dry.  The next day pop the balloons with a pin and take the remnants out of the cotton ornament that will hold it's shape thanks to the glue.  Add a hook and a little red bow, and hang it to the tree.

You could also make pipe cleaner animals with them.  Or if they're older teach them how to do beading like this... http://www.makingfriends.com/ponybead/po...  And Perler beads are a lot of fun for all ages.... http://www.perlerbeads.com/  they have TONS of patterns on their website and you buy them in bulk at Ikea, it's a lot cheaper than at Walmart.