Now I'm trying something new for me: I'm participating in Carole's Ten on Tuesday.
Ten Ways
to Entertain a Child
I have
no children, but I've done plenty of entertaining for my nieces and nephews,
who range quite a bit in age. The oldest is in his mid-20s, and the
youngest is a preteen, which means my list may run the gamut!
1.
Read. Either read to the child or read with the child. I
started reading the Harry Potter series because my nephew was into it,
and I wanted to be able to discuss it with him. I gave him The Hobbit
when he first learned to read because I wanted it on his bookshelf when he was
ready for it.
2.
Run in the rain. One time I babysat for the same nephew when he was
nearly three and his sister was a newborn. It was raining out. We
ran back and forth across the driveway (the baby was not running, nor was she
in the rain) and splashed in the rain until he was ready to sleep.
3.
See a play. I prefer Shakespeare outside, because then the child is
also entertained by a picnic. When I was in England, I was impressed by
how young many audience members were when I went to the college greens to see
Shakespeare. Even if a kid doesn't quite grasp the language, a lot of the
plays are so funny and/or compelling that she will understand the story just
fine.
4.
Make a kite. Then fly it.
5.
Sing.
6.
Hike in the woods. Stop and look at all the cool stuff.
7.
Visit a museum. If the child is young, model how to talk about art.
If the child is a young man, a budding artist, ask him lots of questions
about why he likes what he does.
8.
Teach the child to knit or weave or sew. My nephew learned at a
pretty young age, starting with finger, then spool, then needle knitting.
9.
Cook together. My ex-husband had the same nephew standing on a
chair helping out in the kitchen from the time the kid was old enough to stand
on a chair by himself. Kids seem to like to eat stuff that they help to
cook.
10.
Watch clouds or lightning bugs together. Nothing like a blanket in
the back yard and a little daydreaming to entertain a child of all ages!
How do
you entertain kids?
P.S. Please forgive any font wonkiness. I'm having issues. I know.
I’m glad you are participating. Great list!
I entertain my nephew’s by playing make-believe. We become big animals and crawl over the back yard. We make up plays. I become a queen and demand dragons be killed. That sort of thing … a total blast!
You hit some good ones that hadn’t even crossed my mind! Great list!
Great list! I used to love kite flying.
Good for the child and the adult! Good list!
Bubble storms using industrial strength bubble machine (my lungs aren’t that strong!).
Splash pads and sprinklers.
Pretending to be a train. (Including the Woo! Woo! noise in public…by both of us…)
Finger paints. ‘Nuff said. 😉
btw – The Kid can stand on a chair (and unfortunately often does) by himself…I’m not sure I really want him near my food yet though. 😉 Also add to #6 “Eat all the cool stuff”. We tried this. There was a great deal of rock lickin’ and stick chewing.