From Babysitter to Babysitter

Alright so babysitting has been my favorite thing to do since i was about 12. So for past 7 years, I have been a babysitter and during that time, I've had to figure out some crafts and fun things to do so the time doesn't draaaaag on. So, I wanted to share some of my tips, tricks, and ideas with all those other babysitters out there. I know Summer babysitting days can be long and boring so here are just a few of the things my kids and I have made over the years!

1. This is super simple and fun for girls! We made picture frames and decorated them!

• Go to Michael's or any craft store and find the plain wooden picture frames and chalk. At Michael's and Joann's they are $1. (I know, great deal!) 
• Then, either get paint or chalkboard spray paint. For these, we did chalkboard paint! 
• Spray the frames with chalkboard paint (make sure there's alot of newspaper under so you don't make a mess. And do it outside). 
• Let them dry for about an hour. 
• Then, attach a stick of chalk to it with ribbon, string, etc. 
• After that, decorate the frame with your chalk! 
• The chalk erases easily with a wet papertowel or napkin. This makes for a fun, creative, and re-decoratable (just made that word up) picture frame! 

2. Gingerbread House: Of COURSE you have to make a gingerbread house during Christmas! My kids LOVED doing this. We just bought a few kits from Walmart and made them. You can get them at Walmart, Target, Michael's, or any craft store. The kit comes with everything need and directions. However, we did it a little different. 

• We didn't just make the houses, we had a crazy fun contest. I have 4 I've babysat over the past 7 years. There's a 10 year old boy, 7 year old twin girls, and a 3 year old boy. So, we split into teams. I was with the 3 year old and one of the girls. And the 10 year old and other twin were on a team. We each had a house and all the supplies, candy, icing and ideas we needed. 
• I had a prize for the winning house: a stocking with candy and  hot chocolate mix in it. However, the winning teams' favorite reward was getting to peg the losing team with 20 snowballs! They LOVED THIS. 
• The judges were kids parents, haha so it was fair. 
• This is something that's simple, but we added some spice to it! 

P.S.- I also gave the losers candy and hot chocolate! They just got it AFTER the snow ball fight :) 

3. National Cow Day: Every year chick fil a celebrates this holiday by giving free meals to anyone who dresses up like a cow. So, of course, we took advantage of this and wanted to get some FREE CHICKEN. The outfits were simple and super cheap. takes about 30-40 mins.

•  First of all, get plain white tshirts. you can buy a pack of men's undershirts for like $8. 
• Then, find some black construction paper and cut out spots. Its literally so easy. 
• Tape the spots all over the shirt.
• for the legs, we just wore black leggings, jeans, or shorts. 
• The signs are what take the longest. I hand drew our signs, but you can print them off the computer too which is easier. 
• I used sharpee to write "eat" "more" & "chicken" on white pieces of printer paper. (just good search the chick fil a sign and copy how the letters look)
• Then there you go!! You have cow costumes and free food!!

  4. Happy Hands: This was just a random idea I had one day. The point of this craft was to see and learn about how God is creative. So, we used our hands to show that God created all things and made all things  beautiful! Each person is unique so each of our hands are too. We loved learning about Gods creativity by being creative like Him!

• Trace each child's hands on a piece of printer paper and then cut out the hands.
• Next, let the kids decorate their hands however they want. We used makers, glue, glitter, sequins, and crayons. Other materials you can use are paint, pom poms, stickers, scrapbook paper, or beads. 
• After decorating, you can glue all the hands together (if you want). Doing this helps you to see all the different and unique hands. Pretty cool! 
• You can also write on them. For example, on the palm, write the kids name (ex. Cameron). Then on each finger, write his/her fav thing. (Color, song, animal, vacation spot, and food). This shows how each person is made so different from everyone else. Its helps to see how God made each person unique and special! 

On mine, I made it like a butterfly. I put the verse in the Bible
about how God makes everything beautiful. 

5. Indians: This one is my FAVORITE! We decided one day we wanted to be Indians. So of course, we made costumes. They took us about 45 mins to make but we wore them all day long and had so much fun. The kids looks precious and their parents & grandparents loved them :)

• First step- take brown construction paper and cut strips about 1 1/2 to 2 inches thick. Cut the paper long ways to it fits around each person's head.
• next, get red, yellow, and orange paper and cut out 3 feathers. 
• Take the feathers to the front (but on the inside) of the brown strips of paper.
• Then, wrap the whole thing around the head and tape it in the back so it stays! 
• We also decided we wanted face paint.
• I just took washable white and red paint from the house and painted stripes on our cheeks with my finger. Washes off in the tub! 
• We had so much fun and the kids didn't want to take off their headresses or face paint. 
• **I braided the girls' hair to make them look even more like indians!** 

Just some simple and easy little things that i love to use when babysitting are things like markers, sticker, paper, sequins, crayons, etc. If you just have some different kinds of craft supplies that kids can use to decorate paper, that's great! Its simple and easy :)