Babysitting Question

[PirateSnowmen]

About a month ago, I was contacted, via a babysitting website, by a lady who was coming to my area for a wedding and she needed someone to watch her kids while she (and her husband) attended the wedding party. I agreed, and I'm going to watch her kids (5 & 3) in their hotel room for a few hours while they (the parents) attend the party, which is at the hotel they're staying at.

My question is this: What should I bring to keep the kids entertained? Should I even bring anything? Since they're from out of town, I don't know how much they're going to bring for their kids to do (toys & such). I don't want to be the "bad" babysitter who plops them down on the bed and just turns on the tv, but I'm not exactly sure what to do. I was thinking of bringing my laptop or some sort of dvd player and a couple of dvds for them to watch, as well as a coloring book or two. Any other suggestions or does that sound fine? I'm pretty sure the parents are fine with the kids just watching tv, but what age-appropriate shows are on for kids on Saturday evenings?

Any suggestions would truly be helpful. I'd rather this be a fun evening, both for me and the kids, rather than a boring evening of watching junk on tv.

 

[starrzone]

How about some building blocks? Can 't go wrong there; both the kids could use them, and they don't need batteries! I was thinking wooden ones, or maybe Duplo, which would be good for both kids.

 

[abdmom]

We stayed in a hotel and had a babysitter for several nights when my oldest 2 were about that age. Story books in addition to the coloring books would be good.

 

[PollyannaMom]

I like your coloring book idea, and I sometimes used to bring simple crafts babysitting (like paper bag puppets, that sort of thing).

Maybe get a couple of really good picture books from the library to read to them!

A deck of cards might be good idea, too. You could play Memory with both of them (I'd only use a few pairs at a time with that age, not the whole deck) and if the little one goes to sleep earlier, you could play Go Fish with the older one as a quiet activity between their bedtimes.

 

[AKL_Megs]

Kids like "making things" for their parents. How about some construction paper, tape, crayons, etc., and make a "Welcome Back" banner or cards for mom and dad!

Books. Kids LOVE different books, or books different than the ones they always read at home. Check out some books from your local library!

Can you bring along snacks? If so, how about bringing iced cupcakes, and different sprinkles/candies/toppings (stuff you have at home), and doing a "cupcake bar"!

Pipe cleaners are cheap, and they are FUN! You can make a million things with pipe cleaners... even more fun if you bring along googly eyes!

(I used to babysit... A LOT! )

 

[happygirl]

About a month ago, I was contacted, via a babysitting website, by a lady who was coming to my area for a wedding and she needed someone to watch her kids while she (and her husband) attended the wedding party. I agreed, and I'm going to watch her kids (5 & 3) in their hotel room for a few hours while they (the parents) attend the party, which is at the hotel they're staying at.

My question is this: What should I bring to keep the kids entertained? Should I even bring anything? Since they're from out of town, I don't know how much they're going to bring for their kids to do (toys & such). I don't want to be the "bad" babysitter who plops them down on the bed and just turns on the tv, but I'm not exactly sure what to do. I was thinking of bringing my laptop or some sort of dvd player and a couple of dvds for them to watch, as well as a coloring book or two. Any other suggestions or does that sound fine? I'm pretty sure the parents are fine with the kids just watching tv, but what age-appropriate shows are on for kids on Saturday evenings?

Any suggestions would truly be helpful. I'd rather this be a fun evening, both for me and the kids, rather than a boring evening of watching junk on tv.

I would ask if you could take them swimming. I would try to take them out of the room. If not they are going to be bouncing off the walls

 

[tinkerbowler]

I think coloring books and other activities like that. I would also ask if you could take the children to play in the pool. Fun games like barrel of monkeys would be good too

 

[PirateSnowmen]

Thanks for the suggestions so far! The hotel is pretty fancy, doesn't have a pool, and is in the middle of the city. There isn't really a way to leave the room, unless we just walked around the inside of the hotel. They said the kids can pretty much just stay up as late as they want since they're on vacation, but I'm not sure just how late they'll be able to stay awake. They said they should be back around 11:30, maybe a little later.

I like the idea of bringing picture books. I still have a bunch of picture books from when I was little, so bringing a few definitely shouldn't be a problem.

Simple crafts are great - I did a lot of those when I was little and staying with a babysitter.

I like the idea of bringing cards. I was thinking about bringing some, but I wasn't sure what games to play with them, so thanks for the suggestion.

I like the cupcake idea, but I'm not so sure I want to get them all sugared-up. Since we pretty much have to stay confined in the room, I really don't want them bouncing off the walls

 

[LadyZolt]

Do you know if the children are boys, girls, or one of each? Boys can be rambunctious, so toy cars that you can play with are good -- you can make a ramp off the bed and the cars can go down it. Girls would play ponies, or school, or make up stories about something.

For both genders, another idea is "hide and seek" but not with people. Instead, hide toys. Have the kids go into the bathroom or sink area, or in the closet most hotel rooms have, and then you hide their toys under the pillows, bed, behind the curtains, etc.

If you give them a bath (and at their ages, they would likely be able to bathe together), then you can take soap bubbles and when you blow them, the kids will be able to catch and hold them if their hands are wet. You can blow some before with dry hands and see how the bubbles pop, and then show them with wet hands, they can actually catch and hold the bubbles. It's a fun science thing to do with kids those ages.

If you have a clear wall and can control for furniture and stuff, another fun thing is to turn off the lights and have a small flashlight to shine on a wall and the floor, and see if the kids can "catch" it. For this, it doesn't have to be totally dark -- you could leave the bathroom light on so it was light enough to see the kids, but dark enough that they can see the flashlight beam. As soon as one "catches" it, you turn off the light and then he or she can go "put" the light somewhere else and you turn it back on when they do. Kids really get a kick out of this game.

I would bring stuff for them to do -- even if the parents have toys, they will enjoy the novelty of what you bring, too. I agree not to feed them sugar. I'm sure their parents will let you know what they should be fed. You can bring some books, Legos or blocks, soap bubbles, toy cars, small toys like dinosaurs or zoo animals, and also use what is in the hotel room. You can build a "tent" with the blankets and sit under it with the flashlight and pretend you're camping.

I'm sure you and the kids will have a great time. Hope this helps and gives you some ideas of stuff to try! Enjoy!

-Dorothy