Activities That Keep Young Children Entertained During Downtime

If there's one thing I've learned during my 10+ years working with children, it's how to entertain children when we only have a few minutes of downtime between activities. 

I am a nanny for 3 children, plus I take my son to work with me. There have been many times when we finish an activity but it's too early to make lunch, or I drop one child off at gymnastics and have to go back in 30 mins to pick them up again. In those short periods of time it really helps to have a list of quick, engaging activities in my mind that I can set up within a few minutes (seconds are even better).

I have compiled a list of the activities we do often that help pass the time. The kids love them and many of them are literacy or pre-literacy activities!

1. Find the stuffed animal- we will often grab a stuffed animal, and I will hide it somewhere in the house. The kids will close their eyes on the couch, while I hide it. When I am finished they all search the rooms we limited the game to. Whoever finds the animal (or whatever we chose to hide- it can be anything!) gets to hide it next.

2. I spy- I will start the game by saying "I spy with my little eye something that is" and then the color of the object I am thinking of or something that begins with the letter of the object I'm thinking of.

3. Nature Hunt- If we are outside, I will tell the kids "go find me _____" Usually I say a rock, a piece of grass, a flower, a stick, something that is a specific color, something that they think is beautiful, etc. You can send them on a hunt for anything. When they find one thing, send them to find something else, and have them start a pile of the things they find. At the end they love admiring their piles of nature treasures!

Found here

4. Number/letter recognition hunt (we do a lot of hunts, can't you tell?)- I write numbers or letters on squares of paper we cut out, or on index cards, and have the children close their eyes while I tape them around the room. Then I tell them either "go find a ___" and they find it and bring it back to me, or I have them run to a card, and they have to tell me what it is before they get to hold it.

5. Make a list- The list can be of anything. Sometimes we do a list of all fruits we can think of, sometimes it's our favorite books, sometimes it's just a grocery list. You can make a list of anything you want. This is great for young children as well as older children. Older children can help write the list themselves if they can write their letters and/or know how to read. For the younger children, they like watching me write letters, and talking about the letters and words. This is a really great pre literacy activity.

   

6. Letter sounds- Sometimes we will verbally list or write down all the words we can think of that start with a specific letter. When we get bored with one letter, we move on to another. I will say "What words start with the letter "P"?" and I will help them list some words. 

7. Build a story- I will start the story by saying a sentence to get it going. Then everyone will take turns each adding a sentence to the story. It is so fun to watch how the story unfolds and see how the personality of each child helps forms the story. Even the younger kids like to try.

8. Dance party- Many times I have turned the radio up and we have a dance party in the living room. It's great exercise, usually puts everyone in a good mood, and it's fun!

I hope many of you are able to use these activities that we love so much. It always helps to have a few tricks up your sleeve when the kids start getting bored, or you are in the car waiting to pick up a sibling from an activity. Let me know if you try any of these activities! I'd love some feedback!