A friend asked if I could babysit last Thursday for the entire day. She was going to Texas and hubby still needed to go to work. I said yes, thinking I'd be watching the entire crew of four. I was surprised and relieved, actually, when only two kids arrived. It made for a much easier day than I had anticipated!
I figured seven kids running wild with nothing on their to-do list but free play for eight hours was not the best plan. So I planned some crafts and activities to help keep them all busy. We went ahead with those plans even though we had fewer kids.
First on our schedule were Magic Nuudles. Just add a little bit of water. The kids were busy sculpting with these colored, starch-based packing peanuts for about an hour. The only problem we ran into was the dog trying to eat, and choke on, the peanuts. So, we had to kennel him for a while.
Since we used the dining room table for the Magic Nuudles, the kids ended up eating breakfast at the school room table. Kind of backwards, huh? Breakfast burritos are a favorite in this house. They are filled with seasoned fried potatoes, scrambled eggs, cheddar cheese, and sour cream. They were all treated to chocolate milk, too. Well, all except for Josh, who doesn't like chocolate milk. Strange kids...he likes milk, he likes chocolate, just don't mix the two.
Our last craft of the day were these adorable masks. They are made of balsa wood and were only a dollar each at JoAnn's Fabrics. I painted the frog for Josh using colors of his choice; it's not finished in the photo. The frog's body is yellow, the legs are green, the spots and tummy are red, and it is outlined in blue. The kids think it looks like a poison dart frog, which is fitting since he currently has poison (snot) pouring nonstop out of his nose.
The rest of the day was spent simply playing inside since the weather was cold and rainy.
I'm babysitting again on Monday. The weather is suppose to be sunny and warm (for us...63-71 depending on where you get your information). We're heading to the park with a picnic lunch. I also have Shrinky Dinks for when we are at home.