Babysitting a 6 Year Old

Cooking! Make cookies, play in the boxes, let her help make lunch... my 8 yr old daughter loves to help in the kitchen. She also loves to draw and color. If you do have boxes, let her decorate them anyway she wants, build a box-fort.....

hope that helps!

Salt doe is fun at that age. Oh and what about a tea party? Picnic on a blanket in the family room for lunch. My seven yr. old likes to cut her favorite things out of old magazines and glue them on paper making a collage. They like to help with baking or cooking at that age too. I hope one of those ideas helps. That is nice of you to want to make it a fun babysitting experience for her. Good luck.

A cooking project could be fun... something that has to bake for a while so there's the waiting time as well. Also if you get the newspaper you could do a funny make a costume game (like people do with toilet paper at bridal showers) take pictures of eachother in your funny outfits.

See if she can rent a movie and bring it with her and you can pop popcorn and do eat the cookies you bake and do a movie theater at home .

Hope this helps,
T.

Paper & pen games like tic tac toe & hangman

Make up stories together; elaborate & use a lot of fun descriptive words (something isnt just big, its gigantic/huge/enormous/gargantuan...., not just pretty but gorgeous or frilly)

'What if' questions are fun at this age; what if you had a flying horse, where would you go?....What if Pocahontas came to visit you, what would she think of all the modern day ammenities? ... what if you woke up tomorrow and your hair & eyes were purple...

If you are okay with her on your computer, there are quite a few fun sites, and educational too; www.starfall.com for reading and stories, www.pbskids.org, www.nickjr.com, www.barbie.com (my 6yr old loves this one the best cause she is just sooooo into Barbie right now). But you can also google 'online educational games for kids' to find more that might suit her.

have her bring an extra outfit to get wet & muddy playing outside (if it will be warm enough to play in the rain &/or mud)

unpack a box, cut some decent size holes in it, mark each one with a number to score, then crumple up some paper to use as a ball and have a tossing game.

Play peek-a-boo with the baby. Also can do this with toys, covering them up with a blanket or washrag & having the toys hide then peek out.

depending on how your floors are; lay the baby on a blanket & have her pull him/her around the house on the blanket (this is a fun sensory game for babies)
On the same note, can the baby sit up in a box for her to push around the house?

If she knows the wheels on the bus song, she can sing it to the baby & move his/her arms & legs to the movements.
She can do the five little piggies "this little piggie went to market" with the baby

see how many different ways she can think of to get across the room; hop, jump, skip, roll, crab walk, slither...then exempt walking & running, and time which one is the fastest (a lot of cell phones these days have timers or stop watches, there is a computer program too I just don't remember it)

If you find a timer & she's allowed to run somewhere in the house, time her running in a circle, or taking a tour around the house stopping in each & every room and see how long it takes her, then have her try several times throughout the day to see if she gets faster

Do you have food coloring in the kitchen? You can have her make your meals all the wrong colors...water & milk too!

Rhyming game; one of you picks a word, then you both try to say as many words you can think of that rhyme. Your choice if you are allowed to make up works like Dr Suess books or not. (book=look, took, nook, cook...zook, puk, quook)
Add a twist; say some of your favorite nursery rhymes, but when it comes to the rhyming words, say a different word that rhymes instead, you could be rolling with laughter!

Alphabet game; pick a topic like animals, colors or food, then name one for every letter of the alphabet

Remember some tongue twisters & see if she can say them (peter piper's pickles, betty bonnet's butter, selling seashells...)

Let her put makeup on herself & you...can decide ahead of time if it should be nice, or clown-like, or nice with extra sparkles

teach her to make a paper airplane, then have flying contests

have you ever done origami? there are simple ones she should be able to do at 6 years old, I would check online

Do you have a digital camera she can use? This age usually loves to take pictures & often have a unique view of things.

I like the other ideas listed too, I tried not to repeat. As long as you keep talking with her & engage her in what you are doing, she will have fun, even if you don't get to any of these activities. If you can not yet find your crayons or colored pencils, does she have some she can bring over? Crayons and paper can go a real long way at this age. Best of luck & I hope you all have a great day!

You could bake some cookies or make some homemade pizzas. Play restaurant.

Have her write out the menu, you be the customer and she can serve you. Ask for water, then ask for juice ask for all kinds of crazy things.. give her paper to write down you orders. Have her decide how much each thing costs then help her add it all up.

Get every pillow and blanket in the house and make a big pillow blanket fort int he living room , turn off all of the lights and then watch a video underneath it.

Show her how you bathe your baby, let her help. Teach her how to change a diaper.

Play hide and seek with a toy. Let her hide it first and then you hide it next.
Let her "do your hair" then you "do her hair". Do them in all kinds of crazy styles, one side in a pony tail, other side in a bun..hair all brushed to cover her face. Have her put her clothes on backwards and her hair over her face. Take pictures.

Walk backwards through the whole house. Only walk on your toes for 15 minutes.

If she has puzzles, put them together then turn them upside down on the "plain side" and help her put it together. Put 2 puzzles in one pile and do 2 puzzles at once.

Dots and Boxes is definitely a favorite of my 6yo. Tic Tac Toe, too. He also likes solving Math problems I make up for him, or sounding out new words for a spelling test, and then learning the phonetic rules behind the spelling. He loves to read, too. Since you just moved, have her help you put things away. My son was a huge help with our recent move. Even if it's just, please take this and put it ....." kind of stuff. Just don't push too much on that one. She'd probably enjoy making lunch for you if you have the makings for PB&J. That's actually not as messy as it sounds. My son does it for us for a special treat sometimes. I Spy is a fun game, so is 20 questions. If you need directions for any of the games I mentioned, jot me an email, and I'll send them to you. Have fun! My guess is she'll really enjoy the baby, too!

Rain is no fun. If she's not bringing anything with her then ideas are slightly limited, but the internet is great for ideas. She'll probably like to spend some time playing with the baby. If it's raining enough, she'd be interested to see how much a cup will fill up with water in an hour or less. If you don't have any games, but a deck of cards; war, go fish, rummy. Pen and paper (my son loves this game), play Dots and Boxes (rules here http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dots_and_Boxes).
Good Luck

How about hand sewing? My two girls loved to sew, especially around that age. But at that age they need ALOT of assistance, so it would need to be while the baby is napping.
All you need is felt, embroidery floss, and an embroidery needle, some stright pins, scissors, paper. Joanne's fabrics has it all. We took two sheet of tan felt, cut them into the shape of a bear, and used a blanket stitch or running stitch to sew the two halves together. (make sure to sew on face features before sewing two halves together. ) or you can use fabric glue to glue on beads for eyes and a felt nose. Leave a one inch section open and stuff it, then sew it up.

You can also make a big heart "pincushion". Fold a piece of white paper in half, and cut a half heart- when you open it you should have a perfectly semetrical heart. This is your pattern. Then lay the heart pattern on two pices of pink or red felt. Use straight pins to pin the heart pattern to the two felts. (Pins should go through all three peices.) Cut out. Have her use Colored sharpies to make a design on the heart. Sew the edges together, stuff WELL. Viola. She can pu tthis pin cushion in her sewing kit and put all her straight pins in it.
Are ad special thing you could do for her is to make her a little sewing kit with all the necessities above, plus some extra felt, and a needle theader helper. Put it in a steel cookie tin.

Make salt dough together. It is flour, salt and water. Find the recipe online. I think you have to knead it also, for best results. Then form it into fun shapes on cookie sheets and bake it. She can take them home with her and paint them at home. I have always LOVED making salt dough. we make xmas ornaments , paper weights, jewerly pendants. If it is going to hang, make sure you put a decent sized hole in it with a toothpick before baking.

not sure if these ideas can take up nine hours but here goes. have any boxes? let her make believe with them. make a fort, a castle, a boat, anything. sail away to an island with her, discover mermaids, become one etc. have her make up a story and tell you about it. you can use kitchen stuff for props if you need them. wooden spoons can be swords or wands. plastic containers can be treasure chests.
Do yoga. put on some music and dance.
Have her help you make some food. have her help you play with the baby: tummy time crawling, showing toys. have her tell the baby a story.
try starfall.com for some learning entertainment. its a how to read site with little games and stuff.
play hide and seek, or i spy.
good luck.

Get rolled-up socks or small stuffed animals and a laundry basket and play "basketball."
If you have a bunch of empty soda bottles or something similar, go "bowling" in the living room. Set up the bottles at the end of the room and get a soft ball to roll to knock them down.
If you have a ton of boxes around and don't care about them, let her decorate them. Or if you have a big empty one, help her cut a door in it and have her decorate it as a house. Be creative with junk you have around the house to glue on it. Tissue paper curtains, cereal box shutters, etc. Look in your recycling bin.

Do you have anything she could play dress-up in? Sturdy heels, scarves, sturdy necklaces, hats?

Good luck!

Cook - kids love to make mini muffins. Fine to use a packet mix so it easier.
Or make a lunch together, get dressed up with makeup, best outfits, set the table with the best china, name tags, hand made paper place mats, background music of her choice, have a little disco while your at it
Go to the Dollar store on your way there and buy $5 worth of treats - craft making items, colouring in books, notepads, games.
Go through her photos from birth to seven and organise her favourites one special album.
Board games or cards

You said you just moved. Do you still have any boxes? My daughter is 7 and loves to decorate them and play in them. You can play house, boat, space ship ect. May not fill 9 hours, but at least will fill some time up. Good luck.

You have a lot of great ideas from other posters but one I didn't see is to ask the mom to bring some stuff with her to keep her occupied. maybe a couple games, coloring stuff and doll stuff. just because your babysitting doesn't mean you have to entertain her non stop. Play with her some but let her play quietly part of the day also. you will have a fun day

Bring her along on your journey for the day. Let her cook with you and help out in any other areas. Create a book together with paper and a pen. Let her build a princess castle out of pillows and blankets and make sure to polish her nails and curl her pretty hair! Let her have quiet time with a book. You can print color sheets or activity sheets off of the web. Just google kid activities. Let her sort buttons or beans and practice counting. There are so many options...!

I think asking her parents about the things she enjoys are a great idea. When my nieces come over I spoil them with activities - we play games, make treats, play with playdough, do crafts, etc. Good luck!

Meg,
How nice of you to watch her at such a strange time for you! I've watched my niece and nephew weekly for almost 2 years now and even though their ages are different, I can offer some suggestions!!
My niece LOVED, and still LOVES, to do ANYTHING I'm doing (she's 4 now, so she can 'do it better') but she loves helping with cooking, cleaning and taking care of my baby (who is now 2 days shy of 1).
My nephew loves to play with any toys we give him. He's 3 now, and has a crazy boy imagination, so he's different. And very entertaining (and draining!) to watch! He only wants to do his own thing, and the tv doesn't keep him busy enough....
MY oldest DAUGHTER is 8. When she was 6 or 7 she would have loved to be put in front of the tv, learn how to make a pb&j for her lunch and do a puzzle or be read to. Didn't matter what we were reading, she wanted in on it. Still does. Crayons and paper didn't apply to her after age 4. Her abilities on the computer excelled at that age though. She still loves going to pbskids.org to play games and listen to replays of shows. It is a safe place for her to go online and she still goes there!!

Good luck. Watching a new kid is different!! particularly with your own new bundle of joy to care for!!
V.

I have a 6 year old daughter, so I'm with you! You cold pull out your "fancy" clothes and let her play dress up. Or you could "play" makeup with your stuff...my daughter loves when I let her put makeup on. Look up some easy recipes on the internet and maybe make some cookies? Good luck!

Ask her parents to pack her a bag of activities...and considering your situation, if the tv ends up sitting for a bit, I wouldn't worry about it. Your situation doesn't sound usual!

Just one idea.... take her to a bounce house (not sure what the official name is). The place with the huge inflatable playground stuff. There is one in Pleasant Grove called the Kangaroo Zoo that my kids love! Here is the website http://www.kangaroozoo.net/. If your baby sleeps in her carseat, she can have her nap while your niece plays. Good luck!