Babysitting Kit

Babysitting Kit by Braxton Larsen

Neola Busy Member

My name is Braxton Larsen and I am a Neola Busy Member. This is my seventh year in 4-H and I absolutely love it. One of my exhibit goals this year was to learn how to effectively create a children’s activity kit that keeps the kids I babysit entertained through educational activities as well as healthy exercises.

The first step in creating the kit is getting a medium sized box with a lid. Choosing the right size of box is very important so all the activities and games can fit properly in the box. Everything that’s created or bought will be stored in the box for safe keeping. After I found the perfect box, I was able to start planning activities for the kids to complete. With several hours of research and brainstorming, I came up with the various card games in which to play, drawing exercises to complete and even some outdoor games to play. Although I had several great ideas ready and soon to be completed, I thought it would be nice to think of more projects to complete with the kids.  I then thought of the idea of writing fun activities to do on popsicle sticks. The concept of the popsicle sticks was to have a child draw a stick if they were bored and see what activity or game was to be played next.

I also thought back to what fun things I enjoyed as a child. I remembered my old babysitter making playdough with us and sometimes even cookies. So I found a rather simple playdough recipe online that I knew would ensure the child’s attention span and allow him/her to have a blast. Later, I looked at simple delicious desserts for young kids to make, and then I finally found the cake in a mug recipe. I tried the recipe shortly after finding it and I knew instantly the kids would enjoy the recipe. Another game I remember playing with my babysitter was bingo, and I loved it when my old babysitter would bring prizes for the winners. After the bingo idea came to me, I decided to print off bingo cards and then I backed them up with black cardstock. Small pieces were then cut for the kids to use as markers and then I created a small bin of prizes for the kids to earn. The last two games I came up with seemed pretty great to me. I thought it would be fun for kids to play a guessing game, so I filled a small jar with 65 starbursts and then I had each kid(s) guess how many were inside. The winner, whoever guessed exactly right or was the closest would win the whole jar of starburst. And the last game I created was called Summer Trivia Fun. I made a short 10 question game for 3rd/4th or 5th grade kids to play. Each card contained a question referring to a topic the kids had recently learned in school such as multiplication, presidents, states and capitals, or even reading and English material. I knew this game was the best because it was fun, and it was also awesome to see kids being forced to retain their prior knowledge from school.