Nanny 101 - Planning Activities

When it comes to planning activities for various families there are many factors to consider.

• Do You Need to be Outside?

I've had jobs before where I was a Mom's Helper.  During this job it was important for me to keep the children outside while the mom could make dinner, take care of a new baby, and do the laundry.  When I would work this job I began to bring bubbles with me, have easy "outside crafts" like sidewalk chalk, or riding bikes. 

• Ages of the Children

The age range for children I have watched has been from about 5 months to 12 years old.  The activities for different ages vary very much.  Infants enjoy peek-a-boo and for development it's good to have tummy time around 5/6 months.  Also, one family had Baby Einstein videos which it seemed the baby enjoyed from the colors and objects.  Beginning activities I like are crafts, Play-doh, Memory or Go Fish.  Older children might like more involved activities like Crayola Model Magic clay or games like Disney's Scrabble Jr, Monopoly, or Life.

• Genders of the Children

I'll admit that for certain ages I do bring certain activities.  When I have jobs for girls ages 3-8 I usually bring my Princess and Hello Kitty activities and games.

Girl Activities and Games!

When planning activities for boys I like to bring Toy Story books and games.  Boys also like super heros and Transformers.  I have found a lot of luck with large sticker books from Michaels or finding coloring books from either the Dollar Store, or 99 Cent store.

Boys Activities and Games

While in college, I had a child development class and we discussed gender neutral activities.  I thought this made sense to have activities that could work for girls and boys.  While working for a family I found Pirates, Harry Potter, and Star Wars to be pretty gender neutral.  Stay tuned for information to come on my Pirate days!