When M was born (6 years ago!), I quit teaching. I LOVED teaching but my heart was at home with her. We made it work for a long time but recently, an AMAZING part-time reading specialist position opened up AT HER SCHOOL and I accepted.
But, it means leaving Big G (2 years old) and Little G (8 months) Mondays through Thursdays. Grandma is watching them and mentioned that she’d love to have activities to do with Big G while Little G is napping. It’s win-win!
So, here are some ideas for working mamas, or even a mama that has a random sitter occasionally, to incorporate easy, ready-to-go learning activities even if you aren’t home!
Babysitters and Learning Activities
Set up an art project with easy to clean materials. For this one, I drew a tree and set out paint and Q-Tips. G dipped the Q-Tip in the paint and added Fall leaves!
Keep it stocked! Every Sunday evening, I fill boxes with activities and crafts. This is an extra pantry that I cleaned out specifically for this purpose. This way, Grandma and G can easily and quickly pick out something, sit down, and PLAY!
Learning doesn’t have to stop, even if you aren’t there! I use this magnetic white board ALL THE TIME. For this one, I taped down an alphabet mat and paired it with magnetic letters (Dollar Tree). G matched the letter to the mat and they talked about the colors of the magnets!
Story time is always set out, too. I plan ahead and provide a book and an activity. For this one, they read Brown Bear and sequenced the story with picture cards. When done, everything went back in the diaper wipes container!
And, fine motor skills can always be rotated out and left ready to go! I used this divided platter from the Dollar Tree and filled it with Fall table scatter that I found in the Target dollar spot. I added a pair of tongs (his favorite) as well as a spoon to use for transferring.
Do you leave sitters with activities? As someone who used to baby-sit a TON, I think I would’ve loved it!
Written by Jill
Teffie
Friday 1st of November 2013
I would love to see before and after pictures of big G's art work.
Angela M
Wednesday 30th of October 2013
I have a babysitter one day a week while I work. I leave a short series of themed activities and supplies to use with my 3 year old. For example, this week I have spider web alphabet game, spider web sand and glue art and a variety of fiction and non fiction books featuring spiders available. I usually leave a couple facts to enforce of the week's theme - ie spiders have 8 legs. She loves it! And has recently started a Pinterest page for her own ideas!
Nicole
Wednesday 30th of October 2013
LOVE that! I like the theme idea and LOVE that it has inspired her to find more ideas. So fun!If you'd like to feature any of your activities on this site, let me know.
Annette W {This Simple Mom}
Wednesday 30th of October 2013
I love the new look!
Next week I begin tutoring after school one evening each week. :) I like this!
Nicole
Wednesday 30th of October 2013
Good luck with your tutoring! Let us know if you try leaving any activities with the sitter.