The Best Babysitting Activities for Kids (2024)

It can be difficult to come up with new ideas for kids activities. Of course, sometimes kids really want to do the same activity all of the time. But the chance is high that children will get bored at some point and want to do a different activity.

Taking care of kids means more than just keeping them safe, but also, keeping them entertained. So, these activities for kids should help you make sure the kids in your family or that you are babysitting have a great time whenever you are taking care of them!

We asked several babysitters from Babysits what type of activities they do while they babysit. We used their tips to make a great list of fun activities for kids that you can do while babysitting! Take a look below!

Types of kids activities

• Crafting
• Indoor activities
• Outdoor activities
• Sporty/active activities
• Educational activities
• Outings
• Homework help
• Online/digital activities
• Cooking/Baking
• Board games
• Reading with kids
• Special occasions/seasonal activities

Crafting and diys for kids

Who doesn’t like a good diy or craft project? Making crafts is fun for young and old. Do you like being creative and artistic? Then why not try out a craft or diy project with the kids you’re taking care of!

Check out our list of inspiring diys for kids (with links to some articles where you can find out how to make them).

Diy projects for kids

• Crafting with toilet paper rolls
• Crafting with paper (origami)
• Diys with recycled products
• Valentine’s day crafts for kids
• Mother’s day crafts for kids
• Father’s day crafts for kids
• Easter crafts for kids
• Christmas activities and crafts for kids

Check out tons of other easy and fun diys for kids.

Indoor activities for kids

Is the weather bad? Don’t worry! There are plenty of indoor activities that you can do with kids.

- A fashion show

Choose your theme and let the kids pick out the outfits for everyone. Then, it’s time to shine! Walk over the catwalk with your best model walk.

- Go camping inside

Grab your ‘camping gear’ and build a tent with furniture and sheets or blankets. Then you can, for example, go picnicking in the living room. The kids will love this and using their imagination!

- Have a self portrait contest

To make drawing more exciting, you can organize a competition where you each need to draw your own portrait. Depending on the everyone's artistic talents (or lack thereof), this can be a really funny competition!

- Play with toys

This might sound really obvious, but is your child or the child you’re babysitting crazy about building blocks or Barbies? Then you can play with these together!

Click here for more fun indoor kids activities.

Outdoor activities for kids

Playing outside is healthy. Is the sun shining? Then go enjoy those rays with the kid(s) you’re caring for! If you’re babysitting, always make sure to ask the parents’ permission first.

- Painting in nature

Go outside with the kid you’re looking after, choose a pretty location together and draw or paint the landscape together!

- Make paper boats

Go look for some nice sticks outside and you can make your own paper boats. Then, you can find a body of water and sail your paper boat! You can even have paper boat races.

- Camping

Nothing is nicer than making your own tent and going ‘camping’. Just like you can ‘camp’ in the living room when the weather is bad, you can also camp outside. Just take some chairs and sheets and you can make a make-believe tent. Now the imagination can begin! “Did I just hear a wild bear?!”

- Building a hut

You can also build your own little hut or fort outside, by collecting sticks and leaves and stacking them against each other.

Sporty or active activities for kids

Being active is healthy, so maybe you want to do something sporty with the kids (or the parents of the kids you’re babysitting ask you to do something active).

If this is the case, the following activities are perfect to do! Also, when the kids have a lot of energy, this is a good way to get them moving.

- Ball sports

Tennis, badminton, soccer, basketball… There are enough fun ball sports that you can play with kids while babysitting.

- Yoga for kids

Noticed that the child you're looking after is really energetic, but maybe a bit nervous? Then yoga for kids can be a great activity for them.

Read more in our article about kids yoga and learn about basic yoga poses that kids can do.

- Play Tag

Do the kids you’re looking after still have a lot of extra energy? A classic game of tag is always fun! This is a great outdoor activity (where there is plenty of space and no furniture or valuables to run into or accidentally break).

Educational activities for kids

Do the kids you’re taking care of like to learn new things? Then you can do some fun educational activities together. For example;

- Visit a Museum

You can also go visit a museum together with the kids you’re taking care of. Think museums are boring? Think again! There are plenty of fun and interactive museums for kids. Just check out the children’s museums in your area or what kid-friendly exhibits other museums have.

- Help the environment

More and more people are choosing a vegetarian or vegan diet, and have more knowledge about the environment. Are you also a fan of the environment? Then it could be a fun idea to get the kids you’re babysitting or taking care of involved and informed.

For example, you can work on fun crafts that have to do with this topic, recycling or planting plants in the garden. Click here for more fun activities to help the environment.

- Science experiments for kids

Science experiments can be really cool and exciting for kids! Read our article about science experiments for kids and choose a few fun experiments to do with the kids you’re babysitting or looking after.

Outings

Do you want to do something special while babysitting and do you know the kids well enough? Then you can ask the parents if they think it's a nice idea to take the kids on an outing.

This can be outings such as;

• Going to the petting zoo
• Going to an indoor playground
• Visiting the zoo
• Going to the pool
• Checking out an amusem*nt park
• Watching a movie at the movie theater
• Exploring a museum
• Going to a playground

Homework help or tutoring

Are you really good at a specific school subject that the child you’re babysitting or caring for is struggling with? Then you could consider helping the kid with their homework or tutoring them. In the case that you’re doing this while babysitting, it’s always good to discuss this with the parents.

Check out this article for tips when helping kids with homework.

Cooking / Baking with kids

Another fun activity you can do while babysitting is cooking or baking. For example, you can make cookies together, bake a cake or make pancakes with faces made of fruit.

Have a look at our simple and fun recipes for kids here.

Board games

Sometimes, it’s nice to just play some board games together with the kids you’re caring for. Some classics are;

• Monopoly
• Checkers
• Sorry
• Rummikub
• 30 seconds
• Pictionary
• Scrabble

If you’re feeling extra creative, you can even make your own board game together!

Online/digital activities

Ideally, you don’t want the kids to sit in front of a computer all day playing online or computer games.

But sometimes, there are video games and digital activities that could be suitable to do while babysitting. Especially if it is a rainy day for example. Make sure to choose an activity that you and the child you’re looking after can do together.

When the games or activities have a physical aspect that’s even better. Check out some good examples below;

- Just dance

Just dance is for young and old. Choose a nice song that you and the child both know and follow the dance instructions on the screen. This is a great way to pass the time and still stay active!

- Karaoke

Are you taking care of or babysitting a little music star? Then you can try singing karaoke together. You can do this on a gaming system, or you can always just put the music on via YouTube or Spotify and look up the lyrics yourself.

- Wii sport

Gaming, but in a healthier way! Grab the Wii and start playing various different sports, virtually! The motion controls make sure you’re still moving and staying active while you play the games.

- TikTok dances

You hear it more and more often. Kids are OBSESSED with TikTok. Are you secretly obsessed too? Then it could be a fun activity to learn and do TikTok dances together.

Before you do this, it’s important to check with the parents if this is okay to do, and not put the videos that you make online (for privacy reasons). See it more as a fun dance activity. You can always send the videos to the parents, if they enjoy that!

Reading with kids

Reading is fun and great for the development of a child. Do you love reading and is the kid you’re taking care of a bookworm? Then reading together could be a perfect activity.

- Reading aloud to the child

When the child you’re babysitting is quite young, you can read the stories to them yourself. Children always enjoy being read to!

- Children reading the story to you

If the child you’re caring for is a bit older, you can also ask if they want to read the story aloud to you.

This way, they can practice reading aloud. And they’ll build up some self confidence when you give them compliments about their reading skills!

Seasonal activities for kids

You can also base your babysitting or kids activities based on special occasions, such as the season or a holiday that’s coming up.

- Spring activities

During Spring, nature comes back to life. Go on an adventure with the kids in the fresh air. Fun spring activities are;

• Go looking for bugs and animals in the garden or park
• Walk through the park and look at all the blooming flowers
• Pick some flowers in the garden and make a beautiful flower diy.

Looking for some awesome craft projects to ring in spring? These spring crafts for kids are also awesome activities you can do!

- Summer activities

Is the sun shining? Then there’s nothing better than enjoying the sun and going outside with the kids. Some great summer activities are;

• Water fight
• Picnicking in the park or garden
• Obstacle course

- Fall/autumn activities

Autumn weather may not be the greatest, but there are still tons of nice fall activities you can do together with kids.

• Make a pile of leaves and jump in
• Look for chestnuts or pinecones and make a nice craft with them
• Search for pretty leaves and make a fall diy.

- Winter activities

Is winter here? Then the following activities can be really fun to do with kids!

• Winter diy and crafts
• Have a snowball fight
• Build a snowman
• Go sledding
• Ice skating

- Holiday activities for kids

There are enough holidays throughout the year, and cute crafts or decorations you can make with the kids you babysit for these holidays.

For example;

• Easter crafts and decorations
• Valentine’s day crafts and decorations
• Mother’s day diys
• Father’s day crafts
• Christmas

Hopefully this list helps give you all of the childrens activity inspiration you need! Looking for more activities or tips? Don't hesitate to check out our other community resources articles!