5 y.o and 11 y.o

[BabyFacedAbortion]

So I'm going to my boyfriend's for the weekend to help watch his little sisters, who I've met once. We really hit it off but I didn't spend much time with them. One is 5 and she's VERY hyper and the other is 11 and the typical middle child, quiet but hiliarious. Does anyone have kids these ages and if so, what do you think would be fun for them to do? They really like video games (got that from their bro) but I wanna do more 'sisterly' things with them. Should I bring anything for them to play with? I'm used to babysitting kids under 6, but I don't think it'll be TOO hard.

Lemme know what you parents think.

[birdgirl73]

That's almost the exact age range between me and my beloved older sister.

When she was 11 and I was 5, we liked to:
Play with Barbies
Have someone read to us or tell us stories
Try to tell stories ourselves, but they were never quite as good as the ones a more sophisticated older friend or parent could tell
Cook stuff like cookies or cake mixes or frozen pizza with someone older helping and supervising
Do artsy-crafty stuff like stringing beads, drawing on the driveway with chalk, or painting things
Color in coloring books
Play kickball, softball, soccer, or basketball with other kids
Build card houses or set up dominoes or blocks all over the house and then knock them down
Set up TV trays or picnic benches in the yard and run hurdles
Play the piano and do simple duets
Play school with my older sister always the teacher. This really worked better with other kids because I tended to be a problem student
Climb trees
Jump rope
Make beds for our cats by putting pillows and towels in cardboard boxes and then try to get the cats to sleep or at least sit still in them
Ride bikes
Watch Disney movies
Play with makeup and/or nail polish
Play simple board gmes
Make mixtures (this we usually had to do on the sly and we often got busted). But we liked to get bowls and then start mixing lotion, powder, red food coloring, glitter, marbles. Anything we could find.
Play dress-up
Pretend to hypnotize each other and/or hold seances
Play hide and seek
Have water-gun battles
Have silly string battles (in the driveway only)
Make tape recordings or stage live performances of singing, lip-synching, or theatrical performances. Anything to hear outselves making noise. My dad had a microphone that we loved to use.

That's are just a few of some of the fun times I remember with my sister at those exact ages. We had a lot of fun!

I can't wait to hear about your "adventures," BFA. You're so creative and great, I'm sure they're going to have a ball!

[BabyFacedAbortion]

Thank you SO much birdie! That helps me like crazy, some really awesome ideas there, thank you again!


ATHF...completely uncalled for. There's no need for that immature behavior here. If you want to be a douche bag, go to the main forum where people will deal with that nonsense.

[birdgirl73]

You are totally welcome, and knowing you you're going to have fun. Did you do some of those same things when you were that age?

If the 5-year-old's hyper, definitely mix in some of physical activities to blow off some of that steam. Thank you, too, for your comments about the intervening post. In even jest, that thread had to go.

[BabyFacedAbortion]

Sadly I don't remember my childhood at all, (not from the weed but I was supposedly "traumatized") but I'm sure I've done all of those things! I think the girls are really gonna have fun though, I don't see them much (boyfriend lives in a different town) but they always send me little stuffed animals and cards..tamara (the 5 y.o) sent me a valentines day card too! They are too cute! Thanks again, honey!

[napolitana869]

you should make a living room fort with sheets and pillows and all that stuff. those are fun at any age

[robert42]

you should make a living room fort with sheets and pillows and all that stuff. those are fun at any age

haha yea i loved them

[Chronic Chrissy]

at that age our babysitter used to bring nail polish and mud masks and we wuld do a mini spa thing.

[friendowl]

give the lil brats some strong cough medicine
with a sip of beer chaser.they shoukld be asleep in no time
then before you and your boy start getting freaky
be sure to put vegatable oil on all the door knobs
so they cant open the door and get out of the room

[birdgirl73]

I dug a lot of holes, too, Billy. And when I could get my hands on them (by age 11 this was easier), I buried firecrackers with the fuse sticking out of the little dirt pile and lit them. Got busted for this, too. I had a pyro guy cousin who was two years older, and we were always pursuing some sort of explosive back yard scheme involving dirt, holes, fires, loud noises, small vehicles and toy soldiers. This was the Vietnam era when vivid war images were on the news every night. Back in the stone ages when I was a kid, they sold firecrackers, smoke bombs, little rolls of cap-gun blasting caps, sparklers, and bottle rockets at toy stores year round, if you can believe that. By the mid-70s, there'd been enough kids who lost eyes and extremeties from those items that they stopped that. But it was fun while it lasted!

[slipknotpsycho]

i started playing wtih fire at 5.. but i don't think that's too safe.. i've pretty much burnt every inch of my body at some point or another.. even my eyeballs >.< nearly caught myself on fire numerous times too..

take 'em to a park or something...

[TheAtomicPunk]

My lil bro is 5 (bday next week) lil sis is 12. They do nothing but watch tv and play videogames. I don't mind babysitting them. My sis can watch herself, I just make sure she doesn't leave the house, and all my lil bro asks is to change the channel, make him PB&J, Chocolate Milk, ect.

[Kid Dynamite]

We used to get fireworks over from France on the ferry and blow shit up in the field behind my house. And riding bikes around and fighting with the other kids.

[JunkYard]

you should make a living room fort with sheets and pillows and all that stuff. those are fun at any age

yup yup, we did that until our teens, lol. We would even ball up pairs of socks and have sock wars right in the house. Those were some of the funnest memories I have as a child. :thumbsup:

[BabyFacedAbortion]

hahah aww thanks guys, we actually ended playing LOTS of video games and most of the night I spent "protected" the littlest one from her big brother who was harrassing her lol. It was really cute and I think we all had a good time. thanks again for the responses :D