Help a clueless aunt out, activities with 4yo

[HangingOver]

I'm minding my 4 year old nephew tomorrow. As I'm the aunt that lives furthest away, I don't usually get to spend more than a few of hours with him every now and then (and that's usually over a meal) and I've not been in sole charge of him since he was a little baby, so I'm nervous... I really don't want to be the crap aunt that he gets bored with. He seems to change so much each time I see him. At the moment he likes cars, tractors, scooting and telling people they're doing things wrong. I was going to take him to the park but the forecast here is appalling tomorrow. Is 4 too young to do role play type of games? I reckon I could manage a convincing shopkeeper or "woman who has something wrong with her car". I'm sure DSIL will give me a quick run down on his latest favourite stuff but she'll be on the hop to get to her shift. Is colouring a good fall-back activity in case if boredom or is that a bit crap? I'm worried he's going to tell me his Mum lets him eat chocolate fried in sugar for lunch/paint on the curtains and my dumb ass will believe him.

Wrap up warm/ waterproof and go jumping in puddles!

Well this entertained my DC for hours recently: I filled a washing up bowl with water and let him shove different kinds of paper in it to see which dissolves (tissue, kitchen, regular, wrapping etc). He also learned a lesson which is that the only paper allowed down the toilet is the toilet paper because it dissolves the easiest.

you could also put shaving foam and a bunch of little toys in an (empty) washing up bowl or crush up a bunch of digestive biscuits and some toys.

you could pre-make a bunch of super easy cookie dough, put it in the fridge and when he comes round let him cut out biscuits and bake them/decorate them. If you’re more patient and prepared to put up with the mess you could let him make the dough with you.

or buy some cheap fairy cakes and icing decorations and let him decorate.

read him some books

stickers are always a good shout + crayons/pencils and paper

some easy games eg naughts and crosses

hide and seek (4 year olds are usually terrible at it and it’s hilarious) but make sure it’s in one room/somewhere safe or just peek while he’s doing it so he doesn’t get stuck anywhere dangerous

Lego/Play Doh (if you want to buy him some or if he can bring some with him)

Yes, excellent excellent suggestions! Although this bit threw me a bit...what's the foam/biscuits for??

you could also put shaving foam and a bunch of little toys in an (empty) washing up bowl or crush up a bunch of digestive biscuits and some toys.

Things my DD enjoyed when she was 4 include

• trip to a cafe for lunch, really liked supermarket cafes and people watching
• walk around pet shop that has animals in it or a garden centre with fish
• kids film with popcorn
• den building with whatever blankets, cushions, sheets etc you can find and plenty of pegs/chairs/string to tether it all together
• anything involving taking apart cardboard boxes and turning them into something else
• decorating cakes/biscuits. Equally as happy decorating shop bought digestives as she was decorating homemade shortbread so it doesn't have to be complicated
• puddle walks, if you have snow and a change of clothes then let him play outside

And there's nothing wrong with a bit of telly time, at 4 you don't want the day to be too full on as he'll be tired out after a few hours.

They enjoy burying stuff and digging it out. dD used to love it when I'd get a plastic storage box out, empty a ver6 cheap box of rice crispies in to it and then bury some small toys. I'd give her spoons, cups and bowls and she'd spend ages moving the rice crispies from one container to another and rescuing or burying the toys.

Oh of course! Fantastic idea, I used to love digging stuff out of sand when I was a kid!

So far we will be making playdough dinosaurs then burying them then digging them up, quick age appropriate lesson about fossils, then building a fort out of my brother's unreasonably large sofa cushions.

I would just go to soft play or even better one of those play centres with all the imaginative toys like little shops and little building sites they are amazing.

Make pizzas!

My favourite go to for entertaining little ones is to draw some fish with them, colour them in, cut them out, attach paper clips, then tie a piece of string to a magnet and play fishing, it can easily take up half a day.

Cooking with 4 yr olds is fun too, chocolate covered rice crispies or cornflakes are so easy and a big winner here too.

Music - fill containers, empty bottles with various food items, rice, or pasta, raid your pan cupboard for drums, tie elastic bands around a tupperware container etc to make various instruments. Then play sweet music, running around preparing everything takes longer than the playing so your ears will be quite safe 😀

If its snowing though, wrap him up warm and get him out in the snow ☃

Get a stack of books and a bench/coffee table to play libraries

A screw driver and his balance bike/scooter turned upside down for "fixing"

Bake some cupcakes/mini muffins- I use the pre made pack cake mix in a pinch, pour into mini muffin tins and add sprinkles on top

All the cushions off the couches and a few blankets- make an island on the floor and let the imagination take over.

Picnic on the floor

Pretend to be robots

If the weather is like it is here - build a snowman, singing is optional.

Feed birds / squirrels?

Hard boil some eggs then colour them with paint or felt tips (make sure they are the washable ones).

In my days of babysitting little ones I had a loaded dice set, one loaded, one normal, give the loaded one to the child and play snakes and ladders, this way the child always wins.

Thanks for your help everyone! The time flew by. He had to show me every single one of his toys, especially pointing out the broken ones, how he'd broken them, and which batteries needed replacing, then we did playdough and I chased him round the house with his remote control car. Piece of cake! i was very tired afterwards

Lovely update. Hope you got a nap after!

You sound like a lovely aunt!