help a new au-pair out!! :)

[llauren]

Hi Mums!!

My name is lauren and i’m 18, and i’m going in october to germany to be an au pair! ive come to mumsnet because i'm looking after an 11year old, a 5year old and twins (2yrs) - all of whom are boys, and was wondering if anyone had any ideas on fun activities which will keep them entertained in afternoons and evenings? i am very energetic, a good swimmer, patient, arts and crafty and extroverted so i am used to noise (and very much anticipate it😂). ideally i’m looking for age appropriate games / activities which i could modify for the 5 year old and twins to do together (and also some ideas i definitely should not try would be appreciated) also, i would love some ideas (such as swimming / cinema) i could do with the 11 year old boy maybe on an evening to bond with him too. i have been told they are all very loud, energetic and love football. I do have experience with primary school aged children and i have a family relation aged 2 so i have a small amount of experience with him, but i would** love some other ideas too!! i know this will be no doubt exhausting, but i have so much time for these lovely boys and i want to be the best i can be :) thankyou for your time and i'm excited to see all of the fun ideas !!

Obstacle course in the garden or house on wet days, hide things and they have to find them with clues (gets them running all over), I saw a learning game where you roll a dice and jump on cushions til you get to that number. There's a piece of paper with something they're learning they keep going til they've got them all.

Just coming on to say you sound like you'll be an amazing au pair!! There are some brilliant play accounts on Insta that may be worth a follow for the younger ones. For the older one, I think take his lead once you get there.

Five Minute Mum is your friend (certainly for the younger ones)
Enjoy! I had such a great experience doing this for a family in Switzerland when I was young

Also, find out if there is a local network of other au pairs so you can have play dates with them and make some adult friends

I got a primary teacher friend the book "The floor is lava" which has got loads of ideas for games in it as a secret Santa present one year. He's used lots of the games with children of various ages and it's also on Kindle or Google books as an ebook.