Activities for children | Hey Kiddo Nanny

Sing together and be sure to include the different parts of the body to improve the motoric. Two good songs are “Head, shoulders, knees and toes” and “Itsy bitsy spider”.
Read children’s books with short texts and preferably a lot of pictures. Take your time and point/make funny sounds.
Building things are usually appreciated. Make a tower of Duplo-Lego or wooden jenga pieces. Take turns to teach the child about rotation and waiting for one’s turn.
Pretending to be an adult is both fun and provides great training. Pretend to have your own restaurant or store.
Paint together. Only your imagination can stop you. Paint/draw an a piece of paper, on a toilet roll or why not paint a house from a shoe box.
Go to a playground. This is perfect for the motoric and a great way to capture the child’s energy.

Different fantasy games, family play or pretending to be a police.
Use toys to arrange a puppet show.
Let the child try adult activities like swiping the floor the table or washing up the dishes.
Try sorting things according to colour, shape. Pens or Duplo-Lego are great for sorting.
Play with markers or crayons. Play dough is great too!
Play at playgrounds. Ride the slides, try the swings and play in the sand box. These activities are all fun and great for motoric.

Lay a puzzle and play memory.
Roleplay together. You can cook food or pretend one of you is a doctor.
Dancing and music is appreciated. Let the child choose the music. Music from the frozen movies are super popular.
Convince the child to tell you things they have done or discovered. What was most fun at kindergarten today?
Challenge the child. Talc about colours, letters and numbers in your daily life. Which colour is a banana? Or which letter does Goat start with?
Train the child´s motoric through ball games and obstacle courses.
Playgrounds are heaven and enables the child to use up all its built up energy.

Involve the child by giving small to-dos. Ask the child to fetch you a spoon while cooking.
The child really wants to develop and grow as persons in this age. Encourage this. Let the child count and sort the cutlery before dinner.
Play “guess what”. Place objects or tools, like an atm card and a wine opener, on the table and have the child guess their function. A fun lesson!
Go to the library and explore the trilling worlds of fantasy figures. Visit museums if possible.
Train the motoric through ball sports or through hide and seek.
Playgrounds are a lot of fun for 4-5 year olds too. They might want to play independently with other kids, so make sure to keep an eye out from the side line.

Let the child take part in your fantasy stories. Pause the story and let the child finish it in accordance to his/her fantasy.
Write a story together. Let the fantasy run loose.
Practice time in a fun way. Buld a block from a shoe box!
Challenge the child to count addition and subtraction. “I have five pieces of chocolate and eat one of them, how many do I have left?”
Read together and explain the word that are difficult to understand.
Let the energy loose by throwing a ball, playing football, or by jumping at the trampoline.
Practice the child´s favourite sport together.

Play board games together, but be prepared the child could try to push borders and rules.
Go out into the nature and let the child explore plants and insects.
Visit the local library to read a book.
Be creative and do activities together. Plant vegetables in the garden or cook cinnamon rolls together.
Go out sporting but listen to what the child wants. Some children like ballgames and some doesn’t. Why not try dancing or parkour.
Draw and paint. Encourage the child to draw his/her favourite character form a movie.
Read aloud and encourage the child to read for him/herself.

Friends play an important role for kids in this age. Show them you are interested and ask questions about their friends.
Let the child show off his/her skills by cleaning her room or by helping out with dinner.
Play board games together. It’s stimulating as well as fun.
Older children can help taking care of their younger siblings at this age, but don’t hand over the entire responsibility.
Is there a favourite sport? Let the child show you how good he/she is.
Baking and cooking together is appreciated and a nice way to spend time.
Children in this age develop interests for certain things. Find out what these things are (space/ dinosaurs/ etc) and come up with fun activities to do around that interest.

The child now needs to practice being an adult. Encourage this and take interest in the child’s new found interest in clothes and haircuts.
It’s hard to avoid phones and Ipads completely, but you can at least try to watch some interesting and educating series together and then discuss the contents.
Is there a favourite sport or activity? Play it together and let the child show you what he/she can do.
Kids this age are sensitive to stress, so take notice to make sure the child is not taking on too many things at once. They need time to relax and recover.
Find a board game you both like.
Many kid this age like creative activities like painting and cooking. Encourage this and try to these things together.
Older siblings in this age can be asked to help taking care of their younger ones, but do not hand over all the responsibility.