Childcare in Summer Hols

granto3 do you knit or crochet? If so, you could teach the 10 year old to knit/crochet. Make a scrapbook of the things she’s done during the holidays?
Good luck!

That's a tricky age gap isn't it? Their needs are quite different.
Can you arrange a regular 'team up' with someone else with similar aged children? I remember mine being so much easier when they had someone else to play with - even babies/toddlers seem to like company.

Home made slim, moon dough etc very easy and cheap, add glitter, gems etc to it, tie dye kits, dye bags, shirts, teatowels etc.. Rock painting, mug painting, jewelry making (beads etc) flower pressing, as above make bird feeders, bug hotels (all table top activities) simple sewing ideas, pencil cases etc, model head (got one cheap off ebay) style hair etc (even let her on your hair /face, I let my GC brush and style my hair lol and put makeup/nail varnish on)

I also look after my grandchildren on a weekly basis. My problem is that the 10 year old granddaughter broke her femur in an arguement with a car! She will be on crutches for most of the summer holidays so I am restricted to what she can do. Her little brother who in nearly 4 is so easy to please, just give him a ssndpit and he will happily play there all day. Any ideas on what to do with the 10 year old?

If staying at home I'd buy a splash mat (dog one as stronger lol) they're circular and the outer sprays up and the middle fills up like a splash pool,
A pop up tent (small) for picnics and dens full of cushions, blankets etc.. Make a fairy garden/big hotel out of twigs etc.... Chalk the patio, pavement paint the sheds/walls with water and big brushes. Treasure hunts, gather foliage make pictures, bark rubbing, planting, watering plants,
Outside
Local parks.. Picnics take bikes, scooters,kites, foam gliders(cheaper and a big love for children)
Woodland(den building on a bigger scale) bug hunts, etc
Streams.. If local to a stream invest in a Magnet fishing, my GC love it and we spend hours fishing for treasure.
Wellies for splashing in streams and inevitably puddles too....
Indoors
Dens with chairs, tables and sheets
Painting cheap and cheerful hobby craft activities
Puppet on lolly sticks, sock puppets,
Junk modeling with all your recycling.
Gloop (flour and water) for mark making
Pasta necklace, painted.
Watch stick man, find and stick and make a stick man.
Go on a bear hunt (story) use the house as the river, cave, snow storm etc... (can be done outside too)
Make bird feeders,
So many ideas sorry lol

Nowadays they go everywhere by car, so a bus trip is an adventure. Go online, there are all sorts holiday activities organised by local groups, by he council and by the libraries.

Ask your local mums about best parks and take them to different ones.

Speak to their mums and see if playdates are possible with their friends. If you do not mind the mess, then your 4yr old can do junk modelling so keep all your toilet rolls and cereal packets. I agree with AliBee about chalk outside - far less messy than paints.

If it's a sunny day they can spend hours with a magnifying glass burning g their names onto a piece of wood.

Goodness! I wish you had all been around when my children and grandchildren were small! What brilliant ideas!

For dull days try some shaving foam on the kitchen table. Sensitive foam is the safest bet. It’s very easy to clear up and a great deal of fun!

I take my GD, who is one, to the cafe at a local church, which has an enclosed play area. There’s a play kitchen, lots of ride on toys and others that she doesn’t have at home. She loves it, it’s not too busy, but there are other children there to play with, and I get to have a peaceful coffee at the same time. It’s worth exploring if your town has anything similar.

A pack of chalk to draw on the patio or path. You can draw roads, etc.,for toy vehicles, or just draw. My little DGS aged 2.5 lay down and told me to draw round him, apparently they’ve done something similar at nursery. We ended up with a few outlines of him in different positions, he loved it. He also loves you drawing around his hands of feet. For indoors, he has a whiteboard and pens which can be constantly erased and redrawn.

If you swim, find out if there are baby swimming classes locally.

All children ought to be taught to swim and the earlier the better.

A good activity when the weather is wet or cold, or you are too tired to go anywhere is to sit down with the children and tell them using everyday things like a milk carton or your smart phone how different things were when you were their ages.

I loved it, when my grandmothers told this kind of story, and my grandson loved my stories (told by my oldest Teddy) during lockdown when he was four and driving his mother distracted. I sent them in e-mail form with pictures to be read by his mum and we have only just discontinued these weekly stories now on his tenth birthday, when he finally admitted he feels to old for them. (I had expected that time to come at least three years ago!)

If you have the garden space and don’t mind a mess, how about mud pies? I loved playing with mud as a child and we were given a cup of flour to look like icing. Our mother enjoyed bathing a really dirty child!

I used to play Raffle with my grandson. Lay out 10 (or more if you like) raffle tickets in 2 lines on the floor. Put a little wrapped up treat (2 if you have two children) next to 2 of the tickets. Then the children pick 8 of their toys and place them next to the other numbers. Put the corresponding raffle ticket folded up into a dish and let them take turns picking one out and making a very neat pile of the toys won. Each time they play they win 2 treats each.

I used to buy those little multipack toys for party giveaways from Tesco - bouncy balls, little cars, party blowers, etc. Xmas crackers at Xmas time, and wrap them all up ready the previous evening.

He would keep playing game after game and I would have a few minutes rest with a cuppa. It didn't seem to matter that they were all his own toys. The thrill of the little surprise treat was enough to keep it going.

If you don't have raffle tickets just make your own.

Have fun.

There are books like "250 activities".

Mine aged 4 and nearly 3 love big cardboard boxes ( to play in, or collect things in), and I save Amazon paper packaging for them to draw on. They enjoy “egg and spoon” races (tennis balls and scoops), painting / washing the patio or shed with paintbrushes and a bucket of soapy water, treasure hunts in the house or garden, watering the garden (and each other)… they love jigsaws, matching games, my dance and exercise DVDs, sticker books, dot to dot… a bit young to cut paper patterns for doilies or dancing dollies… kites when it’s windy enough, inflatable toys, stomp rocket, throwing objects into a wheelbarrow or hula hoop… walking the dogs where we might see trains, or a stream, sheep or tractors.

Keep plenty of clothes can can get marks on without anyone fretting. Have wellies, lots of spare underwear, water bottles, and know which is the favourite fruit / veg this week even if it was something else last week. Agree screen time, if any, with parents, also administration of eg Calpol and plasters!

Buy the four year old a cheap magnifying glass, then head tothe nearest wood ! When my grand daughter was this age we spent hours looking for bugs on trees, flowers etc. If weather is wet head for an indoor shopping centre with a play area. The little one can run around happily in a traffic free environment

Paddling pools are too much of a worry but a bowl or tray of water is always a hit! Bubbles, but be aware that a lot of bubble mixtures leave permanent stains on clothing unless the marks are specifically treated BEFORE they go in the washing machine (vinegar then fairy liquid? or the other way round?).

My DGC are all boys who are blissfully easy to entertain - like puppies, all they need for pure joy is a ball, a stick and some water. My friend’s GC are girls and always want to do arts and crafts, or baking.

A ride on the top deck of the bus is terrific fun for mine, or a short train journey.

I have a list of play parks that we take turns to visit, I’m finding it harder as my GGC are 6, 9, 12 and 14, the 14 year old can stay on her on but the 12 year old can only stay on his own for a couple of hours then he starts getting bored. We go to skate parks, splash parks, museums, cinema. I also take them geocaching. But they have to help me in the mornings to water and weed at my allotment. We have games afternoons, the small ones are pretty good at kids trivial pursuit, card games, any board games.
They all like going on bus rides as well.

I am with Lucky girl ! One at a time. Having two at the same time is not twice
the work it feels more like 10 times !!!!
There are some lovely ideas on here , good luck!

I love all these ideas !

You could buy or make a selection of "musical" instruments, tambourine, rattle, triangle, maracas etc. You could sing some children's songs with them and do some silly dancing. This could be something for a rainy day.

Mine played hunt the peg. I clipped pegs all over the garden in the bushes on the walls etc and the children had to find them all and had great fun.
Another garden game was planting tomato plants, potatoes or beans, or flower seeds which they harvested later in the year, they especially loved the potatoes.

Just remembered….my GDs loved a big bucket of water and a big paintbrush brush…. They would ‘paint’ the walls, the fence and the terrace. They also loved to decorate the bird bath with flowers, floating in the water

Just to chip in here - I organised it with my DD so that I cared for my GC one at a time. I was clear that 2 was too much and my DD fully understood and arranged her other child care options around that.