Nanny Kids Stuck in a Funk?

Reset the Day with One of These Activities!

As a nanny or private educator, you know that despite your best intentions and well-orchestrated planning, the day can be sidetracked by so many unforeseen factors.  When you hit the wall with a project, your nanny kids are losing interest, or their attitudes could use a new perspective, we recommend transitioning to a different task.  We all have rough days, and when your charges are struggling, shifting the focus and inviting them to try something new is a great way to reset the day.  Here are a few great projects they are certain to turn around even the most frustrating day, and make learning feel a little bit more like play.

Go on a Nature Walk

Grab the appropriate outdoor gear, and take the kids on a walk or bike ride.  You can make it an engaging game by giving each child a list of age appropriate things to search for (a small pine cone, a yellow leaf, 2 inch long stick; items to challenge their sensory skills, etc.), make it a scavenger hunt! Give each child a receptacle to collect their treasures in, and help them cross off each item on the list.  As the kids find new objects, work to give them information about the object, help them make connections between the item and other topics you’ve been discussing during their lessons, particularly if you are their private educator and have first hand knowledge of what they’re currently studying.  You can talk about the deeper details, why the leaves are yellow, what the pine cones look like inside, and as a nanny if you don’t know the answers to the questions that may arise, Google is your best friend!

Trace Found Objects

Pick up a few fallen leaves, sticks, small rocks, dust them off and assemble them on a table for the kids.  Place each item under a white sheet of paper, one at a time.  Nannies, use your best judgment of the kids abilities, and help them use crayons to color over the object.  For the best results, we like to unwrap the crayon and roll the entire crayon over the paper.  This process will reveal lots of details on the paper, giving you the opportunity to talk to the kids about the physical structure of the object.  As a nanny or private educator, this is a simple, quick and super fun activity that opens the door to great learning moments.

Make A Collage

Grab some glue sticks, a few age-appropriate magazines, (think National Geographic, newsletters, Parenting, Real Simple, etc.), and a firm surface to build your collage on.  Cardboard works, but a poster board would be ideal.  Depending on the skill level, you can set the kids up to use child-safe scissors, or they can point out what they want on their collage, and you can cut it out for them.  Once they’ve got lots of photos, and cut-outs, help them use the glue stick to assemble them on the poster board.  As a nanny or a child educator, this is a great activity to center a lesson plan.  You can create a theme and have your charges select images from the magazines that fit into the theme, and discuss how and why their selections are related.  Once they’ve completed the collage, display it somewhere to show your nanny family.

Turning around a bummer day can be as easy as shifting focus, and shaking up the environment.  When the weather permits, we love getting outside and utilizing the beauty of nature to lead to new discoveries.  When that’s not an option, using simple crafting tools to make a collage, or tracing can be just as engaging and effective at saving the day.  

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