by Yvonne Mccormack

Created on: January 30, 2009   Last Updated: October 21, 2010

To entertain young children all you need is a little imagination, and lots of patience. Most young children just want to spend time with mom and dad and have fun. If the weather is good going outside is a must, plenty of fresh air will do the children the world of good, it won't cost you a penny to go for a walk in the park, to feed the ducks, or kick a football about on the grass, the kids will love it and it's great exercise for the whole family.

There are lots of play grounds around that have swings and slides, and lots of other things just for their enjoyment, I can't think of a better way to spend a couple of hours on a Sunday afternoon.When the weather is bad there are a lot of things you can do indoors to keep the little ones from getting bored like, painting just make sure you cover the table before they start, give them a subject to paint and you be the judge when they are finished and give the best effort a small reward, make sure they all get to win once, it keeps them busy for ages.

Another favorite when my children were young was dressing up they just loved it, get them to dress up and put on a play for you and the rest of the family, like nans and grandads, aunts and uncles, you will be surprised at what they can do. If you are going to do some baking get them to help you , they can roll out the cuttings of pastry you trim off pies and make their own inventions, they can't wait for them to come out of the oven, the delight on the little faces is priceless.

Another activity for indoors is making pictures from scraps of material and paper, and anything else that's not needed, cut up old magazines and make mozaics from different coloured bits of paper this is a favorite with most children.

Children love playing board games and they love it even more if mom and dad play too, its a great way of spending quality time with your children and you will be surprised at how much fun it is, just remember to let them win sometimes or you could have a few tantrums on your hands.

Reading is another way of entertaining young children, what child wouldn't like mom or dad reading them a story, it needn't be bedtime you can read a story at any time of the day it's just nice to have some quiet time with the children as well as play time. If you have some spare cash a nice treat is a trip to the zoo it can also be educational too seeing all the different animals and learning about them, then when you get home you can sit and talk about your trip children just love relaying everything back to you if you just take the time to listen, it also gives them something to talk about to grand parents too.

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