Any tips on entertaining a five year old?

[Graye]

Our grand daughter is coming to visit for 10 days in August. She is a very bright five and a half year old.

We live in a quite a remote area in the Dordogne in France, no near neighbours, no other children in the village etc. We have a very large garden, lots of trees, lawns and a pool. We will obviously find various places to visit but the majority of her time will be spent with us at home. We do have satellite TV but I know my son would not be impressed if I let her watch too much of that anyway, although I might suggest she could bring a few DVDs with her. We have nothing here remotely like something to play with and because she is coming by plane she will not be able to carry much with here. I´ve bought some colouring pencils, felt tips, lots of paper and coloured card but realise these will not be much fun for a whole 10 day visit. I´m saving all the bits I remember messing around with as a child, loo roll centres, tissue paper, beads, cardboard etc and we have some decent acrylic paints too. I also have a few story books I deliberately bought back from the UK last time but English childrens books are hard to come by here so the two I have will not last long as she devours them. However, with some invented tales, this, along with some cooking, will probably take care of evenings and any rainy days.

What I´m looking for really are suggestions for outdoor activities/games which will not cost a small fortune. I´m quite happy to buy a few things to make her stay here with us more fun but urgently need some ideas about entertaining little girls. Probably anything I buy will be grown out of by the time she visits again. I´ve checked the local small ads and can´t find anything suitable and there are no charity/secondhand shops around. We DO have village "boot sales" but there are rarely toys, bikes etc available. I´ve been looking at a swingball. Would a child enjoy playing with one of these with just adults?

ANY help/suggstions would be hugely appreciated!

[pumpy]

How about a jig-saw & couple of spare 13amp fuses?

[Shirley]

I reckon the large garden would be entertainment enough - especially if you've got a couple of trips out arranged. Exploring the garden will be great fun for both of you, with scope for hide and seek, I spy games, a bit of gardening etc. A few trees to climb in a safe environment would be so cool.

A football might be fun, and cheap too.

Actually - the more I think about it.. a large garden, trees, a pool... no near neighbours and no children in the village... it sounds WONDERFUL! Can I visit too please!!

[Graye]

The football sounds a good idea, thanks.

OH says he´ll make her some stilts. I just remembered a lady who used to turn up at music festivals in an old van. She has lots of odds and ends and used to entertain all the kids all weekend. Things like pieces of stockinette which they used to hop about in (like a head to toe wrapping), stilts (that´s what made me think of them), hoops, etc. I can´t say I really noticed what else she had, other than the kids used her van as a giant blackboard (it was painted matt black and she provided the chalk) which she washed off before she left. Can anyone remember having seen her, or remember what else she had? They were all things made from bits and pieces, ideal for what I had in mind!

[gigglybug]

You could draw a map of your garden, and have a treasure hunt, or you could use clues dotted around leading to each other and a prize at the end.

You could make paper mache masks (using a balloon), make and fly a kite?

[MrsD'ville mkII]

It sounds wonderful. My quick suggestions are bubble mixture and a wand, bubbles keep them entranced for a quite amazing length of time, and picnics on your land - much fun to be had putting them together, esp if you make the odd batch of cakes together in preparation, then pack it in a basket and go on an expedition in the garden. Mini-beast hunts are popular with my six year old.

I was really going to say though that don't expect to have to supply the entertainment 100% of the time. She'll probably make up her own games with the most unexpected things. If you can find some little dolls house type people going for a song in the charity shop she'll have hours of fun making up games, and if you have a suitable cardboard box a small house could be made together, using scraps of fabric for beds. My DD loves being read to, so you can read more grown up books than she might read for herself (though she's also an avid reader on her own), and dressing up is the other biggie.

It sounds like the most wonderful opportunity to spend some very special time with your granddaughter - let it flow. I had 100s of things I had actually written down in a list for last summer holiday, and in the end had to resort to it very rarely as activities just kind of happened, with DD's input. Have a great time!

[shell]

old magazines,glue stick,craft sissors and colours, mine love first cutting the mag pages into small piecesand putting them into a plastic tub(icecream or the like)then drawing a picture and sticking the pieces onto the picture,we did joseph and the coat of many colours last,i cut the head,legs,body arms and gave each two pieces to stick bits on,the face was good it came from an avon catalogue all the features it looked really funny but they loved it,the pictures are endless, also draw a picture on the back of a cerial box and put holes in it and give her laces to thread through,or beads on a string,sticking and glueing comes out the best for mine,but digging for worms comes a close second and little animals in jamjars that are let free when they have shown me them first,caterpilars are a favorite with leaves in with them,then when they have had lunch they go back home,the bugs that is,

[MrsD'ville mkII]

Just having read this again, the post about the old lady with the carava jogged my memory about letting DD chalk on the side of the house and the drive (at our old house, where we didn't have these sodding bl**dy chippings!), as it just washes off in the rain. If you have any tarmac or suitable surface you can 'paint' with water. Once I drew round DD's feet loads of times, we cut them out, she painted them and we stuck them on the wall and ceiling so it looked like she'd been walking on the ceiling - to a five year old that's pretty hilarious stuff!

I'm sure you'll have a ball

[shell]

yes bublles are good here too,and chalking on the tarmac,concrete,the walls not so good here, my older son a painter by trade painted our house and a week after the trippies went and drew on it,it washed away but he wasn`t happy

[maggierose]

Hi I know you were looking for outside tips,but i found a thing for my grandkids to do last week,actually it was for me but they saw it,its making your own bath bombs,really easy!!!
The recipe was simple,3 tablespoons of bicarb of soda,1 tbs of citric acid powder(got mine from wilko wine dept) a few drops of essential oil,,and a spot of food colouring,spray it with water,and bring together with hands,put into a mould,(icecube tray,or cake tins>>
It was so easy and they enjoyed bathing in them too,also nice to make for presents,you can also add rosepetals,lavender that sort of thing,but make sure they are dry,if you are keeping them or could go mouldy.Hope that helps.My grankids spent about 4 hours throwing pine cones for my dog,and running up and down a hill at the park,in the rain(not allowed to get dirty at home!!.They had a great ime.
Mags

[Milims]

Making a tent is always a good source of fun and hours of entertainment! It's also something to do indoors or out doors. On the first week end of the holidays my kids always made a tent under the dining table, played in it all day and then slept in it - midnight feasts (ok 7.30pm feasts) are a must! It's really easy - a blanket over an old fashioned clothes horse or over the table a few cushions a comic or some books and another blanket to snuggle in! And of course if you happen to have a cat to snuggle up with in there all the better! And for out doors combine it with a picnic and she'll love it!

[Milims]

Did anyone mention playdough? You can make it your self

1 cup of plain flour
1 cup of water
1 tablespoon cooking oil
2 teaspoons cream of tartar
half a cup of salt
food colouring (optional)
Method 1 - Saucepan
Place all the ingredients in a saucepan at a low heat. Stir continously until the mixture thickens to a firm dough texture.

Method 2 - Microwave
Place all the ingredients in a plastic container and cook for one and a half minutes in a microwave. Stir the mixture and microwave again for one minute.

You can also add different fragrances with food flavouring and different textures with things like sand or rice etc. Hours of fun!