Help Your Teen Baby Sitter Make a Kit for Games, Toys

There are some easy around the house items that parents or grandparents can use when playing with newborn babies. When my daughter was a teen babysitter, I made her up a babysitting play bag with some of them and she got great results. I also made up a list of different play activities she could use to entertain her charges if they got bored or restless.

Babysitting games to play with newborn babies using easy to take along items

Beach Ball roll

Take along a beach ball and blow it up when you're ready to use it. They're cheap and fold flat for carrying in a babysitting bag. After you blow the ball up, you use it for the baby to balance on their tummies on. Most babies don't like lying on their stomachs, they can't get their head up and they feel stuck! The beach ball allows the baby to be up off the floor balanced on the ball, where he or she can look around the area well.

Here's how to play this game. Hold the baby securely under the arms and with his chest on the ball. Rock him back and forth or from side to side while you sing a gentle song to them. The pressure of the ball on her tummy feels nice and gives the baby a soft squishy ride! As the baby gets older you can even set her on the beach ball and bounce gently while holding her under the arms and back.

Household noisemakers

While many babies have all sorts of fancy rattles and crib mobiles, sometimes something new will interest the baby more, especially if you are playing with it also. You can create your own unique take along noisemaker rattle from simple household objects. A jar lid, a plastic measuring spoon, a brightly colored ribbon, and a securely tied jingle bell or simple rattle makes an engaging string of toys.

Here's how to play this game: With the baby laying on his back in a comfortable position, lower and dangle the noisemaker gently toward his face and then up. You can sing a simple song that has rhythm with it, like My Bonnie Lies Over the Ocean as you move the noisemaker up and down, back and forth. Smile and encourage him to move his head as he tracks the movement of the string of objects with his eyes.

Grab the toy game

Along the same lines as the above game, but slightly different is making a rope and stuffed animal toy that allows the baby to grab on to the object. This game is better for 3 months and up. You simply find a soft small plush stuffed animal and tie a ribbon or cord around the middle. Then with the baby sitting on your lap or lying on the floor, you move the cord around and the animal swings. Try to encourage the baby to reach out and touch or grab the animal. A good song to sing along would be Farmer in the Dell and have several different farm stuffed animals like a duck or piggie in your babysitting arsenal of games.

Pie Plate Kick Game

This is a really fun and free babysitting toy for babies from about 2 months up to six months. As they get older, they learn ow to make the sound happen and most babies love it. All you need is an aluminum pie plate, that's it. Then you sit in front of the baby who is lying on their back and you place the pie plate where when he kicks out with his legs his foot will hit the plate and make a noise, plus he'll feel the plate on the bottom of his foot. It's just noisy enough to keep the babysitter awake.

Making a rolled up towel booster

Another good take along for a babysitting kit is a small bath towel that can be rolled and tied with strings on either end. You then place the baby with the rolled towel under his arms while he's on his tummy. He'll be supported and boosted up by the towel roll and it helps him raise his head up easier and for longer. Always be safe when playing any kind of game with your babysitting charge.

Funny Faces booklet

Because babies begin to really notice the difference between faces at about age 3 months, you can put a homemade face book in your babysitting bag to entertain your baby. All you do is glue large photos of people, on card stock. Then cover them with sheet protectors or plastic contact paper. Put them together with rings and you have an instant flip picture book. We made tons of these for our kids at different ages with different subjects. Animal face books are a lot of fun. If you know your family you babysit for well, you can get photos of their family members and use them to create a Face Book of their own family members for the baby. You'll be the favorite babysitter in the neighborhood.

Mirror Time play

There are all sorts of expensive mirror toys for sale, but really the best mirror toy is just a large handmirror with a handle. They are easy to tuck into your babysitting bag. I like one that is at least 6 to 8 inches wide. With the baby lying on her rolled up towel tummy booster, hold the mirror so she can see herself. Talk about the baby in the mirror and then move it away and bring it back. You might get a big smile from this simple game and you'll certainly win awards as a great babysitter.

Simple baby games that don't require any toys or object!

Face to Face Tummy Time talking

One thing I taught my daughter when she was learning to babysit was that you had to get down on the same level as the baby. And a good game to play with baby is when baby is lying on a blanket on the floor, you lie directly facing them, face to face and as they raise their head to look around, be there to look them in the eye for some face to face tummy time talking!

Knee Rides

This old-fashioned baby play activity is a great one to teach a young babysitter. She may even begin to recall having these songs sung to her when she was little. With the baby on your knees, bouncing them gently up and down sing one of these songs or rhymes.

To market to market to buy a fat pig, home again, home again, jiggety jig

To market to market to buy a fat hog, home again, home again jiggety jog

Skip, skip, skip to my Lou

Skip, skip skip to my Lou

Skip skip skip to my Lou

Skip to be Lou My darling

Warning: Knee rides may result in smiling babies!

Have fun helping your baby-sitting daughter or son put together a baby-sitting bag for their next baby-sitting job.