Older mindees.

[Happiness]

I have just started looking after 2 boys ( 11 and 9 years old) and NO IDEA what to do with them after school. The younger one only comes to mine a few times a month but have the older one every day after school. I have never cared for older children. It has always been babies mainly. ANY IDEAS PLEASE? I feel like nothing is good enough (books, crafts, Lego, TV). They just go from one thing to another. Very tiring. I feel like I want to give up already hahaha.X

[loocyloo]

ask them what they like to do.

what are their interests/hobbies?

I used to have an activity ( generally craft related ) for my schoolies every day, but my current lot either ask for whatever craft stuff they want/need ( or we've discussed / planned in advance! ) or they sit and read/play games, run around the garden or play with the toys the LOs have out!!! they love all the sensory & heuristic bits, and dressing up.

could you let them go into the garden and kick a ball around? if you just have the older one on his own, could he devise a game for you all to play?
could they help you by making a big den/house/boat etc for the LOs, make an audio recording of some books, could you give them jobs to do ... like lay table etc?

we generally only have the television/dvd on after tea, and it is dependant on everyone 'being nice' ( usually never a problem, but is enough of a carrot to keep behaviour good! )

good luck xxx

[natlou82]

I'm assuming the older one has homework that needs to be completed. Can you set aside time for that? It sounds to me that what your providing is good, could they suggest any music, films, books they are interested in that you could either provide or they could bring from home? Do you allow any devices or video games at all? Maybe another option if you do allow them as maybe just want to chill after a hard day at school.

[Happiness]

Thank you for your replies. I appreciate your help.
Both boys (according to their parents) read a lot and hardly ever watch anything on Tv). The younger one is very hectic and goes from one thing to another. 5 min of playing in the teepee, 5 min of Lego, 5 min on the Xbox and etc. The older one is a big head and just talks over anyone including my oh lol. He apparently reads a lot and enjoys crafts so I offer a new activity every day but the answer is always NO. He is not interested. I took him to a local library after school last Friday but after an hour of searching he came home empty handed. Apparently they only had BORING books there lol.
I feel like they just come here and wreck the house. Maybe I should just stick to the little ones
Maybe as natlou82 said they are too tired after a hard day at school? I will let them just chill out and see how it goes for another month. If not I will be looking for someone else to look after them.
Seriously the little ones are much easier