Keeping kids entertained!

SillyMangoX

Hi there, I may possibly be minding my 6 year old twin cousins on the weekend and we were thinking of bringing them to the zoo! We would be travelling by train from Limerick so it is a bit of a trek, I know they will probably sleep on the way back but I was just wondering if anyone has any tips to keep them from getting too bored? Im sure they have nintendos or leap pads that could keep them entertained for a while but probably wouldnt hold their attention for 2 and a half hours. We broght them to a petting zoo last summer, travelled by car and they were as good as gold, Im not worried about them being disruptive or noisy (apart from a million and one questions :P) but I just dont want them being bored

Sleepy

Train bingo. Make a list of things they have to spot out the train window and first one to complete their sheet wins.

Rosy Posy

My almost six year old loves Where's Wally and 'finding things' books. Picture card games like memory, old maid, happy families etc are good too. A simple colouring book and crayons can go a long way. Also a chapter book or two- Roald Dahl and Alexander McCall Smith are popular with ours. And if you get completely desperate, a game of who can be quiet/still for the longest...with some sweets to be shared at the end is always a winner. To put it in perspective, two and a half hours is nothing...try getting thru forty eight hours of long haul air travel with a baby and a toddler to boot!!

SillyMangoX

That bingo idea is great, thanks a million! I might print out a few pictures to put on a card and get them to cross them off as they see them, might do something like that for in the zoo too.

I remember telling them to play who can be quiet the longest in the car from the petting farm we brought them to before and I got a prompt reply from the little lad, ''We're not that silly, I know what you're up to!''

Wouldn't fancy that much of a journey on a plane with children :eek:

Setun

SillyMangoX wrote: »

Wouldn't fancy that much of a journey on a plane with children :eek:

Plane bingo with all the different cloud formations

dr ro

yes no game keeps that age going for ages. Also Simon says. Staring competition, thumb wrestling.

pickarooney

dr ro wrote: »

yes no game keeps that age going for ages. Also Simon says. Staring competition, thumb wrestling.

It's no fun, they always pick the most obscure dinosaurs and you spend an hour trying to guess it

rainbowtrout

SillyMangoX wrote: »

Hi there, I may possibly be minding my 6 year old twin cousins on the weekend and we were thinking of bringing them to the zoo! We would be travelling by train from Limerick so it is a bit of a trek, I know they will probably sleep on the way back but I was just wondering if anyone has any tips to keep them from getting too bored? Im sure they have nintendos or leap pads that could keep them entertained for a while but probably wouldnt hold their attention for 2 and a half hours. We broght them to a petting zoo last summer, travelled by car and they were as good as gold, Im not worried about them being disruptive or noisy (apart from a million and one questions :P) but I just dont want them being bored

If you're travelling from Limerick why not bring them to Fota Wildlife Park in Cork, much shorter journey and they would be doing much the same thing.

SillyMangoX

Well we went to the zoo last week, and I have to say the kids were great. Not a complaint all day. Kept them entertained by playing the 'who ill be first to spot X' game. None of us managed to find a purple sheep though :P and they slept the way home so it was great. If I was going to fota we would drive, but we wanted to go to the zoo to see the new lions and elephants. The trip was as much for me as it was for them

dr ro

pickarooney wrote: »

It's no fun, they always pick the most obscure dinosaurs and you spend an hour trying to guess it

are you talking about 20 questions? I'm talking about the game where you have a chat, ask each other questions but nobody is allowed say yes or no or they're out. Who doesn't know their dinosaurs anyway!

pickarooney

dr ro wrote: »

are you talking about 20 questions? I'm talking about the game where you have a chat, ask each other questions but nobody is allowed say yes or no or they're out. Who doesn't know their dinosaurs anyway!

Yeah, I meant twenty questions.