Babysitters and babysitting stories are one of those subjects that everyone could practically write a book about. We were all kids and tried all the same tricks that our own children will try on the babysitter you hire. The stories you want to hear are the ones about the babysitter the kids like and the cool things they did and how much fun they have. Using cool one day science fair projects as an activity for babysitters to do with the kids is one idea that has great potential for success.
“That’s not how Mommy does it,” or “Daddy said we had to do it this way,” are two statements that babysitters have nightmares about. The kicker is you never know for sure if they are pulling your leg!. This is where the beauty of having a stash of one day science fair projects comes in. You leave a project behind, something the kids have never done before, and babysitter and children will get involved in the experiments and have some fun without having to hear about how mom or dad usually does it.
Another benefit for babysitters doing a science project, is that it is something constructive to do with their time. Open ended time, that can only be filled if the kids actually answer the, “What would you like to do tonight?” question with something besides a shrug, or the very thing the parents just told you they could not do. When children know there is something specific planned for the evening, it gives them something to look forward to, and the babysitter has something to fill up a hunk of time.
A final benefit of using these one day science fair projects as an activity for babysitters is that it gives direction and focus for the evening where the parents will see the results. When it is all over, the data from the project can be on display. A digital download science project should come with a built in spreadsheet where the results can be entered and turned into a cool looking chart. Print the chart out for when the parents come home and there is instant topic for discussion the next day.
Babysitters themselves might want to invest in their own copy of quality one day science fair projects to use with all of the different families they sit for. They will learn how to adapt experiments to different ages and interests. It is a win-win situation for everyone, parents, babysitters and the children to have this simple and fun activity to use while the parents get a well deserved break.