Any fun (free!) ideas for a day of babysitting 2 boys aged 5 & 7?

Drawing
Football (soccer)
TV
Throwing a ball around. (I want to do that now.. haha)

Forts! You can’t go wrong with building a fort no matter how old the kids are. Also, if there’s a garden, younger kids love gardening. Bring some seeds by and plant them with the kids. Teach them how to cook something simple and easy.

Playing with blocks
Making a tent with a blanket over some chairs and having a teddy bears’ tea party
Paddling pool in the backyard (depending on the weather)
Baking cookies
Reading books
Making figures out of gumdrops, marshmallows and toothpicks
Freeze tag amd Mother May I

When I was babysitting with this same age group, I’d play guns with them. That kept us occupied for at least 2, if not 3 hours. Forts are cool too. Something to calm them down is a movie, TV, and coloring (even if he is 7.)

Have them create & perform a variety show or play. Give them an hour or two to prepare. They will have to make tickets and popcorn for the audience. Maybe invite more kids. Friends & nearby parents will not pass up the opportunity for free baby sitting.

While I think that all the above suggestions are great, do you want to try for something original and creative? If so, read on….

Are you a Calvin and Hobbes fan? Yes? No?

Have you ever heard of the game Calvinball? It’s basically where you make up the rules as you go along. The wikipedia article I linked to shows you the theory, but I think that in order to really grasp the feel of this game, you gotta read the comic strips presenting it.

Here’s a Sunday strip which basically shows what Calvinball is.

However, I think that this small series, when Calvin teaches his babysitter how to play is much more informative. Don’t worry, each strip is only 4 panels long, plus it’s impossible to hate Calvin and Hobbes. =P

One
Two
Three
Four
Five
Six
Seven
Eight
Nine

I’ve personally never played Calvinball, but it looks really reaaaallly fun (I’ve played never-ending story games with my brother, something kinda similar, and it could last us for months). And if you do implement it, tell me how it goes!!

I want to play Calvinball now…

what @KatawaGrey waid was great. I remember build forts when I was young. Doing things that they like doing with them will make their experience the best. For boys, any game that involves throwing things at each other is good. And if you run out of things to do you could get them to play a Flash game. These are some good ones.