Games to Play While Babysitting

Games in the order of an evening, from the first hello to lights out: press Pick 3 new games.

Games to Play While Babysitting

  1. Copy My Squeeze1. Hold the child's hand. 2. Squeeze a short pattern: long, short, short. 3. They squeeze the same pattern back. 4. Add one squeeze each time. When a pattern is too long to copy, the child starts a new one for you. Players: 1 child and the sitter. Time: 5 min. Props: none.
  2. Roll and Put Away1. Take turns rolling one die. 2. Whatever number comes up, the roller puts away that many things. 3. A six means everyone, the sitter included, puts away six. 4. Keep rolling until the floor is clear. Count how many rolls it took and try to beat it next time. Players: 1 to 3 children and the sitter. Time: 10 min. Props: one large die.
  3. Three Timers, Three Bosses1. Each child gets five minutes as the boss of what everyone plays, in an order drawn from a hat. 2. Set a timer where all can see it. 3. The boss picks the game, and everyone joins in, the sitter too. 4. When the timer rings, the next boss takes over at once, mid-game if need be. Players: 2 or 3 children and the sitter. Time: 15 min. Props: a timer, slips of paper and a hat.

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How it works

These games to play while babysitting follow the order of an evening: winning over a shy child, playing with one child or with siblings, tidying up, then winding down. The sitter plays in every one.

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The first ten minutes

A shy child rarely wants questions. The games in The first ten minutes with a shy child start with you doing something a little silly nearby, such as naming things wrongly, and leave room for the child to join in without speaking.

The last half hour

Run one from Tidy-up games before pajamas, then one from Wind-down games before bed. Each wind-down game is played sitting or lying down and takes five or ten minutes.

Tips
  • Arrived with empty hands? For a sitter who has brought nothing uses only what is in every home.
  • Ask the parents which rooms are in play before You Are the Boss of the Tour.

Questions and answers

What are games to play when babysitting more than one child?

Choose Two or three siblings of different ages. Reader and Runner Hunt gives the oldest and the youngest different jobs, Hop Against Run evens out a race, and Three Timers, Three Bosses gives each child five minutes in charge.

What can you play with a child who will not talk to you yet?

Games that need no answer. In Side-by-Side Towers you build next to the child and leave a block within reach, and in The Sitter Who Gets It Wrong they can correct you by pointing.

How do you get kids to tidy up when you are the babysitter?

Make it a game with a finish. One Color Goes Home at a Time clears one color at a time, The Secret Winning Toy gives every toy a chance of being the winner, and Roll and Put Away lets a die decide how many.

Which games suit a three-year-old?

Choose More filters at the end of the menu and press Age 3. That leaves the games with no reading, no drawing and no rules to remember, such as Toy Parade Commentary and Help Me Find My Keys.

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All 47 games

The first ten minutes with a shy child 8

  • A Handshake Only You Two Know 1. Offer a hand for a high five. 2. Add one move, such as a fist bump, and ask the child to choose the next move. 3. Build a handshake of four moves, two from each of you. 4. Practice it three times. Use it for the rest of the visit whenever something goes well. Players: 1 child and the sitter. Time: 5 min. Props: none.
  • Help Me Find My Keys 1. While the child is looking, put your keys somewhere in plain sight, then act as if you have lost them. 2. Search in silly places: under a cushion, inside a shoe. 3. Let the child point them out or bring them. 4. Then it is their turn to hide the keys while you count to ten with your eyes covered. Players: 1 child and the sitter. Time: 5 min. Props: a set of keys.
  • Roll and Nod 1. Sit facing the child with legs apart and roll a soft ball to them. 2. Each time you roll, ask something that can be answered with a nod: do you have a pet? 3. The child rolls it back with a nod or a shake. 4. After five rolls, swap: they roll first, and you answer whatever they ask or point to. Players: 1 child and the sitter. Time: 5 min. Props: a soft ball.
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The first ten minutes with a shy child, continued

  • Say Hello to the Teddy, Not the Child 1. Pick up a soft toy that is already in the room and say hello to it, not to the child. 2. Ask the toy easy questions: what is your name, where do you sleep? 3. Leave a pause. Most children answer for the toy. 4. When the toy has told you three things, ask it to introduce its friend. Players: 1 child and the sitter. Time: 5 min. Props: a soft toy from the house.
  • Side-by-Side Towers 1. Tip out some blocks, or use books or plastic tubs. 2. Without asking the child to join in, start building a tower beside them. 3. Leave the next block within their reach. 4. When they add one, copy whatever they do on your own tower. Count both towers together at the end. Players: 1 child and the sitter. Time: 10 min. Props: blocks, books or plastic tubs.
  • Sitter the Detective 1. Announce that you are a detective and can tell things about people from their room. 2. Make a guess from what you see: I think someone here likes trains. 3. The child says warm or cold, or just points. 4. Three right guesses and you ask for your detective badge, which the child draws. Players: 1 child and the sitter. Time: 10 min. Props: paper and a crayon.
  • The Sitter Who Gets It Wrong 1. Sit on the floor, a little way from the child, and look around the room. 2. Point at things and name them wrongly, in a puzzled voice: is this the fridge? 3. Let the child put you right, by speaking, pointing or just shaking their head. 4. Thank them each time and get the next thing wrong too. A child who is laughing has stopped being shy. Players: 1 child and the sitter. Time: 5 min. Props: none.
  • You Are the Boss of the Tour 1. Ask the child to be the tour guide of their own home, in the rooms the parents have said are fine. 2. In each room, you try to guess where one thing lives: where are the cups? 3. The child says hotter or colder until you find it. 4. The guide chooses the last stop. Players: 1 child and the sitter. Time: 10 min. Props: none.

One sitter, one child 8

  • Draw Me a Map to the Toy 1. The child hides one toy while you wait in another room. 2. They draw a map of where it is, with the door, the sofa and an X. 3. You follow the map and only the map. 4. Then you hide the toy and draw one for them, a little harder each time. Players: 1 child and the sitter. Time: 15 min. Props: paper, a pencil and a toy.
  • The Impossible Order 1. The child is the chef and you are the customer at a pretend restaurant. 2. Order something impossible: spaghetti ice cream with a sock on top. 3. The chef mimes cooking it, or builds it from toys, and serves it. 4. Taste it with great seriousness and give it a score. Then swap roles. Players: 1 child and the sitter. Time: 10 min. Props: toy food or any toys.
  • Knees Against Feet Hallway Race 1. Clear the hallway floor. 2. The child races on their feet at walking pace. You race on your knees. 3. First to touch the far door wins. 4. For the rematch, the child chooses a new way for you to travel: backward on your knees, or shuffling on your seat. Players: 1 child and the sitter. Time: 5 min. Props: none.
  • Pose the Sitter 1. Stand still as a lump of clay. 2. The child moves your arms, tilts your head and bends your knees into a statue of their choosing. 3. Guess what you are a statue of. 4. Hold it while they count to ten, then make a statue of them, one move at a time, asking before each. Players: 1 child and the sitter. Time: 8 min. Props: none.
  • Program the Sitter 1. You are a robot that understands only four commands: forward, turn, stop and pick up. 2. Put a toy across the room. 3. The child gives commands one at a time to steer you to the toy and bring it back. 4. Do exactly what is said, even when it walks you gently into a sofa. Swap roles after two fetches. Players: 1 child and the sitter. Time: 10 min. Props: a toy.
  • Toy Parade Commentary 1. The child lines up toys at one end of the room. 2. One by one they march each toy past you. 3. You are the announcer and describe each as it passes, in a big voice. 4. The child awards the prizes: tallest, softest, loudest. Then the toys march home to their shelf. Players: 1 child and the sitter. Time: 10 min. Props: toys.
  • Toy Shop With Paper Money 1. Tear a sheet of paper into ten bills and write a number on each. 2. The child sets out toys on a shelf or a chair as a shop and gives each a price. 3. You come shopping and haggle politely. 4. When the bills run out, the shop reopens with you behind the counter. Players: 1 child and the sitter. Time: 15 min. Props: paper, a pen and toys.
  • Weather Report With a Wooden Spoon 1. The child holds a wooden spoon as a microphone and looks out of the window. 2. They give the weather report for the street. 3. You are the map: when they say rain, wiggle your fingers downward, and for sun, make a circle with your arms. 4. Finish with tomorrow's forecast for the toys. Players: 1 child and the sitter. Time: 5 min. Props: a wooden spoon.

Two or three siblings of different ages 8

  • A Show for When They Get Home 1. Tell the children they have twenty minutes to make a two-minute show for their parents. 2. Each child picks a job that suits them: announcer, performer, tickets and curtain. 3. Rehearse it twice. 4. If the children are asleep before the parents are back, film it on the family's own phone or tablet, with permission. Players: 2 or 3 children and the sitter. Time: 20 min. Props: whatever is in the dress-up box.
  • Architect, Carrier, Builder 1. The oldest child draws a simple plan of a building: three blocks wide, with a door. 2. The middle child fetches the blocks or boxes it needs. 3. The youngest puts them in place, with the architect pointing and never touching. 4. Photograph the result, then rotate the jobs. Players: 2 or 3 children and the sitter. Time: 15 min. Props: blocks or boxes, paper and a pencil.
  • Biggest Ball for the Smallest Hands 1. Find three soft balls or rolled socks of different sizes. 2. Stand in a triangle, or a square with the sitter. 3. The youngest always throws and catches the biggest, and the oldest the smallest. 4. Count the catches in a row with all three going around. Players: 2 or 3 children and the sitter. Time: 8 min. Props: three soft balls or rolled socks of different sizes.
  • Hop Against Run 1. Mark a start and a finish in the hallway or the yard. 2. Give each child a way of moving that evens things up: the oldest hops, the middle one walks backward, the youngest runs. 3. Race three times. 4. After each race, the winner takes the hardest way of moving for the next. Players: 2 or 3 children and the sitter. Time: 8 min. Props: none.
  • Kids Against the Sitter, Cushion Tower 1. All the children are on one team, and you are the other. 2. Put on one song. 3. The children stack cushions into a tower as tall as the youngest while you may take one cushion off every ten seconds. 4. If the tower reaches the youngest child's height before the song ends, the children win. Players: 2 or 3 children and the sitter. Time: 5 min. Props: cushions and one song.
  • Reader and Runner Hunt 1. Hide five toys and write a simple clue for each: under something you sit on. 2. The oldest child reads each clue aloud. 3. The youngest runs to look, and a middle child may give one hint. 4. After five finds, the older child hides the toys and you read the clues they tell you to write. Players: 2 or 3 children and the sitter. Time: 15 min. Props: five toys, paper and a pen.
  • Secret Kind Missions 1. Whisper a different secret mission to each child. 2. Every mission is kind: make your brother laugh, put away one thing that is not yours, say something nice about a drawing. 3. Play something else for ten minutes while the missions are carried out. 4. Then each child guesses what the others' missions were. Players: 2 or 3 children and the sitter. Time: 15 min. Props: none.
  • Three Timers, Three Bosses 1. Each child gets five minutes as the boss of what everyone plays, in an order drawn from a hat. 2. Set a timer where all can see it. 3. The boss picks the game, and everyone joins in, the sitter too. 4. When the timer rings, the next boss takes over at once, mid-game if need be. Players: 2 or 3 children and the sitter. Time: 15 min. Props: a timer, slips of paper and a hat.

Tidy-up games 8

  • Delivery Truck Returns 1. A laundry basket is the delivery truck. 2. The child loads it with things that are in the wrong place. 3. They push it from room to room, and at each stop you ring an imaginary doorbell and ask who lives here. 4. Each thing is delivered to its home. The truck parks back in the laundry. Players: 1 or 2 children and the sitter. Time: 10 min. Props: a laundry basket.
  • Hand-to-Hand Line to the Toy Box 1. Stand the children in a line from the mess to the toy box, oldest nearest the box. 2. The sitter picks things up and feeds them to the first child. 3. Each thing travels down the line hand to hand, and the last child puts it where it belongs. 4. Swap places every ten things so that everyone has a turn at the box. Players: 2 or 3 children and the sitter. Time: 8 min. Props: none.
  • One Color Goes Home at a Time 1. Stand in the middle of the mess. 2. Call a color: red. 3. Only red things may be put away, and each must go to its right place. 4. When the red is gone, the child calls the next color. The last color called is always everything else. Players: 1 to 3 children and the sitter. Time: 8 min. Props: none.
  • Roll and Put Away 1. Take turns rolling one die. 2. Whatever number comes up, the roller puts away that many things. 3. A six means everyone, the sitter included, puts away six. 4. Keep rolling until the floor is clear. Count how many rolls it took and try to beat it next time. Players: 1 to 3 children and the sitter. Time: 10 min. Props: one large die.
  • The Secret Winning Toy 1. Look over the mess and choose one thing in your head without saying what it is. 2. Tell the children that one toy on the floor is the secret winner. 3. Everyone puts things away. 4. When the floor is clear, say what it was. Whoever put it away picks the bedtime story. Players: 1 to 3 children and the sitter. Time: 8 min. Props: none.
  • Soft Toy Free Throws 1. Put the toy basket in the middle of the room and mark a line with a belt or a scarf. 2. Soft toys only: each one is lobbed underhand from the line. 3. A miss is picked up and thrown again from where it landed. 4. Count the baskets scored. Hard toys are walked to their shelf between throws. Players: 1 to 3 children and the sitter. Time: 8 min. Props: a basket and the soft toys that need putting away.
  • Spot the Difference, Before and After 1. Draw a quick sketch of the messy room together, or take a photo if the parents allow the phone. 2. Tidy for five minutes. 3. Make a second sketch or photo from the same spot. 4. Put the two side by side and count the differences. Ten or more means the job is done. Players: 1 to 3 children and the sitter. Time: 10 min. Props: paper and a pencil, or a camera.
  • Tongs Only 1. Give each child a pair of kitchen tongs or two wooden spoons. 2. Every toy has to travel to the toy box without being touched by a hand. 3. Big toys may be carried by two children with two pairs of tongs. 4. Count the toys moved. The sitter uses tongs too. Players: 1 to 3 children and the sitter. Time: 10 min. Props: kitchen tongs or wooden spoons.

Wind-down games before bed 7

  • Copy My Squeeze 1. Hold the child's hand. 2. Squeeze a short pattern: long, short, short. 3. They squeeze the same pattern back. 4. Add one squeeze each time. When a pattern is too long to copy, the child starts a new one for you. Players: 1 child and the sitter. Time: 5 min. Props: none.
  • Count the Lit Windows, Guess Again 1. Look out of the bedroom window together with the room light low. 2. Count the windows across the way that have a light on. 3. Each of you guesses how many will be lit when you count again after the story. 4. Count again. Closest guess chooses which way the pillow faces. Players: 1 or 2 children and the sitter. Time: 5 min. Props: a window with a view of other houses.
  • Every Bear Becomes a Banana 1. Choose a picture book the child knows well. 2. Before you start, the child picks three words to swap: every bear becomes a banana. 3. Read slowly, making the swaps. 4. If you forget one, the child taps the page. Three taps and they choose the next word to swap. Players: 1 or 2 children and the sitter. Time: 10 min. Props: a picture book.
  • Find Three on Every Page 1. Open a picture book at the first page. 2. Before reading it, name three small things in the picture: a snail, a red hat, a window. 3. The child points to each one in silence. 4. Then read the page. On the next page, the child names three for you. Players: 1 or 2 children and the sitter. Time: 10 min. Props: a picture book.
  • Flashlight From the Bed 1. While the child covers their eyes, set one small soft toy somewhere in the bedroom where it can be seen from the bed. 2. Dim the room and hand them a flashlight. 3. They stay in bed and search with the beam alone. 4. When the light lands on the toy, bring it over. Two rounds, and the flashlight goes back on the shelf. Players: 1 or 2 children and the sitter. Time: 5 min. Props: a flashlight and a small soft toy.
  • Goodnight to Every Toy 1. Sit the bed toys in a row. 2. The child says goodnight to each by name. 3. For each toy, you say in a whisper one thing it did today, real or made up. 4. The child nods if it is true. The last toy to be tucked in is the one that stays in the bed. Players: 1 child and the sitter. Time: 5 min. Props: the child's soft toys.
  • Lump Under the Blanket 1. While the child hides their eyes, slide one soft toy under the blanket at the foot of the bed. 2. The child looks at the lump and has two guesses at which toy it is. 3. They may pat it once through the blanket. 4. Pull it out to check. Then the child hides one for you. Players: 1 or 2 children and the sitter. Time: 5 min. Props: soft toys and a blanket.

For a sitter who has brought nothing 8

  • Buttons on the Sitter 1. Tell the child that you are covered in invisible buttons. 2. When they press your shoulder, speak in a squeaky voice. An elbow makes you march, and your nose switches you off. 3. Do not explain: let them find out what each button does. 4. After a few minutes, swap: the child names three buttons on their own arms and shoulders and decides in secret what each one does. Players: 1 or 2 children and the sitter. Time: 8 min. Props: none.
  • Doorway Password 1. Choose a doorway in the house and a category: animals. 2. Nobody may walk through that doorway without saying an animal that has not been said yet. 3. The sitter has to do it too. 4. Change the category when someone gets stuck in the doorway for a count of five. Players: 1 to 3 children and the sitter. Time: 10 min. Props: none.
  • Hop in the Kitchen, Whisper in the Hall 1. Walk through the house in a line with the child as leader. 2. In each room the leader makes one rule: whisper in the hall, hop in the kitchen, walk backward in the living room. 3. Go around a second time with every rule in force. 4. Anyone who forgets a rule goes to the back of the line. Players: 1 to 3 children and the sitter. Time: 10 min. Props: none.
  • Line Up the Family Footwear by Length 1. Gather every shoe by the front door into a pile. 2. Together, line them up from the smallest to the biggest. 3. Guess whose each pair is. 4. Then put them back exactly as they were. The child checks your work. Players: 1 to 3 children and the sitter. Time: 8 min. Props: the shoes by the front door.
  • The Silence Record 1. Everyone sits down. 2. On go, nobody makes a sound: no talking, no giggling, no tapping. 3. Count the seconds on your fingers where the child can see. 4. The first sound ends the try. Say the record aloud and see whether the next try can beat it. Players: 1 to 3 children and the sitter. Time: 5 min. Props: none.
  • Softer, Then Softer Still 1. Ask the child to bring you something soft. 2. Now ask for something softer than that. 3. Keep going until they cannot find anything softer, feeling each pair side by side to judge. 4. Play again with bigger, shinier or older. Everything goes back where it came from. Players: 1 or 2 children and the sitter. Time: 10 min. Props: none.
  • Three Things in My Pockets 1. Tell the child that you have three things in your pockets or your bag. 2. They ask questions you can answer yes or no: is it metal, can you eat it? 3. It is twenty questions, with a real thing to hold up when each answer is found. 4. Then the child chooses three things from their room for you to guess. Players: 1 or 2 children and the sitter. Time: 10 min. Props: whatever is in your pockets.
  • The Tiny Visitor Crosses the Room 1. Start a story about someone very small who lives in this room. 2. Each sentence must use something you can point to: she climbed the lamp, she slid down that curtain. 3. Take turns, one sentence and one point each. 4. The story ends when the small person reaches the door. Players: 1 or 2 children and the sitter. Time: 10 min. Props: none.

How this list was compiled: Our suggestions, written for this site for a babysitter with one to three children of about three to ten. The wording is ours, and the ages and times are our estimates. The sitter is a player in every game, so no child plays out of sight. Nothing uses food or balloons, and no game hands a child anything small. The parents' rules on rooms, screens and bedtime come first. No outside source was used: the list states no rule of a traditional game as fact. Licence: own work