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[quote=Anonymous]I'm spending the summer caring for a 6 year old, B, and his baby sister, G, who turned 1 in May. Things have been going fairly well, but I'm having a lot of trouble coming up with projects and activities they can both be involved in.

B loves art projects, which is great, but he likes "big kid" projects; right now he's really into making friendship bracelets and sewing, which aren't things G can participate in. G still chews on everything so she isn't ready for playdough or painting or using crayons yet. B also likes wild animals; he loves reading books about them-- I wish we could go to the zoo but they live too far away. B likes baking and science experiments, but G can't participate in those things yet. B also enjoys building, like building a fort in the dining room or building with legos, but every time he builds something G invariably comes and destroys it, which leads to tears.

B does not seem to enjoy anything that involves being physical or being outside. Every time we go to the park it's a struggle to get him to leave the house, and then he sits on a bench and asks when we can go home. I've tried playing music with them and dancing, G loves it but B refuses to participate. G is very typical for her age, almost walking, pretty happy most of the time, and likes her baby toys.

I can't seem to do one activity with both of them at the same time. Every day I set B up with a big kid activity, and then set G up with some toys, and then I'll help B for a minute or two and then G cries for attention, so I sit with her and within a minute or so B starts asking me to help him again, ad nauseam. Every day for the past 3 weeks, 45 hours a week, has been a non-stop shuffle between B and G. I feel drained, and it also feels like neither of them is happy with the way my time is being divided either.

I've tried to encourage B to do more baby friendly things with G, like throwing the ball to each other or building block towers for G to knock over, but B gets bored of those activities within 10 seconds and wants to do something else. The biggest success I've had is reading together; G usually sits with us pretty nicely even through B's big kid stories, but of course we can't read all day.

I just wish there were some activities they could both participate in. It is a big age difference though. Any suggestions?[/quote]

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