How do you keep your kids entertained?

Your post brought a smile to my face!

Well you just described me in reading the same book over and over - welcome to the world of repetition!

I'd suggest DVD's, puzzles, drawing/painting/playdoh etc., going for a walk and kicking a ball around, going to the park and/or beach.

Good luck.

1.children love treasure hunts get a few goodies, lollies, small prizes ect hide them around make a map with a few easy clues then enjoy the treasure hunt.

2. save a toilet rolls get a pair of scissors and cut from one side of roll to the other this will create like a clasp arm band, get the children to decorate with croyons, textas, paints, coloured paper ect girls can make bracelets, or wonder woman arm bands while the boys can be super hero with glued on buttons to trigger there deadly laser beams, haha

3.food tasting get a variety of different foods with a blind fold take turns feeding each other and trying to  guess what taste is what!

my suggestion would be get involved in sports reading and easy clean up things to do round the house that they enjoy

well i have a 5yr and a 10yr old and there are times when i feel like hitting myself over the head with the most hevy thing with in reach. I found when they both were younger and easyly willing to help out with cleaning give them a large plastic bowl with little water and a cloth and plastic items they would happily wash them. they were never done proper but still ment i could also wash up.Also letting them play mummy while i layed down on the lounge was great cause they would try and put me to sleep or even give them a few large large boxes and turn it into there only little house by adding a few toys and a little chair they would play in it for hours until it was distroyed and new boxxes had to be found plus if can fold away for another time.

Also getting them involved in food preperation or baking kept them close and hand but also learning healthy eatting unless we made cockies or choc cake.

One day we did play hide and seak but my daughter feel asleep in her little courner whcih sent me into a panic cause i could not see her under her bed ,But found her looking so cute curled up in a ball and HUGELY relived

take them to the playground - tho that will mean pushing on the swing and watching safety issues,

give them a half bucket of water and a paint brush or pastry brush and let them paint the walls

get a cd of children's songs or nursery rhymes and use it

large pieces of paper and soft crayons  or water soluble textas(make sure to cover the surface underneath with plastic or newspaper)

large piece of card and draw roads on it and let them illustrate the rest for them to play cars on

cook with them  - basic recipes or stuff you dont even have to cook  just refrigerate

have a tea party  only needs a few cups and plates and something to pour water or milk from and a few biscuits or some cut up fruit -of course a rug or a tablecloth would be nice - invite the toys along

Kids love to help you cook, even if it's just stirring a jelly!!!  Mine trip over each other to get to the bench first with their own aprons on!!

Other than that, indoor picnics on a rug on a wet day is good, large jigsaw puzzles and even a trip to the library to look for board books is fun.  Or a trip to the op shop for dressing up goodies, you can find a special box or oversized gift bag to keep them in (and a great way to hang them up in the cupboard).  If you look online and search for Kids Crafts you can find lots to do.........tracing hands and feet can then be cut out in different cardboard colours, make wreaths with them or bookmarks for parents etc.  Have fun, it's nice that you are sharing special time with them too.

I have two children  (3 year old and 9 months old) and I find that keeping them entertained means they have to have a full stomach and then send them to their room with lots of toys and children story books with lots of pictures. Other times I just simply put a cartoons DVD and let them enjoy it all to themselves and I can go and do the housework.

Hi, welcome to kids world. while it drives you mad now, in a couple of years you will be wondering where the time went. Wondering if you took enough notice, read enough books, took enough photos, cleaned up enough play doh, wiped enough bums etc etc. My boys are now 7, 10 & 12. It seems like 25 years ago I last cleaned up the play doh while really angry and yelling because it got in the carpet. If I could do it over, I'd not yell and just replace the carpet when they got older. Let them make a mess, get dirty, put play doh in their hair and all the other things that make you mad, take up your time to clean, stop you from doing something for yourself, time goes too quickly and thats when you think about whether you had enough time for them. Play doh recipes on the net made from flour etc, a dishwasher and a bit of time. Home made paint on the net, a bath and a bit of time. All the past use by items from your friends pantrys put in a bowl, mixed, baked and pretended to be eaten, bath, dishwasher and time. All they want is your time, unfortunately all you want is your time too. You choose what is more important.

Try anything outside as they love to run. Simple old games like hide and seek, murder in the dark, and chasy are great. Movie time is also great as they occassionally fall asleep after a long day if the room is dark enough. Just make sure that you don't overtire them as they will tend to get grumpy when they get tired. Taking them to the park is also something that involves energy, but more energy for them than for you. Anything visual that they can touch, feel or do will keep them busy for hours, like going to AQWA or the touch center in the museum that is specially designed for kids.

Good old, outdoor/social activities are my first option rather than staying in front of computer, TV. I dont have kids of my own, but i would've imagined to send them to sports camp/extracurricular of their choice. (hopefully it would be basketball, i'd be their free coach:). or just a simple walk in the park would do the job.

Treasure hunts around the neighbourhood - collecting anything and everything along the way, full of fresh air and exercise, little ones will chatter on about their lives and the world around them. This is an exquisite time to join in with them and 'do listen' children love having someones undivided attention when it comes to their stories and worldly conversation.

When you get home - the walk shall have allowed their bodies time to sit (and go through their treasures) which in turn allows you time for a cup of tea or coffee.

Then sit down and make a collage, make up a story, glue them on to a treasure hunt map of where they were found - whatever..... but continue on with the treasures - if there is interest still shown that is.... Oh enjoy - children are wonderful people and i know as an adult i am reminded each and every day of a different way of looking at the world, most of these reminders come from children.