You have a new kid over

[jen]

Oh, I don't entertain. I do want to have the basic time occupiers.

[STLouisMom9800]

We have plenty of toys in the basement and a swingset in the big backyard. They occupy themselves. If I have to entertain them I can guarantee you the playdate won't last long and won't happen again until they become self entertaining. If they're here at mealtime I usually make something kid friendly like pizza or spaghetti.

[Minnie]

All the girls do their own things. The twins will play video games, run around outside, jump on the tramp. As Jamie said, I feel no obligation to entertain them at their age. And they eat what we're eating.

[jen]

Ok, again, I'm not entertaining anyone. I just want a better stocked playroom. What do they play?

[Scout]

They make shit up. They shoot each other. They play with the dog. They take the dog for walks. They eat what I cook. They do their nails.

[Wise Old Goat]

Ok, again, I'm not entertaining anyone. I just want a better stocked playroom. What do they play?

I know when my ds goes to someone else's house for a playdate the big attraction is to play with all the toys there that he doesn't have at home. He's also a big fan of crafts/drawing. If you had a tub of craft supplies that you only kept for play dates that might be a good idea.

Then they could be absorbed in the craft if they couldn't think of anything else to do - and the girl could take something home at the end of the day.

[Sarsparilla]

As always, my experience is as a nanny, not a mum.

Crafts and art and building projects were great fun for both sexes up through about age 12-13. You could spend $50 and have more stuff than they could get through in a year. Get the basics (markers, paper, scissors, old magazines, glue sticks, sequins, feathers, popsicle sticks), then look around the store for some kits. The cool thing about craft and building kits is that if you have any skills at all, you can look at the materials in the kit and buy larger quantities of those materials for less than the kit itself.

I love paper crafts best of all because you can go either gender and they can be hard or easy for the age group. Let me know if this interests you and I can suggest some books and printables from websites that I've used with great success both personally and professionally.

[TheChicken]

They make shit up. They shoot each other. They play with the dog. They take the dog for walks. They eat what I cook. They do their nails.

That's what happens here. Except the eating what I cook part.

Popcorn is the standard snack, and they never spend more than 10 minutes doing any one thing... except the trampoline. My dd and her friends spend a lot of time on that thing.

[curlyQ]

Jen, when my dd that is the same age as yours has friends over they:
-play in the basement (digital keyboard, art table with supplies, some still play with the petshops even though they act like they're too old for them
-play in her room, they download play on DS's, play computer games together and one friend and she do stop motion videos (yes, nerds!)
-outside they walk to the creek and do all sorts of outdoor playing, ride bikes

For sleepovers they almost exclusively watch movies and eat.

I keep snacks in the house though, cheez-its, potato chips, short cans of soda, fruit, and I almost always have something baked around. It's only an issue with one friend who will overeat (and her mom would rather I not let her overdo the junk), the rest are all skinny, healthy, active kids.

When we have kids over for dinner we always have stuff like salmon, thai, buffalo burgers. Most of her friends eat really well and are not picky. She has one friend I cannot please, so I don't even try.

The 7 year old and her friends on the other hand, play differently and all those kids are still pitas when it comes to food. I think they all exist solely on plain, buttered pasta.

[Mabel]

When I was little, if one of my friends came over, she brought her own food My mother always found that horrifyingly rude, but was glad she at least didn't have to wonder what to serve the kid


ETA: Not even pre-cooked food! The food for my mother to prepare!