How To Entertain Children Under 12 As An Aunt: Great Ideas

Need some inspiration for things to do with the children during the summer school break? ‘How to entertain children under 12 as an aunt’ shares some of the activities that are popular amongst the young ones in my family.

One of the greatest joys in my life is being an auntie. My nieces and nephews have brought me endless laughter, precious moments, and more love, kisses and cuddles than I ever could have imagined. If it was up to me we would never be apart, but as we all live in the real world I have to make do with the children regularly coming to me for sleepovers instead. I have never had to think much about how to entertain children under 12 as an aunt as having fun times together has always come so naturally to our family youngsters and me.

With the school holidays now upon us, it’s time for parents, grandparents, uncles and aunts to start planning some exciting activities to keep the little ones entertained. Nothing makes me happier than spending time with my nieces and nephews, and I have a raft of fun and interesting things to do up my sleeve that will help them have the best summer holiday ever! I hope that by sharing some ideas on how to entertain children under 12 as an aunt it might inspire you to try some of them out with your young ones.

Build a camp – either indoors or outdoors…or both!

First up, what about a garden camping adventure? Sleeping outdoors is something many children have never done before, so it’s great to be able to be part of that first experience with them. Make a DIY tent – or pitch a proper one – in the garden, toast some marshmallows or bread around the fire pit (or over a carefully guarded candle), and tell funny stories under the stars. Don’t forget the glow sticks for extra night time fun.

When the weather is not so good, my nieces and nephews love nothing more than building a den in the sitting room. I let them use every blanket, cushion and chair they can lay their hands on, and we’ve often had to improvise props for the roof by using mop handles or even my Shark vacuum cleaner. My beach towel clips always come in handy for helping to keep those blankets in place and avoid the roof collapsing!

In my previous house I had a lounge/diner so they loved including the dining table as a more sturdy part of their den. It was fun to watch them work out how to combine the soft blankets and hard table to make what can only be described as a super camp!

Embrace their creativity and imagination

The children in my family love to get creative! I have a decent stock of art and craft supplies so there are always plenty of materials to keep us all busy. Whether it’s finger painting, scratch art, or making things out of junk, the options are seemingly endless. And of course as a very proud aunt I love to display the children’s masterpieces all around the house.

It’s always good to have some moulding and shaping materials for children to play with to keep their hands and minds busy. I’m not personally too keen on Play Doh as it can get too easily trodden into carpets or smooshed into furniture – and sometimes stains surfaces and fabrics – so a good alternative is kinetic sand. It is amazing and really does stay stuck together so mess is minimal. It can be shaped and moulded into any manner of things, and it’s very easy to squash it all back together and start again.

I first started off with a very small tin of kinetic sand to see if the children liked it but it proved so popular that I quickly had to upgrade to a big tub so they had enough for all the things they wanted to make. The children love letting their imaginations go wild with all the different things they mould and shape, and they like using different kitchen utensils to aid their work. You can get proper tool kits for kinetic sand, but the youngsters in my family are quite happy with using what we already have at home. Equally, coloured kinetic sand is available but once again my family’s children prefer the sand coloured sand.

They play with the sand on trays with stepped edges so the vast majority of any scraps of sand that get away are contained. And the great thing with all of this is that there’s very little mess to tidy up afterwards, which is always a winner in my book!

Big chef, little chef

Of course, creativity extends into the kitchen. As budding chefs, my nieces and nephews love nothing more than donning an apron and making their own food, whether it’s pancakes for our breakfast or cookies for them to take home at the end of their stay. I let them have as much autonomy as possible, whilst remaining safe and sensible, of course. And we always make everything from scratch so they learn about ingredients, as well as measuring and cooking safely.

The children love to experiment and try different things so they’ll often send recipes to me in advance of their visit, just to make sure I can stock up on the necessary ingredients. Some of our favourite makes and bakes so far have included homemade pizza, colourful fruit skewers, and delicious spaghetti carbonara. They always have so much fun getting hands-on in the kitchen, and they don’t mind helping to clean up at the end, too.

Let’s go outside

Outdoor adventures are a must too – there’s nothing like the fresh air to make us all feel rejuvenated! Sometimes we’ll pack a picnic – with the children making their own sandwiches/wraps, of course – and go out on a mystery journey either on foot or in the car.

When considering how to entertain children under 12 as an aunt it’s important to bear in mind that it is not just about the kids. Aunties and uncles need to be happy and comfortable too! I realised a long time ago that it does me no good on days out to be the pack horse by carrying all of our supplies myself as I tire out more quickly. I therefore let the children each choose their own small rucksack and now they proudly carry their own lunch, drink and anything else around with them whenever we go out. Problem solved!

On our mystery days out we can end up almost anywhere, from a green park with fun play equipment or a local visitor attraction with interesting activities to a sunny beach with plenty of space to run and play games such as Mölkky or skimming stones in the sea. How to entertain children under 12 as an aunt can be as simple as that.

Of course, my secret is that as the responsible adult I always know exactly where we’re going to end up, but the children love not knowing and believing that our road trip destination is completely random. When they were very young they believed the car drove itself and that I had no control whatsoever over the route we were taking! They’re no longer of an age of such wonder but I still love to be able to find different ways to make our adventures magical, fun and interesting.

Closer to home, we might have a scavenger hunt in the local woods, seeing who can find the most interesting items or tick off a list of things to spot. Go Find It is an interesting twist on this traditional family game that helps youngsters use their senses to explore the local area.

Snuggle up for some fantastic films

How to entertain children under 12 as an aunt doesn’t always need to involve going out or constantly being on the go. For a more relaxing pace, movie marathons are always a hit. I let the kids pick their favourite flicks and we all get cosy with popcorn (often homemade), cushions, and plenty of blankets (and who can resist a cuddly niece or nephew?).

If there is any disagreement over what to watch, we talk it through calmly and sensibly, and if we are still unable to decide we have a spinning wheel that we use to choose for us, Wheel of Fortune style.

We also take regular breaks so that we move about a bit and aren’t sitting for too long. Although with children around staying still for any length of time is never usually a possibility!

Learning through playing and doing

I love that all these activities discreetly teach the children life skills, whether it’s more obvious self-sufficient things such as cooking and making decisions, or more subtle skills like taking responsibility for their own wellbeing by packing their own lunch and carrying their belongings with them for the day or clearing up after themselves. How to entertain children under 12 as an aunt is about having fun both indoors and outdoors while learning and doing – you are a role model to them, after all.

And remember, much of the time the children are simply happy enough to be with you. It’s often not necessary to spend out on lots of expensive activities – as long as they are spending quality time with you that is all that will matter to them.

I have found that the secret to how to entertain children under 12 as an aunt is to mix the activities up – incorporating a little creativity, a lot of laughter, and a whole lot of quality time together.

Before we know it, the school holidays will have flown by, and we’ll already be looking forward to the next. Maybe after a short break, though…!