Well…I’m guessing you’re a teenager like my myself, so here is what I put in my babysitting bag.

For Babies/Toddlers:
-The Very Hungry Caterpillar by Eric Carle
-Elmo’s World DVDs (I like Elmo in Grouchland)
-hand puppets
-paper and crayons
-singing such as “Itsy Bitsy Spider”
-dance to music with them! they love it!

For Preschoolers:
-If You Give a Pig a Pancake by Laura Numeroff
-The Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh Movie
-Bob the Builder Movies
-coloring books
-crayons
-Candyland
-stickers
-Change Machine: put a blanket over a table. when the kids come out each time they are a different thing. when they come in they are a penguin, when they come out they are a lion.
-Create Your Own Pancake: this is a fun activity i like to do with the kids that I babysit. just cut out a sheet of light brown construction paper beforehand that has a diameter of about 7 inches. have the kids cut out toppings such as strawberries, chocolate syrup, syrup, blueberries, chocolate chips, whipped cream, and nuts. if they are older, you can also make it into a counting game.

Older Kids:
-Charlotte’s Web
-Magic Tree House Series
-Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe
-Snow Dogs
-crayola white sculpting clay
-Sorry
-Monoply
-Silly Hats
-Hotweels
-Superheroes: this is a game that is fun to play if you are babysitting two or more kids. once person starts out the game by saying “The town of _____________ is endangered by the mean monster ________________________with his power of ______________. I (name a silly or scary title) ________________ volunteer my power of _______________ to save our town! (Act out your heroics in as silly a way as possible) Oh no, it’s not working! Here comes _____________________with their power of ______________________. Then they come up and act out their power. Then, they choose the next person’s power and so on.

Other things you should bring are:
-colored band aids
-toy trucks
-dolls
-bubbles
-stuffed animals

Have fun babysitting and make lots of $$!

Extra Income Creating Wooden Toys

Do you have a hobby that consists of creating small wooden toys like small cars, trains and other wooden vehicles?  If so you can monetize this hobby very easily.  There is a demand for these types of toys and there are even some bigger manufacturers that have gotten into the act.

You can sell your creations at flea markets which is one of the more obvious places but if you don’t have the time, you can sell them at small craft and hobby stores once you make a deal with the owner.  You can also possibly get your line picked up by a smaller home town toy manufacturer where you can negotiate a price with them.

If you’re lucky, a larger toy company may buy your designs from you and produce them yourself.  You may be able to work out a royalty deal with them but this doesn’t seem to happen to often anymore.

You could sell them on ebay, especially around Christmas.   I could see these going like hot cakes on there.  eBay is great for this type of merchandise.  You can either do the bidding process or you could set up your own online eBay store.  There are some charges with the eBay store method though.

Last but not least, you can draw up plans for the wooden cars and trucks and trains and sell the plans, either online or through magazines.  There are guys always looking for things to build and these could go over well.  It’s a lot easier for us guys to look at what someone else has already done and use the plans to build it ourselves.  This saves us all time and we get the feeling of accomplishment building the toy.

These are just some of the things you can do.   To take it a bit further, create a website if you know how (or have a buddy do it for you) and feature your designs on the website.   Here, you will be able to also sell your designs, showcase your work and maybe get some extra work from people contacting you. 

There are just some of the ways to earn a bit from your work.  I’ll be writting about more in future articles.

About the Author

Douglas Puckett: Author of Self-Help, Hobby and Home Business Articles and Websites. Visit http://Fotometry.com for more information. For Weight or Fat Loss Plan, visit http://fotometry.com/go/fat-loss