# Hobbies/Ways to keep a 7 yo girl busy



## dfunk98 (Jul 14, 2005)

Hey ladies, I need some advice. I watch my 7 yo niece all summer long. I've watched her since she was 6 weeks old, actually. She was never the kind of kid that could entertain herself, but now that I have two lo's of my own, I need her to keep herself busy sometimes, plus it would be nice to be able to work on my own little "projects" without worrying about how I can include her. What I'm looking for are some crafts or ongoing projects that she could work on, side-by-side with me, and/or maybe a hobby I could get her involved in. She loves to read, but I find that whenever she doesn't know what to do, she'll read. Which is great, but I would like to engage her in other activities.
Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated. Thanks!!


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## StillForest (Nov 27, 2001)

I have a crafty almost 7-year-old and some of the projects she enjoys are:

* Crocheting

* Beading

* Boondoggle (she learned this at camp. There are also some amazing instructional sites on the web. Let me know if you'd like the URL).

*Making collages

* Potholder loom (she makes little shoulder bags/purses)

* A peg knitting board that can be used to make scarves.

* Simple cross stitch embroidery sets. She can't really follow all of the instructions but has a very good time doing her own improvised thing with them.

* Macrame


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## dfunk98 (Jul 14, 2005)

those are great suggestions, thanks. we really need to work on her stamina-her attention span flits from one thing to the next. i'd really love to see her start something and follow it through. or find something she loves enough to want to keep going back to. i feel like alot of times she has the "just get it done" attitude.


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## Thalia the Muse (Jun 22, 2006)

My daughter's that age, and she loves making friendship bracelets with embroidery floss.

Also, could you give her a spot in the garden that's her own, and she can plant, weed, water? You could gear some of the craft projects toward garden decorations -- a whirligig she could paint, or one of those stepping-stone kits.

Does she have a scooter, bike, or skates?


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## mammastar2 (Dec 17, 2004)

Dd is almost seven, and enjoys drawing or just making stuff out of recyclables for her toys (little houses, outfits, beds, whatever). She also really loves plasticene, and works for a long time on quite complex creations.

When I was that age, I was really not into crafts, though - I would have just been trying to get it over with if someone had pushed me into it. I was all about the reading. Nothing wrong with that! If that's your niece's thing, could you guys do a weekly library trip for her to stock up?


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## Evan&Anna's_Mom (Jun 12, 2003)

I agree that some kids are "crafty" and some aren't. So crafts might work, but you should probably also have a backup plan. Are you opposed to computer-based things? Both my 5 YO and 8 YO will spend a fair amount of time on Webkinz (internet based, you have to buy a plush animal first) and Jumpstart World (PC based, downloadable). Webkinz are just fun, Jumpstart World revolves around learning games.

My 8 YO (boy though) also loves buidling with legos, swimming (not that this gives you a break) and cooking.


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## Adele_Mommy (Jun 28, 2007)

My dd is almost 8 and she loves to read and is not really into crafts. The things that will keep her attention other than just reading include:

Writing/Making Books - she writes a story, draws pictures or takes photographs for illustrations, and puts the whole thing together with a cover and information about the author and everything. You might get her interested in some other crafts by tying them into books and reading such as paper-making or show her some picture books that are illustrated with paper-cutting or collage and she could try that out.

Crafty books such as those from Klutz Press.

I also recommend The Daring Book for Girls. This book has some sections just to read, but is mostly full of activities. That fact that it is a book may get your niece intrigued and then she will most likely want to try out some of the activities. My dd did.

Another thing my dd enjoys is "cooking", but mostly experimenting and making up her own recipes. I liked this too as a child, but I must admit I don't encourage this too frequently as it is so messy and wasteful.







:


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## dfunk98 (Jul 14, 2005)

i really love all of those suggestions-keep them coming!! she has a bike here at my house, i'll have to drag it out of the shed, but she loves to ride around in our circular driveway. my niece does like crafts, but i think for her, it's more about the product, not the process, so she tends to rush through. also, she LOVES webkinz, but sometimes i feel like it's just plopping her in front of something. i probably should just get over feeling guilty about every little thing, esp. if she does like it. i'm going to look into The Daring Book for Girls-i bet she's really like it. thank you all again for all the great ideas!!


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## CalaRei (Mar 10, 2008)

Don't know how keen you are on screen time, but there are programming languages designed to get kids started on the logic and methodology of programming.

Some are the alice project: alice.org -free
Phrogram.com -Commercial, I think there's also a trial
scratch.mit.edu -free

Of course, there is always logo, but it's obviously not nearly as engaging. And the lego robotics systems are fantastic.

You can check out the wikipedia page on educational programming languages here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Educati...mming_language

(edit - in particular, I'd check out "Storytelling Alice")


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## babytimeagain (Jun 16, 2008)

My 7 year old niece was just here visiting for a few weeks and we had the same problem with her. She loved to do "projects". Just sitting her down with construction paper, scissors, glue, glitter and markers and she could play for a long time making different things. She also really liked to string beads to make jewelry, make beads out of clay etc. She loved to help cook and we made cupcakes and let her decorate them etc.


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