Here are some ideas for entertaining preschoolers at home! We're always looking for more so if you have some let me know.

Have a colour day! Choose a colour, then wear clothes that colour, eat food that colour, find a toy that colour etc. A great way for younger kids to learn their colours and a great way to get children to try and eat new foods!

Dressing up! The dress up box is always a hit in our house. We have old costumes and clothes, scarves, hats,face paints,jewellery, wigs. You can pick great stuff in the charity shops. Always great fun, why should dressing up be limited to Halloween!

Make Gloop! Mix cornflour and water and some food colouring (optional) until it forms a thick paste. It will run through your fingers when you try to lift it but if you pat it it is hard. Lots of fun for mums and kids. Very weird texture will make even big kids laugh. washes out of clothes easily and it doesn't matter if it gets eaten cos it's natural so even small toddlers or babies in their high-chair can join in the fun! (a tip from Sarah D a parent)

An arts and crafts box is an essential for any preschooler! Now I am not artistic but my preschoolers have not realised this yet. The Euro shops are a great place for picking up supplies. A tube of glitter, some pipe cleaners and child friendly glue can easily fill a couple of hours! We then have viewings every now and then! Hang up the art, have some glasses of juice and some snacks and invite the grandparents around to view and choose their favourites! ( The viewings will only work with grandparents or other very close relatives and friends, otherwise you will just look like a pushy parent, it is a tongue-in-in cheek event but one the kids love!!!!!!)

Cooking/Baking -Salads, Rice Krispie Buns, Pizza Toppings, Sandwiches, Cereal,Deserts. There are loads of foods that preschoolers can safely help with making, and if they make it themselves you can be guaranteed they will eat it!

Music and Dancing -  Be it nursery rhymes or heavy metal, dance a half hour away around the house! A child is never too young to be introduced to different types of music!

Bedtime Races -  This was introduced to our house when our daughter was a baby and we would try and tire her out before bedtime in an attempt to get her to sleep through the night! It has developed over the years but most nights before pyjama’s, the kids have races, running, crawling, hopping, backwards etc now its still not guaranteed to make a bad sleeper sleep through the night but its always fun and it does burn off any excess energy before bedtime!

Imaginary Games - We play shop, bank, post office, pilots, bus driver, hairdressers( a good one to distract, particularly if you have a curly haired child and you need to remove tangles!) …. The kitchen chairs lined up like a bus or a paint brush , bucket of water and a wall out the back never fails to entertain in this house! Yes sometimes it can get tedious being the “zookeeper” for the 14th time in an hour but just think in a blink of an eye it will be all ipods, x-boxes and whatevers!!!!