Depression- Really Struggling- may be triggering

Super quick pop past to post this @Former-Member which I added to in a doc as I thought of throughout the day. Hoping they're helpful or at least give you some ideas of different activities. Most of these are pretty low cost (or free) and a few of them are great in that you can sort of start and them off and then let them go.

Home made no cook playdough - there's a great recipe for no cook playdough on best recipes au. Adding glitter is fun too.

Pet rocks - You can go for a walk and hunt for rocks that might make good 'pets'. Use anything you can to decorate them. Mine did this this afternoon using only sharpies but they've glued magazine cut outs, googly eyes, hair made from yarn, painted them etc. before. Fun just on it's own but today they took it one step further and went into the yard and made "houses" for them and played hide and seek by hiding them and hunting for them today. For the 14 year old if you google "painted rocks" there are some really inspiring ideas out there. If you get really serious about it, a coat or two of white paint might be worth it to start, and a clear coat of varnish at the end (from a craft shop, some $2 shops, bunnings etc) will shine them up. You can prompt the little one to use the rock creatures to make up a story too.

Blanket forts and cubbies - always a winner with sheets, pegs, chairs etc. I picked up a few sets of battery operated lights which you might still be able to find around (but much easier at Christmas time). They are fab in blanket houses. Torch is just as fun though, but totally not needed. Cellophane and an elastic band will change the colour of the torch as well which she might enjoy

Dried flowers, leaves etc. Baking paper and a thick book work just almost as well as a flower press. It's fun to search for things to dry and usually they forget about what we have drying long before I have to come up with an idea for what to do with our dried pretties (which is good haha)

Card games - I recently taught them the game spit and they love playing it. Instructions on youtube if you don't know. It's a recipe for fighting though lol. As far as board games for both ages - super tricky but junior monopoly and maybe even monopoly with help, yahtzee (bonus that you can google and print the sheets then you just need dice for this so it's a much cheaper option) and the game of life are all games that we play together sometimes.

No sew tutu - we've made these before too and it's probably something they may both enjoy. I used thick ribbon and nylon netting rather than tulle which is way too expensive for these. Any fabric would do for a dress up play thing though so I'm thinking even an old sheet cut into strips. Google "no sew tutu"

Jigsaw puzzles - a big one might keep 14 year old occupied for a while. May be too hard for little but perhaps she can help sort out the pieces (edges, sky, corners, grass etc). Sorting a puzzle takes up heaps of time and ziplock bags keeps all the pieces in order.

Finger knitting - I loved this when I was little. If you start with one finger you can work up to two, three etc. YouTube "single finger knitting" or "finger knitting one finger". You'll end up with one long chain, which I never knew what to do with but always felt proud of anyway. One fish has just started "yarn bombing" a tree in our garden with the chains made and we now have a "fairy tree". It's kind of cool and one ball of cheap yarn (from a $2 shop or craft store) will give hours of it.

Stress balls - suuuuuper cool. Made with balloons and flour, sand, rice etc. Google "stress balls balloons" and make sure if you make them to keep at least one for yourself! You can also keep a couple of balloons just to play with. We put a spoon of rice or a coin (best with a 5 or 10 cent one) into a balloon and they become the coolest things to kick, throw around and spin. Way more fun that plain balloons, which are pretty great anyway.

Bubbles. I have a secret stash of the long tubes of bubbles you can get from Big W for a couple of dollars. They're my go-to when I need some down time and I find they almost always diffuse nagging, whining, fighting etc.

Glitter calm down jars or bottles - I LOVE these. Easy to find on google. From memory the best ones we made were with baby oil and glitter glue. The idea is that when you're feeling like you need to calm down you shake the bottle and watch the glitter slowly settle (while slowly breathing). I have a pretty "spirited" little one and this helped so much. I like using it too (a lot). If you do this, make sure to seriously glue the lid shut with either a hot glue gun (pretty cheap from a $2 shop and one of my absolute essential craft supplies) or some pretty decent tape. You don't want baby oil spilling anywhere!

Hunt lists - this one is one of my favourites. We make 'lists of things to find'. Write words like "something smooth, small, big, hard, soft, delicate, useful, rough, tiny, long, bendy, smelly (be careful with this one lol), sharp (also careful with this haha), colourful, bright, dull, boring, wobbly, pink", etc. Then set her to work finding them. It can be in the house, out for a walk, in the garden etc. Sometimes making the lists is the biggest hit and I find it so interesting to see where their minds take them with this one. It encourages them to be imaginative and think outside the box.

Our favourite easy, treat things to make are caramel marshmallow popcorn, honey joys and chocolate crackles (all easy to find on google). Ridiculously unhealthy but lots of fun, easy for little kids, yum for big ones and great with sprinkles (and any other decorations)

I really want to try "unicorn slime" but it might be hard to find some of the ingredients. I will let you know if we do it and if you do I'd love to hear about it.

Mine like to just run around and play together outside, or draw and colour in together too. In a way it is easier than 6 and 14 because they have each other to entertain themselves a little. But with that comes a whole lot of tiffs and arguments and sometimes full blown fighting which isn't so easy. School holidays can be great but also really challenging so I can empathise heaps. If you have any other ideas or things you try that work well I would love to hear about it too!

Hope you enjoyed the Easter had parade. I'm sure your little sister enjoyed having you along, even if she may not have said it. You sound like a great big sister and they're lucky to have you.

Will be back later to say hi properly

🙂

Try not to over think it. Let her approach you. @Former-Member

I wish you could come and play with us @Phoenix_Rising - I think we'd all like you and you'd like us. We have lots of fun and I wasn't kidding when I agreed that those great things shouldn't just be kept for kids. Whatever works for anyone I say.

@Former-Member - love the new profile pic. Glad you might be able to find something useful in that list.